How to uninstall Vivaldi on Mac

Vivaldi keeps bookmarks, notes, sessions, saved logins, history, cookies and extensions in one profile folder, ~/Library/Application Support/Vivaldi, and that folder is what you lose if you delete it without a copy. Turn on Vivaldi Sync or back the folder up before you clean anything. These steps cover Vivaldi downloaded from vivaldi.com and the Homebrew cask vivaldi; the recorded test used the download from vivaldi.com.

Back up the profile

Vivaldi's help suggests two ways, and either one is enough:

  • Sync the data with another device where you use Vivaldi, so that deleting it on this Mac leaves a copy you can still reach.
  • Copy the folder yourself. Open vivaldi://about (or Vivaldi › About Vivaldi) and read the Profile Path. Most of what matters sits in the Default folder inside it; Vivaldi's help also says to keep the First Run file next to it. Quit Vivaldi before you copy.

Vivaldi help: reset and profile location

Quit Vivaldi and remove the app

Quit Vivaldi with Command-Q, then move Vivaldi from Applications to the Trash. Vivaldi runs as many helper processes; in the recorded test Mole's Status tab counted eleven of them under one Vivaldi row. Check that none are left before you touch the profile.

Where Vivaldi keeps its data

These are the user-folder paths in the Homebrew cask's zap list. Open each with Shift + Command + G in Finder; skip the ones that do not exist.

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Application Support/Vivaldi The profile: bookmarks, notes, sessions, logins, history, extensions Back up first; keep it unless you want a full reset
~/Library/Caches/Vivaldi, ~/Library/Caches/com.vivaldi.Vivaldi Caches, including files from Vivaldi's built-in updater Safe to remove after Vivaldi has quit
~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.vivaldi.Vivaldi Network storage for the app itself Safe to remove with the app
~/Library/WebKit/com.vivaldi.Vivaldi Embedded web data Safe to remove with the app
~/Library/Preferences/com.vivaldi.Vivaldi.plist App preferences Remove for a clean start
~/Library/Saved Application State/com.vivaldi.Vivaldi.savedState Window state Safe to remove

Vivaldi Snapshot is a separate app with its own profile, ~/Library/Application Support/Vivaldi Snapshot. Removing the regular Vivaldi does not require touching it.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands in Terminal after the app is in the Trash:

pgrep -il vivaldi
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Vivaldi/Default"
  • No output from pgrep means no Vivaldi process is left. A listed process means Vivaldi or one of its helpers is still running; quit it before copying or deleting the profile. If Vivaldi Snapshot is open, its processes also appear here.
  • ls printing the path means your main profile is still on this Mac, which is expected if you kept it. "No such file or directory" means it is gone.

If you are keeping Vivaldi and only want space back, see Free Up Chrome and Safari Storage on Mac Safely; Vivaldi is Chromium-based and the same cache layers apply.

If you installed it with Homebrew

Vivaldi is a browser, so Mole removes a Homebrew install with brew uninstall --cask vivaldi and never adds --zap, whatever you tick in its review list.

A zap you run yourself is different. brew uninstall --cask --zap vivaldi moves every path in the table above to the Trash, ~/Library/Application Support/Vivaldi included, along with Vivaldi crash reports. Back up first, or leave --zap out:

brew uninstall --cask vivaldi

Homebrew Vivaldi cask

Account

Removing the app does not delete your Vivaldi account or anything already synced to it. Data that was never synced exists only in the profile folder.

What Mole lists

For Vivaldi downloaded from vivaldi.com:

  • ~/Library/Application Support/Vivaldi is listed as browser personal data, labelled sensitive when it finds extension or key folders inside. It is never selected by default or by select-all. You can tick it on its own; Mole asks you to confirm and moves it to the Trash, where it stays recoverable until you empty the Trash.
  • ~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.vivaldi.Vivaldi and the WebKit folder under the same name are listed as unverified browser data and kept, with no checkbox.
  • ~/Library/Caches/Vivaldi, and the caches, preferences and saved window state filed under com.vivaldi.Vivaldi, are selected by default.
  • ~/.local/share/.vivaldi_reporting_data, a 1 KB usage-reporting ID file, is listed but not selected.
  • Vivaldi Snapshot's profile belongs to a different bundle ID and is not listed when you remove Vivaldi.

What this test covered

Vivaldi was downloaded from vivaldi.com, copied into Applications and uninstalled with Mole Preview 277 on September 19, 2026. While it was installed, Vivaldi updated itself once through its own updater. Caches and preferences were selected by default and removed; the profile folder, about 188 MB, stayed on disk as browser personal data. On September 26, 2026, Vivaldi 8.2 from vivaldi.com was installed again and removed with a development build of Mole with every row ticked: the app and five cache, preference and temporary items went to the Trash, while the 63 MB profile folder and HTTPStorages/com.vivaldi.Vivaldi stayed as browser data, as designed. A 1 KB ~/.local/share/.vivaldi_reporting_data file stayed too, because Mole did not list it then. Vivaldi Sync, a signed-in account and restoring a copied profile were not tested, and the Homebrew cask was not uninstalled.