Uninstall Claude Code cleanly on Mac, Windows, and Linux

First, find out how it got installed

Do not skip this. The removal command is different for each install method, and a machine that has been in use for a while frequently has two: an original npm install and a later native one, or a Homebrew cask sitting next to both. Uninstalling one and finding claude still on your PATH is the single most common outcome of guessing.

# every claude on your PATH, in resolution order
which -a claude

# the native installer puts a symlink here, into ~/.local/share/claude/versions/
ls -la ~/.local/bin/claude

# a legacy local npm install, created by older versions
ls -la ~/.claude/local/

# a global npm install
npm -g ls @anthropic-ai/claude-code 2>/dev/null

# a Homebrew cask, and which one
brew list --cask 2>/dev/null | grep claude

where.exe claude
Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\bin\claude.exe"
winget list Anthropic.ClaudeCode
npm -g ls @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Native installer

This is the default install on every platform and the most likely answer. Two paths: the launcher and the versions directory.

rm -f ~/.local/bin/claude
rm -rf ~/.local/share/claude

Remove-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\bin\claude.exe" -Force
Remove-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\share\claude" -Recurse -Force

Deleting only the launcher leaves several hundred megabytes of downloaded versions behind, which is worth knowing if you are doing this to reclaim disk. Deleting only the versions directory leaves a dangling symlink that reports a confusing error rather than command not found.

npm, and the legacy local install

npm uninstall -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Older versions of Claude Code created a second, local npm install under ~/.claude/local/. It is not removed by the global uninstall and it is a frequent cause of a claude that survives everything else.

# macOS and Linux
rm -rf ~/.claude/local

# Windows PowerShell
# Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:USERPROFILE\.claude\local"

Homebrew, WinGet, and Linux packages

Homebrew

Homebrew publishes two casks: claude-code tracks the stable channel and claude-code@latest tracks the latest one. Uninstall the one you actually installed; running the wrong name reports that the cask is not installed and leaves the binary in place.

# stable cask
brew uninstall --cask claude-code

# latest cask
brew uninstall --cask claude-code@latest

# Homebrew keeps old versions around; reclaim the space
brew cleanup

WinGet

winget uninstall Anthropic.ClaudeCode

apt, dnf, and apk

Remove the package and the repository configuration, otherwise your next system update re-offers it.

sudo apt remove claude-code
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/claude-code.list /etc/apt/keyrings/claude-code.asc

sudo dnf remove claude-code
sudo rm /etc/yum.repos.d/claude-code.repo

apk del claude-code
sed -i '\|downloads.claude.ai/claude-code/apk|d' /etc/apk/repositories
rm /etc/apk/keys/claude-code.rsa.pub

The configuration, which is shared

Removing the binary does not remove your settings, permission rules, MCP server configuration, or session history. Those live separately.

rm -rf ~/.claude
rm ~/.claude.json

# project-specific, from inside the repo
rm -rf .claude
rm -f .mcp.json

Remove-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.claude" -Recurse -Force
Remove-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.claude.json" -Force

Remove-Item -Path ".claude" -Recurse -Force
Remove-Item -Path ".mcp.json" -Force

Uninstalling the desktop app

The desktop app bundles Claude Code, so removing the CLI does not remove the app, and removing the app does not remove a separately installed CLI. They are two things.

On Linux, removing the package also removes the repository entry and signing key that the package registered. A repository line you added by hand during install has to go separately.

sudo apt remove claude-desktop
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/claude-desktop.list

It still runs after uninstalling

Almost always one of four things, in this order of likelihood.

1. A second installation. Run which -a claude again. It lists every match on your PATH, not just the winner. Remove the others with their own method.
2. A shell alias or function left behind by an older installer. type claude tells you if the name resolves to an alias rather than a file, and the definition is somewhere in ~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, or ~/.zprofile.
3. The shell is caching the old path. hash -r in bash or zsh clears the command lookup table. Opening a new terminal does the same thing.
4. A custom launcher you or a tool created at ~/.local/bin/claude. Since v2.1.207 the updater leaves a launcher it did not create in place rather than replacing it, so a script there survives an uninstall that only targeted the versions directory.

which -a claude
type claude
hash -r
command -v claude || echo "gone"

Questions people ask

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