How to uninstall Bitwarden on Windows

This record covers Bitwarden, registered version 2026.9.1, installed through winget Bitwarden.Bitwarden with user scope. Back up the folders below when retaining data.

Close the app

Close the window and tray entry, then check Bitwarden.exe in Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc). Match the executable path before quitting a process.

Data and settings

Location	Action
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\Bitwarden-updater`	Inspect and back up settings or data; retain content shared with other apps
`%APPDATA%\Bitwarden`	Inspect and back up settings or data; retain content shared with other apps
`%APPDATA%\Bitwarden\Cache`	Measured separate cache; removable after saving data
`%APPDATA%\Bitwarden\Code Cache`	Measured separate cache; removable after saving data
`HKCU\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome\NativeMessagingHosts\com.8bit.bitwarden`	Inspect and back up settings or data; retain content shared with other apps
`HKCU\SOFTWARE\Chromium\NativeMessagingHosts\com.8bit.bitwarden`	Inspect and back up settings or data; retain content shared with other apps
`HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Edge\NativeMessagingHosts\com.8bit.bitwarden`	Inspect and back up settings or data; retain content shared with other apps
`HKCU\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\NativeMessagingHosts\com.8bit.bitwarden`	Inspect and back up settings or data; retain content shared with other apps

Remove with the vendor uninstaller

Find the app in Settings › Apps › Installed apps and uninstall it. Keep the vendor’s data-retention option when saving data; use the uninstaller rather than deleting the program folder.

For the measured winget installation, you can also run this command.

winget uninstall --id Bitwarden.Bitwarden --exact

Check the result

Get-Process -Name 'Bitwarden' -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id Bitwarden.Bitwarden --exact
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Bitwarden-updater"
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\Bitwarden"

No process output means no matching process was observed. A completed installation query with no match means the measured registration is absent; a query error does not prove removal. Test-Path returns True if the folder remains and False if absent. True is expected when retaining data.

What Mole lists

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Bitwarden-updater selected by default; %APPDATA%\Bitwarden listed but unchecked; %APPDATA%\Bitwarden\Cache selected by default; %APPDATA%\Bitwarden\Code Cache selected by default; HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\bitwarden selected by default; HKCU\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome\NativeMessagingHosts\com.8bit.bitwarden listed but unchecked; HKCU\SOFTWARE\Chromium\NativeMessagingHosts\com.8bit.bitwarden listed but unchecked; HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Edge\NativeMessagingHosts\com.8bit.bitwarden listed but unchecked; HKCU\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\NativeMessagingHosts\com.8bit.bitwarden listed but unchecked; HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\electron.app.Bitwarden selected by default. The program folder and measured shortcuts are handled with the app. Registrations are backed up before removal; files go to the Recycle Bin. Items already removed by the vendor read Missing. This run did not sign in to a vault, export passwords or verify sync; client removal is not evidence about account data.

What this test covered

Recorded in Windows 11 ARM64 source tests on 2026-10-03, uninstall type Nsis. The released download, account sign-in, subscriptions, synced content and other installation channels were not verified.