How to uninstall Nextcloud on Mac completely

Quit Nextcloud and delete the app

Nextcloud has no separate uninstaller. Its manual says to quit the client first and then delete it like any other app:

1. Click the Nextcloud icon in the menu bar, open the menu next to your account in the window that appears and choose Exit Nextcloud.
2. Open Finder › Applications and drag Nextcloud to the Trash.
3. Enter your administrator password if macOS asks for it.

If you want to disconnect this Mac from your account before you quit, open the client’s Settings and choose Account › Remove on the account’s tab. This removes the account from the app. The account itself and your files stay on the server.

Deleting the app doesn’t remove its settings or your synced files. For a complete removal, the manual lists the folders below, plus ~/Library/Group Containers/NKUJUXUJ3B.com.nextcloud.desktopclient and ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.plist.

What Nextcloud leaves behind

These are the places to check. All of them are in the Library folder inside your home folder:

• ~/Library/Application Support/Nextcloud — the client’s data.
• ~/Library/Caches/Nextcloud — the cache.
• ~/Library/Preferences/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.plist — settings.
• ~/Library/Preferences/Nextcloud — account settings of versions before 33.
• ~/Library/Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient — the app’s container. Since version 33 the account settings are here.
• ~/Library/Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderExt — data of the File Provider extension that shows Nextcloud in Finder.
• ~/Library/Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FinderSyncExt — data of the extension that shows sync icons on a classic sync folder.
• ~/Library/Group Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient — data shared by the app and its extensions.

With the Finder integration, which new accounts use by default, Nextcloud appears as a location in the Finder sidebar and macOS decides where the files are kept. With a classic sync folder, your files are in the folder you chose. Open Folder in the client shows it. They are your files, not leftovers: delete them only when you are sure everything you need is on the server or copied somewhere else.

Remove the leftovers by hand

1. In Finder, choose Go › Go to Folder (Shift-Command-G), type a path from the list above and press Return.
2. Move the folder or file to the Trash.
3. Repeat for the other paths.
4. Restart your Mac, so the Finder extensions are no longer running, then empty the Trash.

Nextcloud isn’t the only app that leaves files behind: see how to uninstall apps on Mac completely.

Before you delete your local files

With the Finder integration, files that aren’t downloaded yet are only on the server, not on your Mac. A copy made after uninstalling won’t contain them. If you want a full local copy, choose Keep Downloaded in Finder’s context menu on the folders you need while the client still runs (or Always keep downloaded on the account in the Finder sidebar), wait until they download, then copy them somewhere else.

After uninstalling, open System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions (on macOS Sonoma: Login Items) and check that nothing from Nextcloud is left in the list.