Uninstall Rectangle on Mac

Rectangle needs no data backup before you remove it: your window layouts are not files, and its settings can be exported first if you want to reuse them on another Mac. Mole's recorded test uninstalled the Homebrew cask rectangle; the official direct download from rectangleapp.com installs the same app under the same paths, and the steps below apply to both, though only the Homebrew removal was directly exercised.

Export your shortcut settings first (optional)

Rectangle's own Settings window can export your keyboard shortcuts and snap-area configuration to a JSON file, and import it again later. Do this before removing the app if you have customized shortcuts you want to reuse on this Mac or another one.

Quit Rectangle and remove its Accessibility permission

Quit Rectangle from its menu bar icon, then move Rectangle.app from Applications to the Trash. Rectangle needs the Accessibility permission to move and resize windows; removing the app does not revoke it automatically, and a stale entry can point at nothing once the app is gone. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility, find Rectangle in the list, and remove it with the minus (−) button. Rectangle's own documentation also names tccutil as a way to reset this permission from Terminal, which some users prefer over navigating System Settings.

Where Rectangle keeps its data

Rectangle is not sandboxed, so its settings live directly under your Library rather than in a Container.

Check the result

Run these read-only commands in Terminal:

pgrep -il rectangle
ls -d ~/Library/Application\ Support/Rectangle
defaults read com.knollsoft.Rectangle > /dev/null && echo "preferences remain"

No output from pgrep means Rectangle has quit. ls printing the path means the Application Support folder is still on this Mac; "No such file or directory" means it is gone. A preferences remain line means the plist has not been removed yet; a Domain com.knollsoft.Rectangle does not exist error means it has.

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 rectangle yourself removes the cask’s data list regardless of Mole’s checkboxes, including ~/Library/Application Support/Rectangle, its preferences and the RectangleLauncher Application Scripts and Containers. Ordinary cask uninstall already quits Rectangle and handles its login item; zap adds the listed data removal. Export your shortcuts first, or use the command below to keep settings and support data without zap. Homebrew Rectangle cask

brew uninstall --cask rectangle

What Mole lists

When you remove it with Mole:

• ~/Library/Preferences/com.knollsoft.Rectangle.plist is selected by default; back up or export your shortcuts first if you plan to reinstall.
• ~/Library/Application Support/Rectangle is unselected with Remove data and settings with apps off (the default); eligible app-owned data can be preselected when it is on, so check this row before removing.
• The RectangleLauncher login-item helper’s Application Scripts and Containers rows are reviewed data, unselected while the same option is off. Turning it on can preselect eligible app-owned helper data; shared ownership still requires separate review.
• The login item itself shows in Mole's Startup list only while Rectangle is installed and is an informational row you confirm rather than toggle from Mole; it disappears from that list once Rectangle is uninstalled.

What this test covered

Rectangle was installed from the Homebrew cask rectangle and uninstalled through Mole on September 17, 2026, with the login-item helper's container cleared by the cask's zap step and no leftover files or launchd jobs found afterward. The official direct download was not separately uninstalled in this test; its data paths above come from Rectangle's own published documentation, and reinstalling with an imported settings file was not exercised.