Uninstall Keka on Mac

Archives you create or extract with Keka are ordinary files of your own, and uninstalling Keka does not touch them. This guide covers the official DMG from Keka's GitHub releases and the Homebrew cask keka; both install the same sandboxed app under the same bundle identifier, com.aone.keka, so the paths below apply either way.

Quit Keka and remove the app

Copy wanted Keka settings and container data outside the folders below before removing them. Keep your archives at their saved locations.

Quit Keka from its menu, then move Keka.app from Applications to the Trash. Keka's context-menu shortcuts (Send to Keka, Extract using Keka, Compress using Keka) and its Finder extension stop working once the app is gone; you don't need to disable them separately first.

Where Keka keeps its data

Keka has been sandboxed since version 1.1.0, both the direct-download and Mac App Store builds, so its data sits inside App Group and container paths rather than loose files in your home folder.

Keka's own uninstall instructions describe removing the same container, group container, and Finder-extension container by hand with rm -r and defaults remove. Mole's rows cover the same paths through its ordinary review-and-Trash flow instead of raw shell commands.

If you installed KekaExternalHelper

KekaExternalHelper is a separate helper for setting Keka as the default extraction application, not a repair tool for Finder extension controls. If you downloaded it, locate the copy where you extracted or moved it, quit it if running and move that helper app to the Trash too. Removing it does not choose a new default extraction app; use Finder's Get Info › Open with on an archive to select the app you want.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands in Terminal:

pgrep -il keka
ls -d ~/Library/Containers/com.aone.keka
pluginkit -m | grep -i keka

No output from pgrep means no process name matched Keka; check any match's executable path. ls -d prints the container's path if it's still on this Mac, or "No such file or directory" once it's gone; a permission error leaves its state unknown. If pluginkit -m succeeds without a read error, no Keka line means its returned registration list contains no Keka match; this does not prove that every extension binary is absent.

If you installed it with Homebrew

Mole skips --zap when its list reaches unchecked or shared data, or cannot be fully checked, and still cleans the leftovers you selected.

Running brew uninstall --cask --zap keka yourself runs a zap list that trashes the same container, group container, Finder-extension container, and Application Scripts paths in the table above, along with the preferences and saved state, whatever you left checked in Mole. It also names a legacy ~/Library/Application Support/Keka folder from before Keka was sandboxed (pre-1.1.0); a current install normally has nothing there, but zap trashes it too if it exists. To remove only the app:

brew uninstall --cask keka

Homebrew Keka cask

What Mole lists

The main app's sandbox container, its App Group container, and the Application Scripts entry for the main app are selected by default. The group must match Keka’s exact signed app identity, and Mole keeps it if another installed app claims it or ownership cannot be confirmed. The Finder extension's container and Application Scripts entry are selected by default when Mole confirms the extension inside Keka.app and its ID continues Keka's own. Uncheck extension data you want to retain.

What this test covered

Keka was installed from the Homebrew cask keka and uninstalled with a development build of Mole on September 17, 2026. The App Group container and main sandbox container were removed cleanly; the Finder extension's container appeared as a review row. No new leftover was found. KekaExternalHelper, the separate default-extraction association helper, and the Mac App Store build specifically were not part of this test.