How to uninstall Zotero on Windows

Your Zotero library is a folder of its own, and removing the app does not remove it. Zotero's documentation calls it the data directory: by default %USERPROFILE%\Zotero, holding zotero.sqlite (every item, note and tag), the storage folder with your PDFs and snapshots, and folders such as styles and translators. You may have moved it elsewhere. Find it and back it up before you make any changes. This guide covers Zotero installed machine-wide from the DigitalScholar.Zotero winget package.

Find and back up the library

In Zotero, open Settings › Advanced › Files and Folders and click Show Data Directory to see where it opened; it is %USERPROFILE%\Zotero unless you changed it. If you sync with a zotero.org account, sync once more first, and check that attachments synced through Zotero Storage or WebDAV are there too. Quit Zotero, then copy the whole data directory, including zotero.sqlite and storage, to a backup location; Zotero's own documentation warns that copying while Zotero is open can damage the data.

Quit Zotero first

Quit Zotero from its window or menu. Check Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) for any zotero.exe still listed before you uninstall.

Remove the app with its own uninstaller

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

winget uninstall --id DigitalScholar.Zotero

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

Where the data lives

Zotero also writes a handful of registry values under HKCU\Software\Mozilla\Firefox, since it is built on Firefox's application platform; they are not part of this list, and you can leave them alone.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the uninstall finishes:

Get-Process zotero -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
winget list --id DigitalScholar.Zotero
Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\Zotero"
Get-ItemProperty "HKCU:\SOFTWARE\Zotero" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

• 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.
• Test-Path printing True means your library is still there, which is what you want. False is only fine if you moved the data directory elsewhere; check that location instead.
• 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 you installed it with winget

winget uninstall runs the same NSIS uninstaller Settings › Apps uses and removes the same program files; it does not touch your library, your local profile or HKCU\SOFTWARE\Zotero on its own.

Account and subscription

Uninstalling does not delete your zotero.org account, the online library, or a storage subscription. Browser connectors are separate extensions you remove in each browser; the Word and LibreOffice plugins are installed into those apps, not into Zotero's folders, so neither is covered here.

What Mole lists

For Zotero installed machine-wide from winget:

• The program folder and both the Start Menu and desktop shortcuts are selected by default.
• %USERPROFILE%\Zotero is not listed, so your library stays unless you remove it yourself, and it is never touched if you moved it elsewhere either.
• %ProgramData%\Zotero, %LOCALAPPDATA%\Zotero, %APPDATA%\Zotero and HKCU\SOFTWARE\Zotero are each listed but not selected.
• File-extension registrations Zotero adds for formats such as .bib and .ris, and the machine-wide zotero:// link registration, are not part of this list.

What this test covered

Tested with Zotero 10.0.3 installed through winget, machine-wide scope, with no items or account signed in. %USERPROFILE%\Zotero held 768 files after normal use; it is not part of Mole's review, so back it up yourself as described above. Not verified: a signed-in zotero.org account, browser connectors and the Word or LibreOffice plugins.