How to uninstall Tunnelblick on Mac
Tunnelblick's own uninstaller deletes your VPN configurations and settings, so export them first if you might want them back. On first launch Tunnelblick copies itself into a root-owned system folder and installs a background daemon, which is why dragging the app to the Trash does not fully remove it. This guide covers the official disk image from tunnelblick.net; the Homebrew cask tunnelblick installs the same build.
Back up, disconnect, and quit
In Tunnelblick's VPN Details window, use Export Tunnelblick Setup to save your configurations outside the app. Disconnect every configuration, then quit Tunnelblick from its menu bar icon. If it will not quit, force quit it in Activity Monitor.
Use Tunnelblick's own Uninstall button
In Tunnelblick 3.8.5beta02 and later, open VPN Details, go to the Utilities panel and click Uninstall. The uninstaller removes the files and folders Tunnelblick created or changed, for every user account on the Mac. Older versions use a separate uninstaller disk image from Tunnelblick's Downloads page. Tunnelblick: Uninstalling Tunnelblick
Where Tunnelblick keeps its data
| Location | What it holds | What Mole does |
|---|---|---|
/Library/Application Support/Tunnelblick |
A root-owned folder written on first launch, about 64 MB, containing another copy of Tunnelblick.app | Listed, never removed: if you tick it, Mole reports that the item is owned by root and leaves it in place |
/Library/LaunchDaemons/net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.tunnelblickd.plist |
The root-owned daemon that manages VPN connections | Listed; with administrator authorization Mole moves it to the Trash |
Login item net.tunnelblick.launcher |
Opens Tunnelblick at login | Not removed by Mole; turn it off in System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions if it is still listed |
~/Library/Application Support/Tunnelblick |
Your per-user Tunnelblick folder | Listed, not selected by default. Export your setup before ticking it |
~/Library/Caches/net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick, ~/Library/Preferences/net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.plist, ~/Library/Cookies/net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.binarycookies, ~/Library/HTTPStorages/net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick |
Cache, preferences and web storage | Listed and selected by default |
To remove the root-owned support folder, use Tunnelblick's own uninstaller, or delete the folder in Finder with an administrator password once the app and its daemon are gone.
Check the result
pgrep -ilf tunnelblick
launchctl list | grep -i tunnelblick
ls -d /Library/Application\ Support/Tunnelblick /Library/LaunchDaemons/net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.tunnelblickd.plist
No output from pgrep means no Tunnelblick process is running. A net.tunnelblick line from launchctl list means a Tunnelblick job is still loaded in your session. ls -d prints each root-owned item still on disk and reports "No such file or directory" for the ones that are gone; after a Mole uninstall the support folder is expected to remain.
If you installed it with Homebrew
Mole skips --zap when its list reaches unchecked or shared data, or cannot be fully checked, and still cleans the leftovers you selected.
The tunnelblick cask's plain uninstall step quits the app, unloads net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.LaunchAtLogin and net.tunnelblick.tunnelblick.tunnelblickd, and deletes /Library/Application Support/Tunnelblick, so running brew uninstall --cask tunnelblick yourself removes that root-owned folder even without --zap. The zap list adds the per-user ~/Library/Application Support/Tunnelblick, the cache, cookies, HTTPStorages, preferences and a Help index file; brew uninstall --cask --zap tunnelblick moves them all to the Trash, whatever you ticked in Mole, configurations included. Mole adds --zap only when every one of those paths is something you ticked; the per-user folder is unticked by default, so a default Mole uninstall leaves --zap out. Homebrew tunnelblick cask
brew uninstall --cask tunnelblick
What Mole lists
/Library/Application Support/Tunnelblickis listed but Mole never removes it: it is the product itself, and a ticked row ends with "This item is owned by root, so Mole leaves it in place."- The
tunnelblickdLaunchDaemon plist is listed, and Mole moves it to the Trash with administrator authorization once the app is leaving. ~/Library/Application Support/Tunnelblickis listed and not selected by default; the cache, preferences, cookies and HTTPStorages undernet.tunnelblick.tunnelblickare selected by default.
What this test covered
On September 19, 2026, Tunnelblick 9.0.1 was copied from the official disk image into Applications, opened, and uninstalled with a Preview build of Mole 1.15 (build 277), with no Homebrew receipt. The app went to the Trash; the root-owned support folder, the daemon and the net.tunnelblick.launcher login item stayed, and the per-user Application Support/Tunnelblick row was left unticked. On September 23, 2026 the official disk image was installed again and uninstalled with a Preview build that could move root-owned launch items: the daemon plist went to the Trash, and the support folder was kept by design. That run first labelled the support folder as an app on an external disk; the wording was then corrected to the root-owned system item message quoted above.