How to uninstall Joplin on Windows

Joplin keeps your notes database, attachments, plugins and settings in one profile folder on this PC, and removing the app leaves that folder alone. A sync target such as Joplin Cloud, Dropbox or a WebDAV server keeps its own copy, but if you never set up sync, the folder below is your only copy. This guide covers Joplin installed per-user from the Joplin.Joplin winget package.

Back up your notes first

In Joplin, choose File › Export all and pick JEX, which Joplin describes as a lossless format that keeps notebooks, tags and timestamps together. For a full copy including plugins and settings, quit Joplin and copy the whole profile folder in the table below somewhere else. If you sync, run one more sync and let it finish before you quit.

Quit Joplin first

Quit Joplin from its window or tray icon; closing the window is not enough on its own. Joplin runs several processes for one window, so check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for any Joplin.exe still listed before you uninstall.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

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

winget uninstall --id Joplin.Joplin

Where the data lives

Location	What it holds	What to do
`%USERPROFILE%\.config\joplin-desktop`	Your notes database, attachments, plugins and settings (Joplin's profile documentation)	Keep it until your export or sync is confirmed; it is your notes
`%APPDATA%\Joplin`	The app window's own state and rebuildable caches	Safe to remove once Joplin is gone
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\@joplinapp-desktop-updater`	Downloaded update installers	Safe to remove

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process Joplin -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id Joplin.Joplin
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Joplin"
Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.config\joplin-desktop"

No output from Get-Process only means this query observed no matching process; a suppressed error leaves the running state unknown.
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:USERPROFILE\.config\joplin-desktop" returning True means your notes are still on this PC, which is expected unless you removed them yourself; make sure your export or sync target has everything first.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs the same NSIS uninstaller Settings › Apps uses and removes the same program files; it does not touch %USERPROFILE%\.config\joplin-desktop or %APPDATA%\Joplin on its own.

What Mole lists

For Joplin installed per-user from winget:

The program folder and the Start Menu shortcut are selected by default.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\@joplinapp-desktop-updater, which holds only downloaded installers, is listed but not selected in this test; tick it yourself if you want it gone, since nothing inside it is your data.
%APPDATA%\Joplin is listed but not selected. The caches inside it (Cache, Code Cache, DawnGraphiteCache, DawnWebGPUCache, GPUCache) are listed on their own and selected by default.
A joplin:// link registration is listed too, selected by default, after backing it up to a .reg file.
%USERPROFILE%\.config\joplin-desktop, where your notes live, is not listed.
Notes on your sync target are not on this PC and are not listed.

What this test covered

Tested with Joplin 3.7.18 installed through winget, per-user scope, opened once without setting up sync. Not verified: sync, plugins, and removing an install with real notes.