How to uninstall DB Browser for SQLite on Windows

DB Browser for SQLite does not build a database inside itself: it just opens .sqlite files you point it at, so removing the app never touches those files wherever you keep them. What it leaves behind is a small settings folder in the registry, not your data. This guide covers DB Browser for SQLite installed machine-wide from the DBBrowserForSQLite.DBBrowserForSQLite winget package, which installs both DB Browser for SQLite and DB Browser for SQLCipher side by side.

Quit the app first

Close any open database files and quit both DB Browser for SQLite and DB Browser for SQLCipher if either is open. Check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for DB Browser for SQLite.exe or DB Browser for SQLCipher.exe still listed before you uninstall.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

Go to Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find DB Browser for SQLite, and choose Uninstall, or run:

winget uninstall --id DBBrowserForSQLite.DBBrowserForSQLite

This is a machine-wide install, so the uninstaller asks for administrator access.

Where the data lives

Your .sqlite files stay wherever you keep them; removing the app never touches them.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process "DB Browser for SQLite" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Get-Process "DB Browser for SQLCipher" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id DBBrowserForSQLite.DBBrowserForSQLite
Test-Path "$env:ProgramFiles\DB Browser for SQLite"
Get-ItemProperty "HKCU:\Software\sqlitebrowser" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

• If both Get-Process queries succeed without suppressed errors and return no match, this means neither app is running.
• A completed winget list query with no match means the package record is gone; a matching row means the uninstall did not finish.
• Test-Path returning False means the program folder is gone; True means files remain there.
• Get-ItemProperty returning values means the entry remains. With no output, check for permission or other query errors before deciding that it is absent.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs the same MSI uninstaller Settings › Apps uses and removes the same program files, including both desktop and Start Menu shortcuts for SQLite and SQLCipher; it does not touch HKCU\Software\sqlitebrowser on its own.

What Mole lists

For DB Browser for SQLite installed machine-wide from winget:

• The program folder and all four shortcuts (two Start Menu, two desktop, one pair each for SQLite and SQLCipher) are selected by default.
• HKCU\Software\sqlitebrowser, where the app's settings and recent-files list live, is not part of this list. Remove it yourself in Registry Editor if you want, since it holds nothing beyond preferences.

What this test covered

Tested with DB Browser for SQLite 3.13.1 installed through winget, machine-wide scope. The test ran msiexec /x from an elevated session; a normal uninstall through Settings › Apps asks for the same administrator access since this is a machine-wide install. No database file was opened during the test.