How to uninstall MySQL Workbench on Mac

Moving MySQL Workbench to the Trash does not remove your saved connections, SQL snippets or query history: MySQL's own documentation says they stay in a separate configuration folder after the app is gone. Back that folder up first if you plan to reinstall or move to another Mac. This guide covers the official disk image from MySQL and the Homebrew cask mysqlworkbench.

Quit MySQL Workbench and remove the app

1. Finish any running queries and close open SQL tabs, then quit MySQL Workbench from its application menu.
2. Check Activity Monitor for a lingering MySQLWorkbench process before moving on.
3. In Finder's Applications folder, move MySQL Workbench to the Trash. This is the method MySQL's own uninstall instructions describe.

Decide what to do with your connections and snippets

The cask and recorded first run identify the Workbench configuration folder below; the test recorded connections.xml there. Quit Workbench and copy the complete folder to an independent backup before deleting wanted connections or other local state.

Removing this client does not delete databases on a MySQL server. Keep server data and other MySQL tools separate from these app-specific files.

Mole never touches the shared MySQL folder itself, only the Workbench folder inside it, so other MySQL tools that may use that parent are left alone.

If you installed it with Homebrew

Mole checks the cask's zap list first: when it reaches a row you left unticked, Mole drops --zap and still cleans up the rows you selected through its own recoverable Trash step.

The mysqlworkbench cask's zap list matches the same four paths above, including your connections folder. With Remove data and settings with apps off, that folder starts unchecked, so Mole's uninstall normally runs brew uninstall --cask mysqlworkbench without --zap. Selecting the connections folder covers it for the zap check, but every path must also pass Mole’s ownership and safety checks.

Running the zap step yourself moves everything above to the Trash regardless of what you ticked in Mole:

brew uninstall --cask --zap mysqlworkbench

To keep your connections, back up Application Support/MySQL/Workbench first, or remove only the app:

brew uninstall --cask mysqlworkbench

Check the result

pgrep -il mysqlworkbench
ls -d ~/Library/Application\ Support/MySQL/Workbench

• No output from pgrep means no MySQL Workbench process is running. A listed process means the app is still open; quit it before deleting data.
• ls -d printing the path means your configuration folder is still there, which is expected if you chose to keep it. "No such file or directory" means it is gone.

What Mole lists

For MySQL Workbench installed from the official disk image:

• ~/Library/Application Support/MySQL/Workbench is unchecked with Remove data and settings with apps off; enabling it can preselect eligible own data, so you choose whether to keep your connections and snippets.
• The cache, preferences and saved-state files filed under com.oracle.workbench.MySQLWorkbench are selected by default.
• The shared MySQL folder itself is never removed.

For a Homebrew install, the zap list reaches your connections folder, so Mole normally leaves --zap out unless you tick that row too.

What this test covered

On September 19, 2026, MySQL Workbench 8.0.47 Community Edition was copied from the official disk image into Applications, opened once, and removed with a Preview build of Mole 1.15 (build 277); there was no Homebrew receipt. On first run it had written Application Support/MySQL/Workbench, including connections.xml. That build did not list the folder, so it stayed on disk after the app was removed; the review row above was added to Mole after this test. Connecting to a database, the .mysqlworkbench schema on a server, and the Homebrew cask were not tested.