Uninstall OrbStack on Mac
OrbStack containers, volumes, and Linux machines may hold databases or development environments. By default all of that lives in one place, ~/Library/Group Containers/HUAQ24HBR6.dev.orbstack/data, so that folder can be the only copy of your work. Move the data you need to a working destination and verify it there before removing the app. These steps cover the direct download from orbstack.dev and the Homebrew cask.
Stop workloads before removing the app
Save files and stop database writes inside containers or machines, back up what you need, then stop those workloads and quit OrbStack from its menu bar menu. Closing its window does not establish that its machines have stopped.
For a direct download, move OrbStack from Applications to the Trash. For a Homebrew install, keep OrbStack.app in place until the Homebrew step below finishes: its ordinary uninstall needs the bundled orbctl executable. OrbStack's removal instructions add two folders for removing all data. Open them with Shift + Command + G in Finder and delete them only when you no longer need those environments.
Where OrbStack keeps its files
| Location | What it holds | Keep or remove |
|---|---|---|
~/Library/Group Containers/HUAQ24HBR6.dev.orbstack |
The data folder with container images, volumes, and machine disks |
The data you may lose. Remove only after migrating. |
~/.orbstack |
OrbStack's own settings and state files (about 300 KB in the test) | Remove when you are not coming back. |
~/OrbStack |
A view into containers and machines while OrbStack runs; it takes no disk space | Do not use it as a backup, and do not delete it as if it held data. |
/usr/local/bin entries docker, docker-compose, docker-credential-osxkeychain, kubectl, orb, orbctl |
Command links into the app | In the test they stayed behind as broken links. Remove only entries that still point into OrbStack.app, and keep ones another Docker install now owns. |
dev.orbstack.OrbStack.privhelper in /Library/LaunchDaemons and /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools |
The privileged helper | In the test it stayed installed. Remove it with administrator authorization in Finder, then restart. |
OrbStack's login item and helper also appear under System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions. After the app is gone, turn off any OrbStack entry that remains there.
~/.docker may still serve another Docker environment. Removing OrbStack does not require deleting it too.
Check the result
pgrep -il orbstack
ls -d ~/Library/Group\ Containers/HUAQ24HBR6.dev.orbstack ~/.orbstack
ls -l /usr/local/bin | grep -i orbstack
ls /Library/LaunchDaemons /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools | grep -i orbstack
If pgrep completes without errors and prints nothing, no process name matched orbstack; this does not prove differently named helpers or Linux workloads have stopped. Confirm them in Activity Monitor and the app before deleting data. For the second command, No such file or directory means the folder is gone; a listed folder is still on disk, which is right if you kept the data. Lines from the third command are command links that still point into OrbStack.app; after the app is removed they are broken links. Lines from the last command identify matching helper files, not whether their launchd service is running. A permission or command error leaves these checks unresolved.
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 orbstack yourself runs the zap list whatever you checked in Mole. It deletes ~/Library/Group Containers/*.dev.orbstack, which holds every container, image, volume, and machine, together with ~/.orbstack, caches, preferences, and web data. Finish and check your backups and migration before either command. Ordinary brew uninstall --cask orbstack also invokes the app’s bundled orbctl _internal brew-uninstall script, independently of zap and Mole’s data checkboxes; omitting zap is not proof that this script preserves every kind of data. Current cask
If you are returning to Docker Desktop
Start Docker Desktop, then select its context:
docker context use desktop-linux
Success means subsequent Docker commands use that connection; it does not prove your data was migrated. If the context does not exist, complete Docker Desktop's initialization rather than deleting configuration to fix it. Changing the Docker context does not move OrbStack containers, images, or volumes to Docker Desktop. Start the needed services in the new environment and check their databases and files before clearing OrbStack's group container. The longer article is Uninstall Docker Desktop on Mac.
If you intend to use OrbStack again, keep its group container and configuration. Data left after removing the app icon can be an intentional recovery choice, not a failed uninstall.
What Mole lists
~/.orbstack: listed but unselected while Remove data and settings with apps is off, the default. Enabling it can preselect eligible OrbStack-owned data; untick the row to retain these settings. The group container below keeps its separate protection.- The
HUAQ24HBR6.dev.orbstackgroup container: never selected by default. If it appears in the plan, leave it unchecked until your data is migrated. ~/.docker: not listed, because other Docker environments share it.- The privileged helper and the
/usr/local/bincommand links: not listed. Handle them with the steps above.
What this test covered
OrbStack was installed from the Homebrew cask on September 18, 2026, alongside Docker Desktop, and uninstalled through Mole. Mole's plan added only the unselected ~/.orbstack row, and the zap step removed that folder anyway. ~/.docker stayed. The privileged helper's LaunchDaemon and the six /usr/local/bin links were still present afterward. Moving real container data to another environment was not tested.