How to uninstall Lens on Windows

Lens keeps its own settings and extension data in your profile, and none of it goes away when you uninstall the app. Your clusters are defined in your kubeconfig, which belongs to kubectl and your other tools, so keep that file whatever you do with Lens. This guide covers Lens installed per-user from the Mirantis.Lens winget package.

Quit Lens first

Close every Lens window. Lens runs several processes, so check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for any Lens.exe still listed before you uninstall. Lens did not add a startup entry in this test.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

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

winget uninstall --id Mirantis.Lens

Where the data lives

Location	What it holds	What to do
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Lens`	Program files	The uninstaller removes it
`%APPDATA%\Lens`	Settings, preferences and local state	Keep it if you might reinstall; remove it for a clean start
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\lens-desktop-updater`	Downloaded update installers	Safe to remove
`%USERPROFILE%\.k8slens`	Lens extensions and cluster-related data	Back it up if you want the same setup again; otherwise remove it
`HKCU\Software\Classes\lens`	The `lens://` link registration	Safe to remove once the app is gone
Your user `Path` variable	An entry ending in `Lens\resources\cli\bin` that Lens added	The uninstaller leaves it; remove that one entry in Settings › System › About › Advanced system settings › Environment Variables

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process Lens -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id Mirantis.Lens
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\Lens"
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\Lens"
Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.k8slens"
[Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path', 'User') -split ';' | Select-String 'Lens'

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 a window or helper is still open.
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 "$env:APPDATA\Lens" returning True means your settings are still there, which is expected unless you removed them yourself.
Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.k8slens" returning True means the extension folder is still there; remove it yourself once you no longer need it.
A line from the last command means the Path entry Lens added is still there. No matching output from a confirmed successful query means it is gone.

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 %APPDATA%\Lens, .k8slens or your Path variable.

Account and subscription

Uninstalling does not cancel a Lens subscription or sign you out of your Lens ID. Manage the subscription from your Lens account.

What Mole lists

For Lens installed per-user from winget:

The program folder goes with the app row, together with a row grouping Windows' own records of when you opened the program, selected by default.
%APPDATA%\Lens is listed but not selected, since it holds your settings.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\lens-desktop-updater, which holds only downloaded update installers, is selected by default.
The lens:// link registration is selected by default and backed up to a .reg file before removal.
The rule added on September 29 lists %USERPROFILE%\.k8slens for review without selecting it. Its removal has not been retested on the VM; check the review in the version you use.
The Path entry Lens added is not listed. Mole does not change environment variables.

What this test covered

Tested on 2026-09-28 with Lens 2026.9.181013 installed through winget, per-user scope, on an ARM64 virtual machine. Its NSIS uninstaller ran silently. Every listed row was ticked and removed in this test. Not verified: a signed-in Lens ID, a connected cluster, and installed extensions.