How to uninstall AnyDesk on Windows

A full AnyDesk installation adds a background service that allows unattended access, and your AnyDesk ID and alias live in a configuration folder its uninstaller does not remove. Back that up first if you want the same ID later. This guide covers AnyDesk installed machine-wide with its startup, service and shortcuts enabled, matching the AnyDesk.AnyDesk winget package.

Before you start

End any remote session and tell anyone who connects to this machine that this AnyDesk ID will stop working once you remove it, unless you keep the configuration folder and reinstall later.

Quit AnyDesk first

Right-click the AnyDesk tray icon and exit it, then check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for AnyDesk.exe before you uninstall. A full installation also runs AnyDesk as a Windows service in the background, independent of whether the tray icon is open.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

Go to Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find AnyDesk, and choose Uninstall, or run:

winget uninstall --id AnyDesk.AnyDesk

Back up before you remove data

Copy %ProgramData%\AnyDesk and %APPDATA%\AnyDesk if you want to keep this machine's AnyDesk ID and alias for a later reinstall.

Where the data lives

Location	What it holds	What to do
`%ProgramData%\AnyDesk`	This machine's AnyDesk ID, alias and service configuration	Back this up first if you want the same ID later, otherwise safe to remove
`%APPDATA%\AnyDesk`	Per-user AnyDesk settings	Back up alongside the folder above

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process AnyDesk -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Get-Service "AnyDesk Service" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id AnyDesk.AnyDesk
Test-Path "$env:ProgramFiles(x86)\AnyDesk"
Test-Path "$env:ProgramData\AnyDesk"

No output from Get-Process only means this query observed no matching process; a suppressed error leaves the running state unknown.
If Get-Service succeeds without suppressed errors, no match means the AnyDesk Service is gone; a service object means it is still registered; check its running state separately.
A completed winget list query with no match means the package record is gone; a matching row means the uninstall did not finish.
The first Test-Path returning False means the program folder is gone; True means files remain there.
Test-Path "$env:ProgramData\AnyDesk" returning True means your ID and alias are still there, which is expected unless you removed them yourself.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs the same uninstaller (AnyDesk.exe --uninstall) Settings › Apps uses and removes the same program files, the service and the shortcuts; it does not touch %ProgramData%\AnyDesk or %APPDATA%\AnyDesk on its own.

Account and subscription

Uninstalling does not cancel an AnyDesk license. Removing this machine's configuration folder also removes its ID and alias permanently; if you use a licensed account, check your license status separately in AnyDesk's own account pages.

What Mole lists

For AnyDesk installed machine-wide with its service:

The program folder, the Start Menu shortcut and the Startup-folder shortcut are selected by default.
%ProgramData%\AnyDesk and %APPDATA%\AnyDesk are listed but not selected, since they hold this machine's ID and alias.
Firewall rules that name AnyDesk are only reported, never removed, since Mole does not manage firewall rules.

What this test covered

Tested with AnyDesk 9.7.16, installed machine-wide with --start-with-win --create-shortcuts --silent and removed with AnyDesk.exe --uninstall. The winget source itself could not be reached in the test environment, so the test used AnyDesk's own downloaded installer with the same silent switches instead; the uninstall path and the folders it leaves are unaffected by that. Not verified: a licensed account, or a client-only install without the service.