How to uninstall cmux on Mac

cmux writes to more than a dozen places in your home folder the first time it opens, including a "cmux Computer Use" helper app it copies into your Application Support folder and runs from there. Your settings live in ~/.config/cmux and your session data in ~/.cmuxterm and ~/Library/Application Support/cmux, so back those up first if you want them later. This guide covers the official DMG from cmux's GitHub releases and the Homebrew cask cmux.

Quit cmux

Quit cmux from its menu or with Command + Q. Check Activity Monitor for a lingering cmux process and for a separate "cmux Computer Use" helper process before deleting files.

Move cmux to Trash

Open the Applications folder in Finder and move cmux to Trash.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The cmux cask's zap list has 13 entries, including ~/.cmuxterm and ~/.config/cmux, which sit outside ~/Library. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap cmux yourself moves every item in that list to the Trash regardless of what you ticked in Mole, including your ~/.cmuxterm session mappings and your ~/.config/cmux settings.

When Mole removes a Homebrew-installed cmux, it always leaves --zap out, because Mole runs a zap list only when every path in it is inside ~/Library. The rows you selected in Mole's own list are still moved to the Trash.

brew uninstall --cask cmux

Ordinary cask removal quits the main app, unloads launch jobs matching application.com.cmuxterm.cua.*, and removes the managed cmux command link along with the app. It keeps the zap-listed settings and session data; these ordinary steps do not depend on Mole’s data checkboxes. Back them up first if you plan to run --zap later.

Review app data

After backing up wanted settings and sessions and stopping both processes, press Shift + Command + G in Finder to open each exact path below. Move only the items you no longer need to the Trash and skip missing paths. Keep the session/configuration folders you still want, and leave shared parents and the unclaimed temporary entries below alone.

For the temporary cache, run the read-only command getconf DARWIN_USER_CACHE_DIR in Terminal, then open its returned path with Finder Shift + Command + G. Move only the com.cmuxterm.app child folder to the Trash if it exists. Leave the cache parent and unclaimed sibling entries alone; if the command fails, skip this location.

~/.local/state/cmux was empty in this test and is not part of Mole's list, because Mole leaves the whole ~/.local/state folder alone. Two entries in the per-user temporary folder, cmux-cli-shims and the per-user cmux automation temporary entry, are not listed either: only their names point to cmux, which is not enough for Mole to claim them.

Check the result

pgrep -il cmux
ls -d "$HOME/.cmuxterm" "$HOME/.config/cmux"
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/cmux" "$HOME/Library/Application Support/com.cmuxterm.app"

• No output from pgrep means no cmux process, including the "cmux Computer Use" helper, is running. A listed process means something is still open; quit it before deleting more.
• Each ls -d printing a path means that location is still there; "No such file or directory" means it is gone. A surviving ~/.cmuxterm or ~/.config/cmux is expected if you left those rows unticked to keep your sessions or settings.

What Mole lists

For cmux installed from its official DMG:

• ~/Library/Application Support/com.cmuxterm.app, its preferences file, both cache locations, the crash-reporter cache, both HTTP storage entries, both log files and the temporary cache folder are listed and selected by default.
• ~/Library/Application Support/cmux (which also holds the copied "cmux Computer Use.app" helper), ~/.cmuxterm, and ~/.config/cmux are listed for review. With Remove data and settings with apps off they start unchecked; with it on, eligible own data can start checked. Inspect and uncheck the session, settings or helper-parent rows you want to retain.
• ~/.local/state/cmux, cmux-cli-shims and the per-user cmux automation temporary entry are not listed.

For a Homebrew install, the zap list reaches outside ~/Library, so Mole leaves --zap out and removes only the rows you selected.

What this test covered

cmux 0.64.25 was downloaded directly from its GitHub release, copied into Applications, and quit and removed on September 25, 2026 with a development build of Mole. Every listed row was ticked for this test, including the review rows, and all 14 rows, the app plus 13 data locations, went to the Trash; the copied "cmux Computer Use.app" helper went with the Application Support/cmux folder it lived in. In that run ~/.cmuxterm and ~/.config/cmux were listed only through Homebrew's zap list; Mole now lists them by cmux's bundle id as well. Afterward an empty ~/.local/state/cmux and the two temporary entries remained, none of them on Mole's list. The Homebrew cask, sign-in and real coding-agent sessions were not tested.