How to uninstall WorkBuddy on Windows

WorkBuddy is Tencent's AI office agent. Almost everything it keeps on your PC sits in %USERPROFILE%\.workbuddy: your sessions and their database, sign-in state and the device id. The files it produces for you go into %USERPROFILE%\WorkBuddy, your workspace, which WorkBuddy's FAQ calls the place to look for earlier task output. Removing the app leaves both. %USERPROFILE%\WorkBuddy holds your own documents, so copy out everything you want before you delete it, and never delete it just because the app is gone. This guide covers WorkBuddy installed per-user from the Tencent.WorkBuddy winget package.

Before you quit

1. Open WorkBuddy's automation list. If you plan to reinstall and keep .workbuddy, delete the scheduled tasks you no longer want so they do not start again.
2. Copy anything you want from %USERPROFILE%\WorkBuddy to another folder.
3. Uninstalling does not delete your WorkBuddy account. WorkBuddy's account cancellation page describes how to delete it.

Quit WorkBuddy

WorkBuddy starts at sign-in and ran six WorkBuddy.exe processes in this test. Quit it from its tray icon or window, then check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) that none is still listed. Its startup entry is named WorkBuddy.WorkBuddy; you can turn it off in Settings › Apps › Startup, and the next steps cover removing it.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

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

winget uninstall --id Tencent.WorkBuddy

The uninstaller removes the program in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\WorkBuddy, the Start Menu and desktop shortcuts, the Open with entry, the right-click entries on folders and the file types it registered for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Markdown files. In this test it left %USERPROFILE%\.workbuddy, %USERPROFILE%\WorkBuddy, an empty %APPDATA%\WorkBuddy, the downloaded update in %LOCALAPPDATA%\@genieworkbuddy-desktop-updater, the workbuddy:// link and the startup entry, which then pointed at a program that no longer existed.

Where the data lives

Firewall rules

In this test WorkBuddy's document engine had two Windows Firewall rules, WorkBuddy editor_sdk inbound and WorkBuddy editor_sdk outbound, and the uninstaller left both. The test ran WorkBuddy as administrator, so a normal install may not create them. If they are there, remove them in Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security under Inbound Rules and Outbound Rules; this needs administrator access.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process WorkBuddy -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id Tencent.WorkBuddy
Test-Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Programs\WorkBuddy"
Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\WorkBuddy", "$env:USERPROFILE\.workbuddy", "$env:APPDATA\WorkBuddy", "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\@genieworkbuddy-desktop-updater"
Test-Path HKCU:\Software\Classes\workbuddy
Get-ItemProperty HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run -Name WorkBuddy.WorkBuddy -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Get-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "WorkBuddy*" -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 it 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.
• The second command prints one True or False per folder, in the order listed. True for your workspace or .workbuddy is expected if you chose to keep them.
• The third Test-Path returning False means the link registration is gone; True means it is still there.
• Get-ItemProperty returning values means the entry remains. With no output, check for permission or other query errors before deciding that it is absent.
• If Get-NetFirewallRule succeeds without suppressed errors, no output means no WorkBuddy firewall rule is left. Listed rules are the ones described above.

If you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs the same uninstaller Settings › Apps uses and removes the same program files; it does not touch .workbuddy, your workspace, the update cache, the link, the startup entry or the firewall rules.

Account and subscription

Uninstalling does not cancel a paid WorkBuddy plan or delete your account. Use the account cancellation page above for that.

What Windows apps leave after uninstalling also covers leftover data and background processes.

What Mole lists

For WorkBuddy installed per-user from winget:

• The program folder goes with the app row. The Start Menu and desktop shortcuts are selected by default.
• %USERPROFILE%\.workbuddy, %USERPROFILE%\WorkBuddy and %APPDATA%\WorkBuddy are listed but not selected. Tick %USERPROFILE%\WorkBuddy only after you have copied out your documents.
• %LOCALAPPDATA%\@genieworkbuddy-desktop-updater, which holds only a downloaded installer, is selected by default.
• The workbuddy:// link, the Open with entry, the folder right-click entries, the file types WorkBuddy registered and the WorkBuddy.WorkBuddy startup entry are selected by default and backed up to a .reg file first, when the uninstaller has left them; in this test it had removed all but the link and the startup entry.
• 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 after the uninstall and not removed, since that needs an administrator.
• %LOCALAPPDATA%\CodeBuddyExtension\Data, TuringShield and the TDSData folders are not listed, since other Tencent apps use them.

What this test covered

Tested on September 30, 2026 with WorkBuddy 5.6.2, the x64 per-user installer from the winget package, run under emulation on an ARM64 virtual machine. The uninstaller is NSIS and Mole ran it silently. The test installed WorkBuddy from an elevated session and the installer then started WorkBuddy as administrator, so .workbuddy belonged to the Administrators group and needed administrator access to remove; a normal per-user install does not. Every other listed row was ticked and removed in this test. An earlier run did not list .workbuddy, the workspace or the update cache; they are listed now, as described above. Not verified: signing in, running tasks and automations, and CodeBuddy on the same PC.