Uninstall Zoom on Mac with Zoom’s uninstaller

Save any local meeting recordings you need and leave active meetings, then use Zoom’s own uninstaller. Check where your recordings are saved before removing anything: a manually run Homebrew removal with --zap also clears ~/Documents/Zoom and ~/Desktop/Zoom; ordinary cask uninstall leaves those two recording folders. Moving the app to the Trash does not replace Zoom’s full removal procedure. This guide covers Zoom’s official installer package and the Homebrew cask zoom. In Finder, the app is named zoom.us.

Uninstalling does not cancel a paid Zoom plan or delete your Zoom account. Manage those in your account on the Zoom website.

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.

The zoom cask’s zap list includes ~/Documents/Zoom and ~/Desktop/Zoom, where local recordings and meeting files can live, plus ~/.zoomus and Zoom’s support, cache and preference files. Running brew uninstall --cask --zap zoom yourself moves all of them to the Trash, whatever you ticked in Mole.

Copy those two folders somewhere outside Documents and Desktop first, or remove Zoom without the zap step:

brew uninstall --cask zoom

The cask’s uninstall step removes the app, the /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/us.zoom.ZoomDaemon helper, Zoom’s launch jobs and the us.zoom.pkg.videomeeting package receipt either way.

Uninstall from the Zoom menu

  1. Open Zoom.
  2. In the menu bar, click zoom.us, then Uninstall Zoom.
  3. Click OK. Zoom says this removes the desktop app and its components.

If that menu item is missing, Zoom’s fallback lives inside the app:

  1. In Finder, open Applications and find zoom.us.
  2. Control-click it and choose Show Package Contents.
  3. Open Contents, then Frameworks.
  4. Double-click ZoomUninstaller and wait until it finishes.

Those steps are from Zoom’s macOS uninstall instructions for a broken update: error code 10008. Follow them when you want Zoom removed. Reinstalling is a separate choice and is not required to finish the uninstall.

Check the result

The official package installs a system helper and launch jobs outside the app. After the uninstaller finishes, run these read-only commands:

pgrep -il zoom
launchctl list | grep -i zoom
ls -l /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/us.zoom.ZoomDaemon /Library/LaunchDaemons/us.zoom.ZoomDaemon.plist
pkgutil --pkg-info us.zoom.pkg.videomeeting
  • No output from pgrep means no Zoom process is running. A listed zoom.us or ZoomDaemon process means part of Zoom is still active.
  • No output from launchctl list means no Zoom job is loaded in your session. A us.zoom line means a launch job survived.
  • ls reporting “No such file or directory” for both paths means the helper and its launch daemon are gone. If either file is listed, run ZoomUninstaller again; these files belong to root, so do not delete them by hand unless you are sure no Zoom copy remains.
  • pkgutil printing package details means the installer’s receipt remains. It is only a record and does not run. “No receipt for 'us.zoom.pkg.videomeeting' found” means it is gone.

Also look at these two per-user files if they still exist. Skip a missing one.

Location What to do
~/Library/Preferences/ZoomChat.plist Preferences under Zoom’s older chat name. Remove it once Zoom is gone.
~/Library/Logs/ZoomPhone Zoom Phone logs. Leave it only if you still need the logs.

Meetings and recordings you saved in Documents or on the Desktop stay yours. After the removal, confirm that the recordings you kept still play.

If Zoom still appears after its uninstaller finishes

Distinguish a browser meeting link, your saved recordings, a background component, and another Zoom installation. Recordings are your files, not targets to delete just to clear a search result. If a component really remains active, return to Zoom's official uninstaller and the relevant installation channel rather than sweeping a system directory manually.

What Mole lists

When you remove it with Mole:

  • ~/Library/Preferences/ZoomChat.plist is reviewed data, unselected while Remove data and settings with apps is off, the default. Enabling it can preselect eligible app-owned review data.
  • ~/Library/Logs/ZoomPhone and the caches, preferences, logs and web data filed under us.zoom.xos are selected by default.
  • The ZoomDaemon helper and Zoom’s three launch jobs are listed and removed through Mole’s administrator helper.
  • ~/Documents/Zoom and ~/Desktop/Zoom are never listed, because they may hold your own files. Mole can also list ~/.zoomus from the cask’s data locations as a review row. It starts unselected with that option off; enabling it can preselect this folder when it qualifies as Zoom’s own unshared data. Back up and uncheck it if you want to keep it. Running the Homebrew zap command above yourself removes all three regardless.
  • Zoom's audio driver, /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL/ZoomAudioDevice.driver, is listed but not selected, and Mole moves it only once zoom.us itself is gone.

What this test covered

Zoom was first installed from the Homebrew cask zoom and uninstalled on September 17, 2026; that run added the ZoomChat.plist and ZoomPhone rows to Mole. It was then reinstalled from Zoom’s official package and uninstalled again on September 23 and 24. On the 24th, with Mole 1.15 Preview build 287, the ZoomDaemon helper and the three launch jobs went to the Trash. Three items remained: the package receipt, the BJ4HAAB9B3.ZoomClient3rd App Scripts and Group Container folders, which Mole refused as protected in that run, and a 68 KB us.zoom.ZoomCefHelper.gpu cache in the system’s per-user cache folder that Mole did not list. These are different installation channels, not one combined result; recordings and a signed-in account were not part of the test.

On October 3, 2026, Zoom Workplace 7.2.2 was removed again after installation from the official package. The app, ZoomDaemon and its three launch jobs were removed. Two CloudDocs items remained after macOS refused access; the shared group stayed protected, and its paired Application Scripts folder remained because exclusive ownership could not be confirmed. The package receipt and installation log also remained. The Zoom audio driver was absent before the run and was not tested; this record does not establish full driver removal.