Complete Uninstall Guide | macOS

Learn how to completely uninstall Pieces from macOS, including removing all application data, preferences, caches, and saved content.

This guide walks you through completely removing Pieces from your Mac, including all application data, saved snippets, and Long-Term Memory.

This process permanently deletes all your saved snippets, conversations, and Long-Term Memory data. If you want to preserve this data, see [backing up your data](/products/privacy-security-your-data#local-backup) before proceeding.

Uninstall Steps

To remove Pieces and all associated data:

Click the Pieces icon in your menu bar and select `Quit`. If Pieces isn't responding, open **Activity Monitor** (Applications → Utilities), search for "Pieces", select any Pieces processes, and click the **X** button to force quit. Open **Finder** → **Applications**, then drag both `Pieces` and `PiecesOS` to the Trash. Open **Finder**, press `Cmd + Shift + G` to open "Go to Folder", and navigate to: 
```
~/Library/
```

Delete the following folders if they exist:
- `com.pieces.os` — Contains your snippets, Long-Term Memory, and engine data
- `com.pieces.pfd` — Contains Desktop App settings and logs
In the same `~/Library/` location, open the `Preferences` folder and delete any files starting with `com.pieces`: 
```
~/Library/Preferences/com.pieces.*
```
Navigate to the `Caches` folder and delete any Pieces-related folders: 
```
~/Library/Caches/com.pieces.*
```
Right-click the Trash icon in your Dock and select `Empty Trash` to permanently delete the files.

Homebrew Users

If you installed Pieces via Homebrew, run this command instead of manually removing the applications:

brew uninstall --cask pieces

Then continue with Steps 3-6 above to remove application data.

Terminal Commands (Advanced)

For users comfortable with Terminal, you can run these commands to remove everything at once:

# Quit Pieces processes
pkill -f "Pieces" 2>/dev/null
pkill -f "PiecesOS" 2>/dev/null

# Remove applications
rm -rf /Applications/Pieces.app
rm -rf /Applications/PiecesOS.app

# Remove application data
rm -rf ~/Library/com.pieces.os
rm -rf ~/Library/com.pieces.pfd

# Remove preferences
rm -f ~/Library/Preferences/com.pieces.*

# Remove caches
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.pieces.*
These commands permanently delete files without moving them to Trash. Double-check before running.

Verify Removal

To confirm Pieces has been completely removed:

  1. Open Spotlight (Cmd + Space) and search for "Pieces" — no results should appear
  2. Open Finder, press Cmd + Shift + G, and check that ~/Library/com.pieces.os no longer exists

Reinstalling

If you want to reinstall Pieces later, see the macOS installation guide for fresh install instructions.