How to uninstall VimR on Mac

VimR is a Swift-based Neovim GUI for macOS featuring integrated file navigation, Markdown preview, and trackpad gestures. Removing VimR only removes this macOS desktop wrapper; it does not touch your actual Neovim configuration (~/.config/nvim, init.lua, or init.vim), your Neovim plugins in ~/.local/share/nvim, or any documents and source files you edited. GUI-specific preferences such as font settings, window layout, and custom menu shortcuts live in standard macOS Library locations. This guide covers the official Mac app and Homebrew cask vimr.

Quit and remove the app

  1. Press Command + Q inside VimR, or choose VimR › Quit VimR. Make sure any modified buffers are saved or closed.
  2. Open Finder, navigate to Applications, and drag VimR.app to the Trash.

Review local data

The paths in the table below are declared in the Homebrew cask and were verified during the recorded test. In Finder, press Shift + Command + G to inspect each path. Skip any path that is not present on your Mac.

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Preferences/com.qvacua.VimR.plist GUI preferences, fonts, and window padding Preferences. Mole selects this file when it is present.
~/Library/Preferences/com.qvacua.VimR.menuitems.plist Custom menu-item keybindings Menu-item preferences. Mole selects this file when it is present.
~/Library/Caches/com.qvacua.VimR Application render and syntax caches Cache. Mole selects this folder when it is present.
~/Library/WebKit/com.qvacua.VimR WebKit state for Markdown preview WebKit data. Mole selects this folder when it is present.
~/Library/Saved Application State/com.qvacua.VimR.savedState Saved window restoration state Saved window state. Mole selects this folder when it is present.

Check the result

pgrep -il VimR
ls -ld "/Applications/VimR.app" "$HOME/Library/Preferences/com.qvacua.VimR.plist" "$HOME/Library/Preferences/com.qvacua.VimR.menuitems.plist" "$HOME/Library/Caches/com.qvacua.VimR" "$HOME/Library/WebKit/com.qvacua.VimR" "$HOME/Library/Saved Application State/com.qvacua.VimR.savedState"
  • No output from pgrep means no VimR process is running.
  • A printed line from pgrep indicates an active process. Inspect it in Activity Monitor before proceeding.
  • An error from pgrep does not prove the app has quit.
  • A path printed by ls is still present on disk.
  • No such file or directory confirms that path has been completely removed.
  • Permission denied means your account lacks read access for that directory. Check your document and project files separately.

If you installed it with Homebrew

brew uninstall --cask vimr

The cask zap list includes ~/Library/Caches/com.qvacua.VimR, ~/Library/Preferences/com.qvacua.VimR.menuitems.plist, ~/Library/Preferences/com.qvacua.VimR.plist, ~/Library/Saved Application State/com.qvacua.VimR.savedState, and ~/Library/WebKit/com.qvacua.VimR. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap vimr removes that whole list and does not read Mole's checkboxes. It does not touch your Neovim configurations. Mole checks the full removal list and skips --zap when it reaches unchecked data, shared files, or a path it cannot verify. Leftovers you selected still use Mole's own removal.

What Mole lists

Mole selects the app and, when present, ~/Library/Preferences/com.qvacua.VimR.plist, ~/Library/Preferences/com.qvacua.VimR.menuitems.plist, ~/Library/Caches/com.qvacua.VimR, ~/Library/WebKit/com.qvacua.VimR, and ~/Library/Saved Application State/com.qvacua.VimR.savedState. Documents, text files, and Neovim configurations outside these paths are not part of that list.

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

What this test covered

On October 9, 2026, VimR 0.66.1 from the official Universal package was copied into Applications, opened to its main window, and removed. No user file was edited. The recorded removal included the app, both preferences files, ~/Library/Caches/com.qvacua.VimR, and ~/Library/WebKit/com.qvacua.VimR. The saved-state folder was not present. Status showed one VimR row while it was running. No new launch agent was found. Mole's update page was not opened. A Homebrew install was not tested.