How to uninstall Zotero on Mac

Your Zotero library is a folder of its own, and removing the app does not remove it. Zotero's documentation calls it the data directory: by default ~/Zotero, holding zotero.sqlite (every item, note and tag), the storage folder with your PDFs and snapshots, automatic zotero.sqlite.bak backups, and folders such as styles and translators. You may have moved it elsewhere. Find it, back it up, and never delete it to finish an uninstall. This guide covers Zotero from its disk image and the Homebrew cask zotero.

Find and back up the library

  1. In Zotero, open Settings › Advanced › Files and Folders and click Show Data Directory. Note where it opens; it is ~/Zotero unless you changed it.
  2. If you sync with a zotero.org account, sync once more. File syncing through Zotero Storage or WebDAV is separate from data syncing, so check that your attachments are there too.
  3. Quit Zotero, then copy the whole data directory, including zotero.sqlite and storage, to a backup location. Zotero's page warns that copying while Zotero is open can damage the data, and that exporting and re-importing does not produce an exact copy.

Quit Zotero and remove the app

  1. Quit Zotero from the Zotero menu.
  2. Search Activity Monitor for zotero and check that it has exited. Mole's Status page shows it under the lowercase name zotero.
  3. Move Zotero from Finder's Applications folder to the Trash.

Removing the app does not delete your zotero.org account, the online library or a storage subscription. Browser connectors for Chrome, Firefox or Edge are separate extensions that you remove in each browser. The Word and LibreOffice plugins are installed into those apps, not into Zotero's folders, so they are not covered here.

Where Zotero keeps its data

Location What it holds What to do
~/Zotero, or the folder Show Data Directory opened Your library database, attachments and backups Keep it; a reinstall picks it up again
~/Library/Application Support/Zotero Zotero's profile, which holds its settings, under Profiles/<random name> as Zotero's profile page describes Keep it for a reinstall; remove it only for a fresh setup
~/Library/Caches/Zotero Caches Safe to remove after quitting
~/Library/Preferences/org.zotero.zotero.plist App preferences Remove only for a clean start
~/Library/Saved Application State/org.zotero.zotero.savedState Saved window state Safe to remove after quitting

Check the result

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

pgrep -il zotero
ls ~/Zotero
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Zotero"
  • No output from pgrep means Zotero is not running.
  • ls ~/Zotero listing zotero.sqlite and storage means your library is still there, which is what you want. "No such file or directory" is only fine if you moved the data directory elsewhere; check that location instead.
  • ls -d printing the path means the profile folder is still there, which is expected if you kept it for a reinstall.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The zotero cask's zap list trashes ~/Library/Application Support/Zotero, ~/Library/Caches/Zotero, the preferences file, the saved window state, and the container and scripts folder of Zotero's Safari extension, org.zotero.SafariExtensionApp.SafariExtension. For ~/Zotero it uses rmdir, which removes the folder only when it is empty, so brew uninstall --cask --zap zotero leaves a library that has anything in it. It does not reach a data directory you moved elsewhere.

To keep the profile as well, remove only the app:

brew uninstall --cask zotero

Mole adds --zap only when every path on the zap list sits inside ~/Library, none of them touches a row you left unchecked, and no other installed app claims them. ~/Library/Application Support/Zotero is listed but unselected by default, so Mole leaves --zap out unless you tick that row. A brew command you type yourself never consults Mole's checkboxes.

What Mole lists

For Zotero from its disk image:

  • ~/Zotero is listed but not selected, so the library stays unless you tick it. A data directory you moved elsewhere is not listed.
  • ~/Library/Application Support/Zotero is listed but not selected.
  • The containers and Application Scripts folders of Zotero's Safari extensions, org.zotero.zotero.SafariExtension and org.zotero.zotero.SafariWebExtension, are selected by default, because they ship inside the app. Mole can also list the older org.zotero.SafariExtensionApp.SafariExtension folders, taken from Homebrew's zap list for this app, but does not select them.
  • ~/Library/Caches/Zotero, and the preferences and saved window state filed under org.zotero.zotero, are selected by default.

What this test covered

On September 19, 2026, Zotero was copied from its disk image into Applications, opened, and uninstalled with a Preview build of Mole 1.15. There was no Homebrew receipt. ~/Library/Application Support/Zotero was listed, left unselected and stayed on disk. The first launch created a ~/Zotero library of about 41 MB, which stayed because that build did not list it. One Zotero container could not be moved to the Trash because macOS refused the permission, and it stayed too. On September 26, 2026, Zotero 10.0.4 from its disk image was installed again and removed with a development build of Mole with every row ticked: the app and nine listed items went to the Trash, including the 20 MB ~/Zotero library the test ticked on purpose and both Safari extension containers, and nothing from the list remained. No items, account sync, browser connector or Homebrew install was tested.