How to uninstall Subtitle Edit on Windows

Subtitle Edit does not keep your subtitle files; they stay wherever you saved them. What it keeps on this PC is its settings folder, which also holds the video player library it uses and any dictionaries or tools you downloaded from inside the app. Back up that folder if you want the same setup after reinstalling. This guide covers Subtitle Edit installed machine-wide from the official installer, the same file the Nikse.SubtitleEdit winget package uses.

Quit Subtitle Edit first

Save open subtitles and close the window, then check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for any SubtitleEdit.exe still listed.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

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

winget uninstall --id Nikse.SubtitleEdit

Because it is installed for all users, Windows asks for administrator approval before the uninstaller runs. Subtitle Edit needs the .NET Desktop Runtime, which winget may have installed with it; the runtime is shared by other apps and stays.

Where the data lives

Location	What it holds	What to do
`%ProgramFiles%\Subtitle Edit`	Program files	The uninstaller removes it
`%APPDATA%\Subtitle Edit`	Settings, the video player library, and dictionaries or tools downloaded in the app	Back up if you want the same setup; remove for a clean start
.NET Desktop Runtime in Installed apps	A runtime other apps use too	Leave it

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process SubtitleEdit -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id Nikse.SubtitleEdit
Test-Path "$env:ProgramFiles\Subtitle Edit"
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\Subtitle Edit"

No output from Get-Process only means this query observed no matching process; a suppressed error leaves the running state unknown.
A completed winget list query with no match means the app is no longer registered; a matching row means the uninstall did not finish.
The first Test-Path returning False means the program folder is gone.
Test-Path "$env:APPDATA\Subtitle Edit" returning True means your settings and downloads are still there, which is expected unless you removed them yourself.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs the same uninstaller Settings › Apps uses; it does not touch %APPDATA%\Subtitle Edit or the .NET runtime.

What Mole lists

For Subtitle Edit installed machine-wide:

The program folder, the Start Menu folder, the desktop shortcut and a row grouping Windows' own records of when you opened the program are selected by default.
%APPDATA%\Subtitle Edit is listed but not selected, since it holds your settings.
The .NET Desktop Runtime is not listed; it is its own app.

What this test covered

Tested on September 27, 2026 with Subtitle Edit 5.2.0.0 installed machine-wide from the official x64 installer on an ARM64 test VM. No subtitles were edited and nothing was downloaded from inside the app. Every listed row was ticked and removed in this test.