How to uninstall Perplexity on Windows

Check the conversations you need on perplexity.ai and save any files you downloaded, then quit the app. Threads live in your Perplexity account, not in the app's folders on this PC, so removing the app does not remove them. This guide covers Perplexity installed per-user from the vendor's installer. Uninstalling does not cancel a Perplexity subscription or delete the account; cancel a subscription where you bought it.

Quit Perplexity first

Quit Perplexity. It runs as several Perplexity AI.exe processes, so check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for any still listed before you uninstall. Perplexity adds itself to Settings › Apps › Startup as Perplexity AI; turn that entry off if you only want it to stop opening at sign-in.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

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

winget uninstall --id Perplexity.Perplexity

The uninstaller is NSIS and removes the program in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\PerplexityAI and the shortcuts. In this test it left the app's data folder, the downloaded-update folder, the perplexity-app link and the sign-in startup entry.

Where the data lives

Location	What it holds	What to do
`%APPDATA%\Perplexity AI`	Sign-in state, app settings, and caches in `Cache`, `Code Cache`, `GPUCache` and `logs`	Remove it once your threads show on the website; the caches inside are safe to remove on their own
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\PerplexityAI-updater`	Downloaded update installers	Safe to remove
`HKCU\Software\Classes\perplexity-app`	The `perplexity-app://` link that opens the app	Safe to remove once the app is gone
Windows Defender Firewall rules named `perplexity ai.exe`	Two inbound rules, TCP and UDP, that Windows created when the app first went online and you answered the firewall prompt	Remove them in Windows Security › Firewall & network protection › Advanced settings › Inbound Rules; this needs administrator access

Perplexity's browser extensions and its Comet browser are separate installations and are not removed with this app.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process "Perplexity AI" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\PerplexityAI"
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\Perplexity AI"
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\PerplexityAI-updater"
Test-Path "HKCU:\Software\Classes\perplexity-app"
Get-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "perplexity ai.exe" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

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.
The first Test-Path returning False means the program folder is gone; True means files remain there.
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\Perplexity AI" returning True means the local sign-in state and caches are still there, which is expected unless you removed them yourself.
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\PerplexityAI-updater" returning True means downloaded update installers are still there.
Test-Path "HKCU:\Software\Classes\perplexity-app" returning True means the link registration still points at the removed program.
The last command listing rules means the firewall rules are still there; no matching output from a confirmed successful query means there are none.

If you installed it with winget

The Perplexity.Perplexity winget package installs the same vendor installer, and winget uninstall runs the same uninstaller Settings › Apps uses. It does not remove the data folder, the update folder, the link, the startup entry or the firewall rules either.

What Mole lists

For Perplexity installed per-user from the vendor's installer:

The program folder goes with the app row. The desktop and Start Menu shortcuts are selected by default.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\PerplexityAI-updater, which holds only downloaded update installers, is selected by default.
%APPDATA%\Perplexity AI is listed but not selected, since it holds your sign-in state and settings. The caches inside it (Cache, Code Cache, Crashpad, DawnGraphiteCache, DawnWebGPUCache, GPUCache, logs) are listed on their own and selected by default.
The perplexity-app:// link and the Perplexity AI sign-in startup entry are selected by default when they still point at the removed program, and are backed up to a .reg file first.
A row grouping Windows' own records of when you opened the program is selected by default.
The two firewall rules are named in the result once the program is gone, but Mole does not remove them; remove them yourself as described above.

What this test covered

Tested on September 29, 2026 with Perplexity 1.7.0, the arm64 build of the vendor's installer, installed per-user from an elevated session. The uninstaller is NSIS and ran silently. Every listed row was ticked and removed in this test; the two firewall rules stayed, as described above. Not verified: a signed-in account, subscriptions, browser extensions or the Comet browser.