How to fully uninstall Firefox on Mac
Dragging Firefox to Trash leaves behind browser profiles, cached data, preferences, and shared Mozilla files. Here's how to remove everything.
8+
Leftover locations
200 MB – 2 GB
Typical leftover size
Stored separately from app
Browser profiles
What Firefox leaves behind
Firefox stores complete browser profiles in Application Support, including bookmarks, passwords, history, extensions, and cookies. These persist after app deletion.
| Location | Contents |
|---|---|
| ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/ | Browser profiles containing bookmarks, history, passwords, extensions, and cookies |
| ~/Library/Caches/Firefox/ | Browser cache, offline storage, and media cache |
| ~/Library/Caches/org.mozilla.firefox/ | Additional cache directory |
| ~/Library/Preferences/org.mozilla.firefox.plist | App preferences and startup settings |
| ~/Library/Saved Application State/org.mozilla.firefox.savedState/ | Window positions and tab state |
| ~/Library/Logs/Firefox/ | Crash reports and diagnostic logs |
| ~/Library/HTTPStorages/org.mozilla.firefox/ | Web storage data |
| ~/Library/Application Support/Mozilla/ | Shared Mozilla data — skip if Thunderbird is still installed |
Manual removal (step-by-step)
- 1. Quit Firefox completelyClose all Firefox windows and press ⌘Q to quit Firefox.
- 2. Back up your data (recommended)Before removing anything, export your bookmarks and save any important passwords. Firefox stores these in your profile folder at
~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/. - 3. Delete the app bundleOpen /Applications in Finder, drag Firefox.app to Trash.
- 4. Open Library in FinderPress ⌘ Shift G in Finder and type
~/Library. - 5. Delete these folders/filesNavigate to each location in the table above and delete the Firefox files. Use ⌘ Delete to move to Trash.
- 6. Empty TrashOnce you're confident, empty the Trash to reclaim disk space.
Automated removal with Zapper
Instead of hunting through 8+ directories manually, Zapper finds everything in seconds:
- Before deleting Firefox, drop
Firefox.apponto Zapper's window. - Zapper scans all 11 Library directories and shows every leftover file with its path and size.
- Review the list, check the files you want to remove, and click Zap.
- Files move to Trash — including browser profiles and shared Mozilla data. Restore with ⌘Z if needed.
Backing up Firefox data before removal
Firefox stores all your personal data in profiles located at ~/Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/. Each profile is a folder containing your bookmarks, browsing history, saved passwords, extensions, and cookies.
Before deleting these files, consider exporting what you need:
How to export your data
- Bookmarks: In Firefox, go to Bookmarks → Manage Bookmarks → Import and Backup → Export Bookmarks to HTML.
- Passwords: Go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Saved Logins → Export Logins (saves as CSV).
- Profile backup: Copy the entire Profiles folder to keep everything — bookmarks, history, extensions, and settings can be restored by copying it back.