How to uninstall LibreOffice on Mac

Removing LibreOffice does not touch the documents you saved, but your LibreOffice user profile, with its extensions, custom dictionaries, templates, AutoCorrect entries and AutoRecovery backups, lives in ~/Library/Application Support/LibreOffice. Copy that folder first if you might reinstall or want any of it back. These steps cover the official download from libreoffice.org and the Homebrew cask libreoffice.

Back up your profile if you need it

1. Save any open documents, then quit LibreOffice.
2. In Finder, press Shift + Command + G, enter ~/Library/Application Support/LibreOffice and copy the whole folder somewhere outside Library, such as Documents.

LibreOffice keeps its user profile here on a Mac, in the 4/user subfolder; the Document Foundation's user profile page describes what it holds, and the Paths page in LibreOffice's settings shows where backups, templates and AutoCorrect files point on your Mac (Paths help). Your own documents are wherever you saved them and are not part of the profile.

Quit and remove the app

1. Save your documents, then choose LibreOffice › Quit LibreOffice.
2. Search for soffice in Activity Monitor; that is the process name LibreOffice runs under. Wait until it has exited.
3. Move LibreOffice from Finder's Applications folder to the Trash.
4. Open System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions and turn off any LibreOffice entry that is still listed.

Removing the app leaves the profile in place, so a reinstall picks up your settings. Delete the profile only when you want a clean start or no longer need anything in it.

Where LibreOffice keeps local data

The first three come from the Homebrew cask's zap list; the Quick Look folders come from the recorded tests.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands in Terminal:

pgrep -il soffice
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/LibreOffice"
ls ~/Library/Containers | grep -i libreoffice

• No output from pgrep means LibreOffice is no longer running. A listed soffice process means it is still open; quit it before touching its folders.
• ls -d printing the path proves only that this directory exists; inspect actual profile files or the independent backup above. "No such file or directory" concerns that path alone, and a permission or read error leaves its state unknown.
• The filtered Containers line shows names matching libreoffice in that directory. No output after a successful read without errors means only that the pattern matched nothing there; it does not cover other names or locations. Identify matching items before removal, and treat permission or read errors as unresolved.

If you installed it with Homebrew

The libreoffice cask also links command-line tools such as soffice, unopkg and uno into Homebrew's bin folder, and Homebrew removes those links with the app. Its zap list trashes ~/Library/Application Support/LibreOffice, which is your whole user profile, together with the preferences file, saved window state and LibreOffice's entry in the recent-documents list. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap libreoffice yourself does not look at Mole's checkboxes. Homebrew LibreOffice cask

Mole checks the zap list first. Application Support/LibreOffice is unselected while Remove data and settings with apps is off, the default. Enabling it can preselect eligible app-owned data; untick this row to keep your profile and prevent zap. Mole then removes the app and only the selected rows.

To remove only the app and keep your profile:

brew uninstall --cask libreoffice

What Mole lists

When you remove it with Mole:

• ~/Library/Application Support/LibreOffice is a review row whose selection follows the option above, because it is named after the app rather than its bundle ID and holds your profile.
• Preferences, caches and saved window state filed under org.libreoffice.script are selected by default.
• The containers and Application Scripts folders of the two Quick Look extensions, org.libreoffice.script.quicklookpreview and org.libreoffice.script.quicklookthumbnail, are selected by default, because the extensions ship inside LibreOffice.app.
• The uninstall scan excludes personal folders such as Documents, Desktop and Downloads.

What this test covered

On September 19, 2026, LibreOffice was copied from the official download into Applications, opened once, then removed with Mole 1.15 Preview (build 277). The 843 MB app went to the Trash and its login entry left Mole's startup list. Application Support/LibreOffice was listed and left unselected, so the profile stayed, and a Quick Look extension container stayed too. On September 26, 2026, LibreOffice 26.8.0 was installed again from the official package and removed with a development build of Mole with every listed row ticked: the app, the profile folder, both Quick Look extension containers and their Application Scripts folders went to the Trash, and none of them remained afterwards. No documents or extensions were tested, and the Homebrew cask was not uninstalled in either test.