How to uninstall Alfred on a Mac, its preferences, and the Homebrew record that outlives it
Remove Alfred and its settings, keep your workflows if you want them, and clear the Homebrew record that still lists Alfred after the app is gone.
How do I uninstall Alfred on a Mac?
- Back up what you built. In Alfred Preferences, Advanced, you can see where your preferences live. Copy
Alfred.alfredpreferencesfrom that folder if you might come back. - Quit Alfred from its menu bar icon, and move it from Applications to the Trash.
- Move the leftovers listed below to the Trash.
- Clear Homebrew's record if you installed it with Homebrew:
brew uninstall --cask alfred.
What does Alfred leave behind?
| Where | Size here | What it is |
|---|---|---|
~/Library/Preferences/com.runningwithcrayons.Alfred.plist | 4 KB | App settings, hotkey |
~/Library/Preferences/com.runningwithcrayons.Alfred-Preferences.plist | 4 KB | Preferences window settings |
~/Library/Caches/com.runningwithcrayons.Alfred | 8 KB | Cache |
~/Library/Application Support/Alfred | absent here | Workflows, snippets and clipboard history, when not synced elsewhere |
/opt/homebrew/Caskroom/alfred | 12 KB | Homebrew's record, version 5.7.1 |
On our Mac Alfred was no longer in Applications, yet Homebrew still had a Caskroom entry for 5.7.1, so brew list --cask kept showing it. The uninstall command clears that record; if Homebrew complains the app is missing, add --force.
What about Alfred's hotkey?
If you gave Alfred ⌘ Space, macOS does not give Spotlight its shortcut back on its own. Open System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, Spotlight, and turn the shortcut on again.
Find what is left in one look
Free Mac's Apps tab lists what an installed app holds, and the Storage map shows leftovers from apps already removed. What you pick goes to the Trash. More on Homebrew's records in an app Homebrew still lists after it is gone and what brew zap leaves.
Related: uninstall Ghostty and uninstall ngrok.
Common questions
Does deleting Alfred delete my workflows?
Not if your preferences sync to Dropbox or iCloud Drive. Otherwise they live in ~/Library/Application Support/Alfred. Copy Alfred.alfredpreferences before you delete it.
Why does brew still list Alfred after I deleted it?
Homebrew keeps a record in /opt/homebrew/Caskroom/alfred until you run brew uninstall --cask alfred. Deleting the app by hand does not clear it.
How do I get Command Space back for Spotlight?
System Settings, Keyboard, Keyboard Shortcuts, Spotlight, then tick Show Spotlight search again.