How to uninstall Docker Desktop on Windows

Docker Desktop's own uninstaller removes local containers, images and volumes along with the app. Export anything you need and verify you can restore it before you uninstall. This guide covers Docker Desktop installed machine-wide from the Docker.DockerDesktop winget package. Removing the app does not cancel a paid Docker subscription or delete your Docker account.

Quit Docker Desktop first

Quit Docker Desktop from its tray icon; it also starts a background launcher at login. Check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for Docker Desktop.exe before you uninstall.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

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

winget uninstall --id Docker.DockerDesktop

Docker's uninstall instructions also document running the installer itself with an uninstall switch, and note that containers, images and volumes are removed along with the app.

Back up before you remove data

Export or back up any volumes and databases you need, and confirm you can restore them, before you run either uninstaller. Docker Desktop's own virtual disk, where your containers, images and volumes live, is removed with the app.

Where the data lives

Location	What it holds	What to do
`%ProgramData%\DockerDesktop`	Desktop's machine-wide settings	Removed by the uninstaller
`%APPDATA%\Docker`	Desktop's per-user settings	Back this up if you want to keep them; remove once you are done with Docker Desktop
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\log`	Desktop's logs	Safe to remove
`%USERPROFILE%\.docker`	Command-line configuration, contexts and credential settings	Keep it while any other Docker-compatible command-line tool or client uses it
Docker's virtual disk under `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\wsl`	Your containers, images and volumes	Back this up first; only Docker's own uninstaller removes it

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the app is removed:

Get-Process "Docker Desktop" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id Docker.DockerDesktop
Test-Path "$env:ProgramFiles\Docker\Docker"
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\Docker"
Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.docker"
wsl --list --verbose

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, or a helper, is still 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 "...\Docker\Docker" returning False means the program folder is gone.
Test-Path "...\Docker" and Test-Path "...\.docker" returning True means those settings and command-line configuration are still on this PC, which is expected unless you removed them yourself.
wsl --list --verbose listing a docker-desktop or docker-desktop-data entry means Docker's Windows Subsystem for Linux distributions, and the virtual disk inside them, are still here.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs the same uninstaller Settings › Apps uses and removes the same program files; it does not touch %USERPROFILE%\.docker or the virtual disk under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\wsl on its own.

What Mole lists

For Docker Desktop installed machine-wide from winget:

The program folder, %ProgramData%\DockerDesktop and the desktop shortcut are selected by default.
%APPDATA%\Docker is listed but not selected.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\log is selected by default.
%USERPROFILE%\.docker is never listed, because other command-line tools and Docker-compatible clients read it too.
Docker's virtual disk under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\wsl, which holds your containers, images and volumes, is never listed. Back it up and remove it through Docker's own uninstaller.
An empty folder the uninstaller sometimes leaves behind under Program Files is kept, not offered for removal.

What this test covered

Tested with Docker Desktop 4.91.0 installed through winget, machine scope. Docker Desktop's background service and Windows Subsystem for Linux backend did not start in the test environment, so quitting a running instance and its process list were not exercised. Its login item was seen before removal and confirmed gone afterward, and the uninstall review and removal of the listed items were tested and completed cleanly.