# What Windows Apps Leave After Uninstalling

An app disappearing from Windows' installed-app list does not mean all its files disappeared. Settings in AppData, models in your user folder and a background process still running each need a different decision. These cases kept coming up while testing uninstalling with Mole for Windows. Here is what to save before removal and what to check afterward.

## Let the uninstaller finish its work

On Windows 11, uninstall through Settings › Apps › Installed apps. Windows 10 calls that page Apps & features. Traditional desktop programs may also appear in Control Panel's Programs and Features. [Microsoft's uninstall instructions](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uninstall-or-remove-apps-and-programs-in-windows-4b55f974-2cc6-2d2b-d092-5905080eaf98) cover these entry points. Avoid deleting the folder in Program Files first: the app's uninstaller still needs to handle its services, shortcuts and registrations.

Some uninstallers need you to finish a sequence of dialogs. In the tested [Chinese edition of 360 Compression](/windows/tested-apps/360-zip), the removal dialog selected reinstall by default, and its main button also said reinstall. Choosing direct removal made it uninstall. [WPS](/windows/tested-apps/wps-office) offered upgrade, repair and storage-management options before asking whether to clear data; [Thunder](/windows/tested-apps/thunder) kept download history by default. Finish what the open dialog asks before checking the remaining files. Seeing the uninstaller's window is not proof that it has completed.

Apps installed through winget can be removed through winget too. It executes the registered uninstall command, so retaining user data still depends on that uninstaller. In [winget's documentation](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/package-manager/winget/uninstall), `--purge` applies to portable packages; it is not a general switch for deleting every app's personal data.

## Check what the remaining folders contain

An uninstaller may preserve personal data so a future installation can pick up where you left off. A remaining folder alone does not mean removal failed. Browser profiles may hold passwords and bookmarks; chat apps may hold conversations; local AI apps often mix models, chats and sign-in state. Finding a folder by name is not enough reason to delete it.

| Location | What the test found there | What to decide before deletion |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `%APPDATA%\Jan` | Models, chats, assistants, extensions and settings | Keep it for a reinstall, or back up the models and chats you need |
| `%USERPROFILE%\.lmstudio` | LM Studio models and local data | Confirm models remain available to download, and copy out local data you want |
| `%USERPROFILE%\.workbuddy` | WorkBuddy chats, databases and sign-in state | Keep it to recover history; remove it only when you no longer need it |
| `%USERPROFILE%\WorkBuddy` | WorkBuddy's generated work documents | Treat these as your own files and copy out the documents you need |

These are default locations. Tools such as Jan let you change their data folder, so check the actual location in Settings if you changed it. Cloud synchronization is not an independent backup: deleting a synced file can propagate to other devices. Save a separate copy that will survive that deletion.

The [Jan](/windows/tested-apps/jan), [LM Studio](/windows/tested-apps/lm-studio) and [WorkBuddy](/windows/tested-apps/workbuddy) guides give specific paths and verification steps. These tests did not sign in or download models. Removing their empty folders does not establish that large model libraries or synchronized data were tested.

## A closed window can leave a model server running

Jan runs models in a separate `llama-server.exe` process. In this test, it kept running from the data folder's `llamacpp` directory after Jan's window closed and its uninstaller finished. It held files there open, which prevented Windows from deleting the directory. Stop the model in Jan, quit the app and check Task Manager for remaining processes before deciding what to do with the data.

For a read-only check, run these commands in PowerShell:

```powershell
Get-Process Jan, llama-server -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\Jan"
Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.lmstudio"
Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\WorkBuddy"
```

Output from the first command means a process with that name is still running. Check its file location in Task Manager before ending it: another tool may run a model server with the same name. The other three commands return `True` for an existing folder and `False` for one that is gone. `True` is expected if you chose to keep data, and it does not prove that every file there belongs to the removed app.

## Separate startup entries from shared components

In this test, WorkBuddy's uninstaller left a startup entry pointing to a deleted program and two firewall rules. The startup entry could no longer launch that program, but the firewall rules remained. An app's own startup entry can be reviewed after checking its target. Security components and data folders shared with other Tencent apps must remain while those apps still use them; a vendor name alone does not establish ownership.

Windows services and scheduled tasks do not all appear in Settings › Apps › Startup. Drivers also need their app's uninstaller. Voicemeeter Banana, for example, requested a restart to complete removal of its virtual audio devices. The test PC was not restarted, so [its guide](/windows/tested-apps/voicemeeter-banana) keeps that limit explicit.

## What Mole leaves for you to review

Mole runs the app's own uninstaller first and handles selected leftovers after it succeeds. A cancelled or failed uninstall keeps the files. Models, settings and work documents are listed for review. Personal data starts unticked; browser profiles and chat history are never bulk-selected. Shared data depends on whether another installed app still needs it.

Files go to the Recycle Bin and registry entries are backed up before removal. Files can be restored while they remain in the bin. If a folder is too large for the bin, Windows asks separately about permanent deletion; that case is not recoverable through the bin. Firewall rules are listed by name, but Mole does not delete them.

Find the app in the [Windows tested-app catalog and uninstall guides](/windows/tested-apps), read what needs a backup, then start removing it.


Canonical: https://mole.fit/windows/blog/what-apps-leave-after-uninstall