How to uninstall kubectl on Windows

Keep cluster connection settings and any manifests before removing kubectl. Removing the client is separate from deleting a Kubernetes cluster.

Quit the app

Close kubectl and any work it is running, then use Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) to check for its remaining processes.

Use its uninstaller

Open Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find kubectl and choose Uninstall. Use the vendor uninstaller rather than deleting its program folder.

winget uninstall --id Kubernetes.kubectl --exact

For this installation, winget invokes the registered removal method. It is not a separate cleanup of user data.

Check the result

winget list --id Kubernetes.kubectl --exact

Read winget's result as well as its exit status: an explicit no-installed-package result concerns only this package, while a source, access or query error leaves the answer unknown. The commands do not delete anything.

What Mole lists

The recorded review contained no extra rows. This does not prove that no data exists elsewhere.

The winget portable package was removed. Mole listed no extra rows. The test did not configure a real cluster and does not show what happens to existing kubeconfig files.

What this test covered

Recorded on 2026-10-20: kubectl, version 1.37.1, per-user, vendor uninstaller, winget package Kubernetes.kubectl. The evidence comes from an ARM64 Windows test environment and a development build of Mole. It does not certify the current downloadable package or removal of real signed-in accounts, synchronized data or production projects.

Vendor documentation. The paths and removal results above are observations from the Windows test unless explicitly attributed to the vendor.