How to uninstall Neovim on Windows

Neovim keeps your configuration and any plugin data outside its own program folder, so removing the editor does not touch either one. This guide covers Neovim installed machine-wide from the Neovim.Neovim winget package.

Quit Neovim first

Neovim runs as a terminal program, one nvim.exe process per window you opened it in. Save your buffers and close every terminal running it, then check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for any nvim.exe still listed before you uninstall.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

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

winget uninstall --id Neovim.Neovim

Where the data lives

Location	What it holds	What to do
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\nvim`	Your `init.vim` or `init.lua` and any configuration you add, documented by Neovim as its Windows config folder	Back this up if you want the same setup after reinstalling
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\nvim-data`	Neovim's own state, including its log file and, once you install any, plugin data	Safe to remove; Neovim recreates it as needed

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process nvim -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id Neovim.Neovim
Test-Path "$env:ProgramFiles\Neovim"
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\nvim-data"
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\nvim"

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 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 "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\nvim-data" returning True means Neovim's own state, including its log, is still there, which is expected unless you removed it yourself.
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\nvim" returning True means your config folder is still there; back it up before removing it if you might reinstall.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs the same MSI uninstaller Settings › Apps uses and removes the same program files; it does not touch %LOCALAPPDATA%\nvim or %LOCALAPPDATA%\nvim-data.

What Mole lists

For Neovim installed machine-wide from winget:

The program folder and the public Start Menu shortcut are selected by default.
HKCU\SOFTWARE\neovim.io is listed but not selected.
In this test the MSI uninstaller had already removed the program folder, the Start Menu shortcut and that registry key before Mole's review ran, so all three showed as already gone and nothing more needed to move.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\nvim and %LOCALAPPDATA%\nvim-data are not part of this list; check them yourself if you want a clean reinstall.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\nvim-data is listed as personal data, unchecked and excluded from bulk selection.

What this test covered

Tested with Neovim 0.12.5 installed through winget, machine scope, elevated. No configuration file was created during the test, so %LOCALAPPDATA%\nvim held nothing to back up; %LOCALAPPDATA%\nvim-data held only a log file from the terminal session.

On 2026-10-04, the added residue rules were checked with controlled files in the Windows VM using the current source: exact ownership, another installed copy and source-path absence after recycling. This did not repeat the vendor uninstall or verify a released package.