How to uninstall ChatWise on Windows

ChatWise keeps your conversations on this PC, in a database under %APPDATA%\app.chatwise, a folder named after its internal app id rather than "ChatWise". Removing the app leaves that folder, so copy it somewhere else first if you want your chats back after reinstalling, and note the API keys and model providers you set up. This guide covers ChatWise installed per-user from the vendor's installer, the x64 build published on chatwise.app.

Quit ChatWise first

Close ChatWise and check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) that no chatwise.exe is still listed. It ran as a single process in this test and added no startup entry.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

Go to Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find ChatWise, and choose Uninstall.

The uninstaller removes the program folder %LOCALAPPDATA%\ChatWise, the Start Menu shortcut and the chatwise:// link. In this test it left both app.chatwise folders and the HKCU\Software\chatwise key.

Where the data lives

Location	What it holds	What to do
`%APPDATA%\app.chatwise`	Your conversations in `app.db` and its companion files, and the window state	Copy it elsewhere if you want your chats back; remove it for a clean start
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\app.chatwise`	The embedded browser's profile (`EBWebView`) and a cached model list	Remove it with the app; keep it only alongside `%APPDATA%\app.chatwise` if you plan to reinstall
`HKCU\Software\chatwise`	A small key the installer writes	Safe to remove once the app is gone
`HKCU\Software\Classes\chatwise`	The `chatwise://` link registration	Safe to remove if it is still there after the uninstall

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process chatwise -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\ChatWise"
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\app.chatwise", "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\app.chatwise"
Test-Path HKCU:\Software\chatwise, HKCU:\Software\Classes\chatwise

No output from Get-Process only means this query observed no matching process; a suppressed error leaves the running state unknown. A listed process means it is still open.
The first Test-Path returning False means the program folder is gone; True means files remain there.
The second command prints one True or False per folder, in the order listed. True for %APPDATA%\app.chatwise means your conversations are still on disk, which is expected if you chose to keep them.
The last command prints one result for the settings key and one for the link. True means that key is still there.

Account and subscription

Uninstalling does not cancel a paid ChatWise plan or any plan you pay a model provider for. API keys you entered stay valid at the provider until you revoke them there.

What Mole lists

For ChatWise installed per-user from the vendor's installer:

The program folder %LOCALAPPDATA%\ChatWise goes with the app row. The Start Menu and desktop shortcuts are selected by default.
%APPDATA%\app.chatwise and %LOCALAPPDATA%\app.chatwise are listed but not selected, since the first holds your conversations.
The HKCU\Software\chatwise key is listed but not selected, and backed up to a .reg file before removal if you tick it.
If the chatwise:// link is still registered after the uninstall, Mole lists it, selected by default, and backs it up to a .reg file before removing it.
A row grouping Windows' own records of when you opened the program is selected by default.

What this test covered

Tested on September 30, 2026 with ChatWise 0.10.8, the x64 per-user installer from the vendor's GitHub release, run under emulation on an ARM64 virtual machine. The uninstaller is NSIS and Mole ran it silently. The program folder, the Start Menu shortcut and both app.chatwise folders were gone at the end of this test. An earlier run did not list the two app.chatwise folders; they are listed now, as described above. Not verified: signing in, adding model providers, and a conversation database with real history.