How to uninstall vChewing on Mac

Copy your vChewing user phrases before removing the input method. Since version 2.3.0 vChewing keeps its user phrase dictionaries and its memory files inside its sandbox container, ~/Library/Containers/org.atelierInmu.inputmethod.vChewing, and removing that container removes them too. Inside that container, Data/Library/Application Support holds the vChewing folder with your phrases and the vChewing_*.dat memory files beside it; copy both to a place outside the container and open the copy before going on. This guide covers the official pkg, which installs into your own home folder.

Switch input sources first

Finish typing and switch to another input source. Remove the vChewing input sources in System Settings › Keyboard › Text Input › Edit, keeping at least one working input source.

vChewing cannot delete itself. Its official uninstall page explains that since 4.1.4 the sandbox stops it from removing its own bundle; its 卸除唯音… (Uninstall vChewing) menu item now only opens the related folders in Finder for you to remove. The page lists what the pkg installed:

  • ~/Library/Input Methods/vChewing.app, the input method.
  • ~/Library/Keyboard Layouts/vChewingKeyLayout.bundle and five .keylayout files named vChewing MiTAC, vChewing IBM, vChewing FakeSeigyou, vChewing ETen and vChewing Dachen.
  • ~/Library/Receipts/org.atelierInmu.vChewing.bom and .plist, the installer's record. Because the pkg installs into your home folder, this receipt is visible only to pkgutil --volume ~, not to a plain pkgutil --pkgs.
  • ~/Library/Preferences/org.atelierInmu.inputmethod.vChewing.plist, the preferences.
  • ~/Library/Containers/org.atelierInmu.inputmethod.vChewing, the container that holds your user phrases. Keep it if you might come back.
  • ~/Library/Application Support/vChewing, user phrases from versions up to 2.2.x. It only exists if you used one of those.

Move the input method, the six layout items and, if you want them gone, the preferences and container to the Trash in Finder. Leave the Keyboard Layouts folder itself and any other input method's layouts in place. The page also lists /Library/Input Methods and /Library/Keyboard Layouts copies that an old installer bug on macOS 10 and 11 could leave; check for them only on a Mac that ran such an installer.

After removal, the input menu can keep showing vChewing until it reloads. Save other work, then sign out and back in if it still appears.

Check the result

pgrep -ifl vchewing
ls -ld "$HOME/Library/Input Methods/vChewing.app" "$HOME/Library/Keyboard Layouts/vChewingKeyLayout.bundle" "$HOME/Library/Containers/org.atelierInmu.inputmethod.vChewing"
pkgutil --pkgs --volume ~ | grep -i vchewing

No output from pgrep means no running process matched. For ls, a "No such file or directory" line means that item is gone; a printed line means it is still there, which is expected for a container you chose to keep. The pkgutil line prints the receipt id while the receipt is still recorded. Once you have removed both receipt files by hand, it prints nothing; if it still prints org.atelierInmu.vChewing, run pkgutil --volume ~ --forget org.atelierInmu.vChewing, which needs no administrator password for a home-folder receipt.

What Mole lists

Mole lists the input method, its preferences, Application Scripts folder, sandbox container and temporary cache folder, all selected by default. The container is where vChewing keeps your user phrases, so copy them first or uncheck the container row if you want to keep it.

Mole also reads the installer receipt in your home folder. Each item under ~/Library/Keyboard Layouts that only this receipt installed, the bundle and the five layouts, is a separate row selected by default. Mole never lists the Keyboard Layouts folder itself, and Clear Data keeps the layouts. When nothing the receipt lists is left, Mole forgets the receipt with pkgutil --volume ~ --forget, without asking for an administrator password. After removing an input method, Mole restarts the input menu so it drops the entry. A ~/Library/Application Support/vChewing folder from an old version is listed but not selected.

These defaults assume "Remove data and settings with apps" is off. Opting in also selects eligible reviewed app data; shared stores and protected data keep their individual review or stay locked.

What this test covered

On October 5, 2026, vChewing 4.8.6 was installed with its notarized official pkg into the home folder and removed with a source-built Mole. The first pass removed the app, preferences, Application Scripts folder, container and temporary cache, and left the Keyboard Layouts items and the home-folder receipt. After Mole learned to read that receipt, the same app was put back from the Trash and removed again: the six layout rows were selected and removed, the receipt was no longer listed and the empty Keyboard Layouts folder stayed. That second pass ran on a source build, not a fresh official install. Typing with the input method enabled, restoring copied user phrases and the Status page were not tested. vChewing has no Homebrew cask.