How to uninstall MuseScore on Mac

MuseScore keeps its settings and app data in a nested MuseScore/MuseScore4 folder under Application Support, separate from the scores you write. The app's display name is "MuseScore 4", though its bundle ID and most of its data folders are still named MuseScore. Back that folder up first if you want to keep your preferences. These steps cover the official DMG from the MuseScore GitHub releases page; the Homebrew cask musescore is a separate path with its own risk, described below.

The MuseScore handbook's Preferences page confirms you can set custom folders for scores, styles, templates, plugins and soundfonts from inside the app, and offers a one-click "Reset preferences" action; it does not publish a fixed default path, so check your own Preferences › Folders tab, or File › Open Recent, before assuming where your scores live. MuseScore 4 Preferences handbook

Quit MuseScore and remove the app

1. Save your open scores, then choose MuseScore 4 › Quit MuseScore 4.
2. Search for MuseScore in Activity Monitor and confirm the process has exited.
3. Find MuseScore 4 in Finder's Applications folder and move it to the Trash. If macOS says it is in use, return to the previous step.
4. Open System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions and turn off any MuseScore entry that is still listed.

Where MuseScore keeps local data

After backing up and quitting, use Shift + Command + G in Finder to open the two exact MuseScore/MuseScore4 folders above, moving only the chosen MuseScore4 leaf to the Trash. Open ~/Library/Preferences and ~/Library/Application Scripts to inspect individual entries belonging to this MuseScore installation; the * in the table is a filename pattern, not a path to paste. Remove only verified app entries you no longer need, keeping shared parents and files for other MuseScore versions.

Check the result

pgrep -il musescore
ls -d "$HOME/Library/Application Support/MuseScore/MuseScore4"
ls ~/Library/Containers | grep -i musescore

• No output from pgrep means this process-name pattern found no match, not that every MuseScore helper has exited. Check Activity Monitor and confirm executable paths for remaining MuseScore processes before touching its data.
• ls -d checks the MuseScore4 leaf itself. A printed path means that folder remains; a surviving MuseScore parent alone could be empty or hold another version and does not prove MuseScore4 settings remain. "No such file or directory" means it is gone.
• The grep line lists names containing musescore under ~/Library/Containers; the name alone does not prove ownership or absence of scores. Match org.musescore.MuseScore.QuickLookPreviewExtension to the removed app, inspect its contents, then open the exact container path above with Finder Go to Folder and move only that confirmed unwanted folder to the Trash. macOS refused the move in the test, and Finder can also refuse; a failed move leaves the folder in place and removal unverified.

If you installed it with Homebrew

Mole checks the zap list first: unchecked or shared data, or anything it cannot fully verify, keeps --zap out, and it still removes whatever you selected.

The musescore cask's zap list reaches ~/Library/Application Support/MuseScore, ~/Library/Caches/MuseScore and ~/Library/Caches/org.musescore.MuseScore, the preferences files, and saved window state. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap musescore yourself moves all of that to the Trash without looking at Mole's checkboxes. Homebrew MuseScore cask

Leaving either MuseScore/MuseScore4 row unchecked prevents Mole from using --zap. These rows can be selected manually or by the app-data option, but that does not authorize clearing a parent that still holds another version's data.

Ordinary uninstall asks MuseScore to quit, removes the managed app and mscore command wrapper, and leaves zap-only settings:

brew uninstall --cask musescore

What Mole lists

• ~/Library/Application Support/MuseScore/MuseScore4 and ~/Library/Caches/MuseScore/MuseScore4 are review rows, unchecked when Remove data and settings with apps in General > Cleaning is off. Turning it on can preselect these eligible data rows; back up settings before removal, or uncheck the support row to retain them.
• The preferences files, Application Scripts entries and temporary cache named after org.musescore.MuseScore are selected by default.
• The Quick Look preview extension's container is selected, because its ID org.musescore.MuseScore.QuickLookPreviewExtension continues MuseScore's own bundle ID.
• Your scores are never listed, wherever you chose to save them.

What this test covered

On September 21, 2026, MuseScore 4.7.5 was copied from the official DMG into Applications, opened once, then removed with Mole 1.15.0 Preview (build 282) and Full Disk Access granted, with every listed row ticked. The 546.6 MB app, both nested MuseScore/MuseScore4 Application Support and Caches folders, both preferences files, MuseScore's Application Scripts entries and its temporary cache went to the Trash. The Quick Look preview extension's 4 KB container was listed, but macOS refused to move it (error 513), so it stayed on disk. No scores were created or tested, and the Homebrew cask was not tested.