How to uninstall Joplin on Mac

Joplin does not keep your notes in ~/Library. Joplin's profile documentation puts them in ~/.config/joplin-desktop: database.sqlite holds every note, notebook and tag, resources holds the attachments, and plugins and settings.json hold your plugins and preferences. Moving only the app to the Trash leaves that folder alone, and a sync target such as Joplin Cloud, Dropbox or a WebDAV server keeps its own copy. This guide covers Joplin from its official download and from the Homebrew cask joplin.

Back up your notes first

  • In Joplin, choose File › Export all and pick JEX. A Joplin forum answer from its developer confirms that exporting from the menu exports everything, and Joplin's import and export page describes JEX as lossless, with tags and timestamps kept. It does not carry note history.
  • If you sync, run one more sync and let it finish before quitting. Check the sync status; a sync target is not an independent backup.
  • For a full copy that includes plugins and settings, then quit Joplin and copy the whole ~/.config/joplin-desktop folder to a separate private backup location, and verify the copy.
  • If you set up more than one profile, the extra profiles sit in profile- folders inside that directory, so a copy of the whole folder takes them too.

Quit Joplin and remove the app

  1. Quit Joplin from the Joplin menu. Closing the window is not enough. In the recorded test it ran nine processes, which Mole's Status page folded into one Joplin row.
  2. Search Activity Monitor for Joplin and check that its processes have exited.
  3. Move Joplin from Finder's Applications folder to the Trash.

The test did not show a login item or background item for Joplin.

Where Joplin keeps its data

After backing up and quitting, press Shift + Command + G in Finder to open each location or its parent. Select only the named Joplin item and move it to the Trash if you no longer need it. Skip missing items; keep the notes profile until you have checked its separate backup.

Location What it holds What to do
~/.config/joplin-desktop Your notes database, attachments, plugins and settings Back up the whole folder and verify your JEX export; keep it for a reinstall, or remove it only after confirming the independent backup
~/Library/Application Support/Joplin The app's Electron local storage and caches Remove after quitting, once you are done with the app
~/Library/Preferences/net.cozic.joplin-desktop.plist and ~/Library/Preferences/net.cozic.joplin-desktop.helper.plist App and helper preferences Remove with the app
~/Library/Saved Application State/net.cozic.joplin-desktop.savedState Window state Remove with the app

Check the result

pgrep -il joplin
ls ~/.config/joplin-desktop
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Joplin"
  • No output from pgrep means Joplin is not running.
  • ls ~/.config/joplin-desktop listing database.sqlite and resources proves only that those entries exist; compare with your independent backup and do not infer that the notes or attachments are complete. "No such file or directory" means the folder is gone; check your independent backup before permanently deleting any Joplin items from the Trash.
  • ls -d printing the Application Support path means that folder is still there; "No such file or directory" means it is gone.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The current macOS joplin cask includes the whole ~/.config/joplin-desktop notes profile in its zap list, along with the Application Support folder, both preferences files and saved window state above. brew uninstall --cask --zap joplin can therefore remove your notes, attachments, plugins and settings. Check your JEX export and independent full-profile backup before using zap. To remove only the app without zap:

brew uninstall --cask joplin

Because ~/.config/joplin-desktop is outside ~/Library, Mole omits zap for the current cask. Mole still removes the rows you selected, including the notes profile if you selected it. A brew command you type yourself never consults Mole's checkboxes. Current Homebrew cask

What Mole lists

For Joplin from the official download, with Remove data and settings with apps turned off:

  • ~/.config/joplin-desktop is listed but not selected. It holds your notes, so check your backup before selecting it.
  • ~/Library/Application Support/Joplin is listed but not selected. The cache folders inside it (Cache, Code Cache, GPUCache, DawnGraphiteCache, DawnWebGPUCache, blob_storage) are separate rows selected by default.
  • The preferences file, the recent-documents list and the temporary caches filed under net.cozic.joplin-desktop are selected by default.
  • Notes on your sync target are not on this Mac and are not listed.

With Remove data and settings with apps on, eligible app-data rows can be preselected, including the notes profile and Application Support folder. Uncheck either one to keep it, and verify the backup before proceeding with its removal.

What this test covered

On September 26, 2026, Joplin 3.7.18 was installed from its official disk image, opened once without setting up sync, and uninstalled with a development build of Mole with every row ticked. Status showed one Joplin row with nine processes using about 936 MB. Thirteen items went to the Trash, including ~/.config/joplin-desktop (about 9 MB, a fresh profile with no notes of the tester's) and ~/Library/Application Support/Joplin, and nothing from the list was left on disk. Earlier, on September 20, 2026, the same version was removed and the full-disk rescan found ~/.config/joplin-desktop, which was added to Mole's list as an unselected row; on September 21 the retest used Mole 1.15 Preview build 282, which did not list it yet, so the folder stayed on disk even with every row ticked. Sync, real notes, plugins and a Homebrew install were not tested.