How to uninstall SumatraPDF on Windows

SumatraPDF keeps a single small settings file, with no history of the documents themselves, just your preferences and the list of recently opened files and their reading positions. The documents you opened stay wherever you keep them; removing the app never touches them. This guide covers SumatraPDF installed machine-wide from the SumatraPDF.SumatraPDF winget package.

Quit SumatraPDF first

Close any open document windows and quit SumatraPDF. Check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for any SumatraPDF.exe still listed before you uninstall.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

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

winget uninstall --id SumatraPDF.SumatraPDF

This is a machine-wide install, so the uninstaller asks for administrator access.

Where the data lives

Location	What it holds	What to do
`%LOCALAPPDATA%\SumatraPDF`	Settings, the recently opened files list and reading positions, in a single `SumatraPDF-settings.txt` file	Back it up if you want to keep your recent-files list and reading positions after a reinstall; safe to remove for a clean start

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

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

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 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\SumatraPDF" returning True means the settings file is still there, which is expected unless you removed it yourself.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs SumatraPDF's own silent uninstall command and removes the same program files; it does not touch %LOCALAPPDATA%\SumatraPDF on its own.

What Mole lists

For SumatraPDF installed machine-wide from winget:

The program folder and the desktop shortcut are selected by default.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\SumatraPDF is listed but not selected.
File-type registrations SumatraPDF adds so Windows knows it can open formats such as PDF, ePub, and comic archives are not part of this list.

What this test covered

Tested with SumatraPDF 3.6.1 installed through winget, machine-wide scope, with the preview handler enabled. No document was opened during the test.