Uninstall CoWork OS

There are two ways to uninstall CoWork OS depending on whether you want to keep local data.

Option 1: Uninstall app/binaries only (keep database)

This removes installed application files and CLI/package artifacts while keeping workspace, settings, and task data for later restore.

macOS app (manual drag-installed build)

pkill -f '/Applications/CoWork OS.app' || true
rm -rf "/Applications/CoWork OS.app"

npm global package install

npm uninstall -g cowork-os

Local install in a folder

rm -rf ~/cowork-run

Source/development clone

rm -rf /path/to/CoWork-OS

Packaged Linux server release

sudo systemctl stop cowork-os-node
sudo systemctl disable cowork-os-node
sudo rm -f /etc/systemd/system/cowork-os-node.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo rm -rf /opt/cowork-os

VPS/headless Docker install

cd /path/to/docker-compose-dir
docker compose down

VPS/headless systemd install

sudo systemctl stop cowork-os cowork-os-node
sudo systemctl disable cowork-os cowork-os-node
sudo rm -f /etc/systemd/system/cowork-os.service
sudo rm -f /etc/systemd/system/cowork-os-node.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Data locations to keep

Choose the one used by your install:

• macOS (Electron): ~/Library/Application Support/cowork-os/
• Linux desktop/Electron: ~/.config/cowork-os/
• Linux daemon/headless fallback: ~/.cowork/
• Node daemon custom path: value passed in COWORK_USER_DATA_DIR or --user-data-dir
• Packaged/systemd example paths: /var/lib/cowork-os, /srv/cowork/workspace, and any custom path in /etc/cowork-os.env
• Docker example paths: named volume cowork_data, named volume cowork_workspace, and any host bind mount in /workspace

Option 2: Full uninstall + data deletion (database included) — irrecoverable

WARNING: This removes all application data and settings (tasks, tasks timeline, memory, credentials, channel/session state, and the local database). All data will be deleted and everything will be gone forever.

Use this only when you are sure you want to destroy local state.

Delete all user-data locations

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/cowork-os
rm -rf ~/.config/cowork-os
rm -rf ~/.cowork

Remove with custom user-data path

rm -rf "$COWORK_USER_DATA_DIR"

Fully remove Docker install data

cd /path/to/docker-compose-dir
docker compose down -v
docker compose rm -f

Fully remove systemd/headless example data

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/cowork-os
sudo rm -rf /srv/cowork/workspace

After the data wipe, also remove remaining app binaries/shell package entries from Option 1 if you haven't already.