Uninstall Chrome on Mac without deleting other Google apps

Check Chrome sync and verify important bookmarks on another device. Export anything you need that has not synced first. Password exports contain plaintext, so keep them out of shared folders. Quit Chrome, then move it from Applications to the Trash. Removing the app and removing browsing data are separate decisions. These steps cover Chrome downloaded from Google and the Homebrew cask google-chrome.

Remove the app

Google’s Mac instructions are to quit Chrome and drag it from Applications to the Trash. Deleting profile information is optional, and it comes after the app is gone.

Uninstall Chrome

Read Remove Chrome without losing saved passwords before you delete a profile. Being signed in does not mean the local copy is safe to remove.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The google-chrome cask’s zap list includes your whole profile folder, ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome, plus Google’s shared updater: the com.google.keystone launch jobs, ~/Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate and /Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap google-chrome yourself removes bookmarks, history and saved sign-ins stored on this Mac, and it can stop other Google apps from updating.

Mole never adds --zap for a browser cask. It runs the plain command, which removes the app and leaves the profile and the updater alone:

brew uninstall --cask google-chrome

Leave shared Google files alone

Do not delete ~/Library/Application Support/Google. That is the parent folder for Chrome and for other Google apps. Google’s updater is shared the same way. Mole’s uninstall review does not list that parent folder, or GoogleSoftwareUpdate, as a Chrome leftover. If you still use Google Drive or another Google app, leaving the updater installed is the expected result.

Check browser data

Press Shift + Command + G in Finder and review these locations:

Location What it holds What to do
~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome Every Chrome profile: bookmarks, history, saved passwords, sign-in state and extensions Copy and verify the whole folder if you want to keep it; do not clear it as a cache
~/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome Chrome’s disk cache Safe to remove after Chrome has quit; it rebuilds
~/Library/Caches/com.google.Chrome App cache Safe to remove after Chrome has quit
~/Library/Preferences/com.google.Chrome.plist App-level preferences Remove only for a clean start

If you only want disk space back and plan to keep Chrome, see Free Up Chrome and Safari Storage on Mac Safely instead of deleting the profile.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands after the app is in the Trash:

pgrep -il chrome
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome"
launchctl list | grep -i keystone
  • No output from pgrep means Chrome and its helpers have quit. A listed Google Chrome or Google Chrome Helper process means a copy is still running, possibly from a second installation. A chrome_crashpad_handler line on its own can belong to another app built on Chromium; check its path in Activity Monitor before quitting it.
  • The profile path printing back means your browser data is still on this Mac. That is expected unless you chose to remove it; a retained profile folder does not run by itself.
  • A com.google.keystone line means Google’s shared updater is still loaded. Leave it if any other Google app is installed.

What to keep for a Chrome reinstall

For troubleshooting, export bookmarks and verify passwords, extensions, and sign-in state on another device before copying your Chrome profile directory. Do not start by deleting ~/Library/Application Support/Google; that broadens the action to other Google apps. After reinstalling, decide whether a particular Chrome profile needs resetting.

Links opening in Safari afterward may simply reflect a default-browser change. If Chrome still launches, identify the actual app path in Applications and the Dock; another copy may exist. Emptying profile data is not a substitute for finding that app.

What Mole lists

When you remove it with Mole:

  • ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome is shown as browser personal data and is not selected. You can select it on purpose, and Mole asks you to confirm before moving it to the Trash. If the profile contains extension, wallet or key data, Mole marks it as sensitive, and you can still tick it on its own the same way.
  • ~/Library/Caches/com.google.Chrome, Chrome’s preferences file and saved window state are selected by default.
  • ~/Library/Caches/Google/Chrome is listed but not selected.
  • ~/Library/Application Support/Google, Keystone and GoogleSoftwareUpdate, Chrome for Testing files and caches that belong to Chrome Beta or other Google products are not listed.

A review list cannot tell you which Chrome profile is unused. Check that in Chrome first.

What this test covered

An existing Chrome installation was first inspected without being removed. On September 23, 2026, Chrome 154 was installed and uninstalled with a development build of Mole in which a test hook selected every listed item; the record does not name the installer used. That run showed four places where Mole claimed too much: Chrome for Testing preferences, a crash-reporter cache shared with other apps, Google’s shared updater brought in from the Homebrew zap list, and caches belonging to Chrome Beta and Chrome for Testing. All four were fixed afterwards; this record does not include a rerun on a release build. The browser profile stayed unselected by design, and Chrome sync was not tested.