How to uninstall Plex on Windows
Save media, downloads and settings you want to keep before removing Plex. This check used the Plex desktop player 1.115.0 installed machine-wide through elevated winget; Plex Media Server is a separate product.
Remove Plex
Close Plex and use Settings › Apps › Installed apps › Plex › Uninstall. winget uninstall --id Plex.Plex --exact delegates to the vendor uninstaller, but in this test it returned zero while the exact registration and program folder survived. Verify the result rather than treating that code as removal proof. The separate Mole removal invoked the registered NSIS Uninstall.exe /S and completed.
Where data was observed
| Location | What to do |
|---|---|
%ProgramFiles%\Plex\Plex |
Program files, removed through the vendor uninstaller |
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex |
Player data and settings, review before selecting |
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex\Cache and logs |
Player cache and logs, selected by default |
%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Plex |
Owned shortcuts |
HKCU\SOFTWARE\plex.tv\Plex |
Player settings, listed for review and unchecked |
The shared plex.tv parent, other Plex products, Windows App Runtime components and your media libraries are not targets of this player-settings rule. Account sign-in, media playback and recovery of downloaded media were not tested.
Check the result
Test-Path "$env:ProgramFiles\Plex\Plex" -ErrorAction Stop
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Plex" -ErrorAction Stop
Test-Path 'HKCU:\SOFTWARE\plex.tv\Plex' -ErrorAction Stop
winget list --id Plex.Plex --exact
A completed Test-Path query returns True for a surviving path and False for an absent path. Errors leave the result unresolved. All three paths and the exact uninstall registration were absent in the fixed retake; this does not establish that every personal file or registration is gone.
What Mole lists
Program files, cache, logs, owned shortcuts and usage records are selected by default. The whole Local Plex data directory and the exact player-settings key are unchecked review rows. Selecting application data includes them; files go to the Recycle Bin and the settings key is exported before deletion. Another installed copy prevents claiming its shared settings key.
All seven selected outcomes were Removed or Missing. A native screenshot confirmed the settings key was initially unchecked, and an independently read .reg backup contained that product key after removal. Firewall registrations were reported read-only. The shared domain parent remained.
What this test covered
Tested on October 4, 2026, in a Windows 11 ARM64 VM with a Mole development build. This check covered the Plex client, not Plex Media Server. The external-uninstall attempt remained incomplete. Real libraries, other installation channels and the released download were not verified.