How to uninstall Aliyun Drive on Mac

Aliyun Drive (阿里云盘, installed as aDrive) keeps your files in the cloud, so removing the Mac app does not delete what you uploaded. What needs care is on this Mac: unfinished transfers, files you downloaded, and any local folder you set to sync or back up. Let transfers finish, open important files on the web at aliyundrive.com, and copy what you want to keep out of any synced folder before you remove the app. These steps cover the official download and the Homebrew cask adrive.

Save what matters first

  1. Open the transfer list and wait for uploads and downloads to finish, or cancel the ones you no longer need.
  2. Sign in to Aliyun Drive on the web and open a few recent uploads to confirm they are complete.
  3. If you set a local folder to sync or back up with Aliyun Drive, copy the files you want to a folder outside it and open the copies. Moving a file out of a folder that is still syncing is not the same as copying it, and it can change the cloud copy too.

Files the app already downloaded are ordinary files in the folder you chose. Uninstalling does not remove them, and it does not cancel a membership or delete your account.

Quit and remove the app

  1. Make Aliyun Drive the active app and press Command + Q. Closing the window can leave it running.
  2. Search for aDrive in Activity Monitor and confirm its processes have exited.
  3. Move aDrive from Finder's Applications folder to the Trash.
  4. Open System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions. Aliyun Drive registered a login item in the test; if it is still listed, turn it off.

For a downloaded copy without a supplied uninstaller, this is the standard way to remove an app downloaded from the internet. The official download page is aliyundrive.com.

Where Aliyun Drive keeps local data

In Finder, press Shift + Command + G and open each location that exists.

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Application Support/aDrive The app's local data, about 4 MB after a first launch in the test, including its web caches Remove when you no longer use Aliyun Drive
~/Library/Logs/aDrive Logs Safe to remove
~/Library/Preferences/com.alicloud.smartdrive.plist Preferences Remove for a clean reinstall
~/Library/Saved Application State/com.alicloud.smartdrive.savedState Saved window state Safe to remove

The Application Support folder, preferences and saved state come from the Homebrew cask's zap list; the logs folder was seen on the test Mac. None of them hold your cloud files. Your download folder and any synced folder are not in this list; keep them until you have checked their contents.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands in Terminal:

pgrep -il adrive
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/aDrive" "$HOME/Library/Logs/aDrive"
  • No output from pgrep means Aliyun Drive is no longer running. A listed process means it is still open; quit it before touching its folders.
  • ls prints each folder that still exists and reports "No such file or directory" for the rest. In the September 20 test, both stayed because their rows were left unchecked. Copy any wanted local data elsewhere before removing them.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The adrive cask's zap list trashes ~/Library/Application Support/aDrive, the preferences file and the saved window state. It does not name a download or sync folder. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap adrive yourself does not look at Mole's checkboxes. Homebrew aDrive cask

Mole checks the zap list first. Application Support/aDrive starts unticked with Remove data and settings with apps off, the default; enabling it can preselect eligible app-owned review data. Uncheck it to retain that folder, which also prevents zap. Mole still removes only the app and selected rows.

To remove only the app:

brew uninstall --cask adrive

What Mole lists

When you remove it with Mole:

  • ~/Library/Application Support/aDrive and ~/Library/Logs/aDrive are listed but not selected. They are named after the app rather than its bundle ID. This describes Remove data and settings with apps off; enabling it can preselect eligible app-owned review data.
  • The web cache folders inside Application Support/aDrive, such as Cache and Code Cache, are separate rows selected by default.
  • The com.alicloud.smartdrive preferences and saved window state are selected by default.
  • Your download folder and any synced folder are not listed.

What this test covered

On September 20, 2026, aDrive was copied from the official download into Applications, opened once without signing in, then removed with Mole 1.15 Preview (build 280). The app and its preferences went to the Trash. Application Support/aDrive and Logs/aDrive were listed, left unselected and stayed on disk, and the login item no longer appeared in Mole's startup list afterwards. Signed-in sync, backup, uploads and downloads were not tested, and the Homebrew cask was not uninstalled in this test.

On September 26, 2026, aDrive was installed again from the official download and opened once; it stopped at the sign-in page and wrote no files Mole could attribute to it. Status showed one aDrive row, a single process at about 64 MB. Uninstalling with a development build of Mole moved the app to the Trash and no other app-attributed files were recorded.