Uninstall rclone from macOS

Need to remove rclone from your Mac? Here's how to do it completely, depending on how you installed it.

Remember to backup your config file before uninstalling.

By installation method

Homebrew

# Remove rclone
brew uninstall rclone

# Remove any cached downloads
brew cleanup

That's it! Homebrew handles everything.

Install script

# Remove the binary
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/rclone

# Remove man page (if installed)
sudo rm /usr/local/share/man/man1/rclone.1

Manually

# Find where rclone is installed
which rclone
# Example output: /usr/local/bin/rclone

# Remove it
sudo rm $(which rclone)

Complete removal (script)

For a thorough cleanup, remove everything:

#!/bin/bash
# complete-uninstall.sh - Remove rclone completely

echo "Removing rclone from macOS..."

# 1. Remove the binary
if command -v rclone &> /dev/null; then
    RCLONE_PATH=$(which rclone)
    echo "Found rclone at: $RCLONE_PATH"
    sudo rm "$RCLONE_PATH"
    echo "✓ Removed rclone binary"
else
    echo "rclone binary not found in PATH"
fi

# 2. Remove configuration
if [ -d "$HOME/.config/rclone" ]; then
    echo "Found config directory"
    read -p "Remove configuration files? (y/n): " remove_config
    if [ "$remove_config" = "y" ]; then
        rm -rf "$HOME/.config/rclone"
        echo "✓ Removed configuration"
    fi
fi

# 3. Remove cache
if [ -d "$HOME/Library/Caches/rclone" ]; then
    rm -rf "$HOME/Library/Caches/rclone"
    echo "✓ Removed cache"
fi

# 4. Remove any mounts
if mount | grep -q "rclone"; then
    echo "Found active rclone mounts:"
    mount | grep rclone
    echo "Please unmount manually with: umount /path/to/mount"
fi

# 5. Remove man pages
sudo rm -f /usr/local/share/man/man1/rclone.1
sudo rm -f /usr/share/man/man1/rclone.1

# 6. Remove shell completions
rm -f ~/.config/rclone/rclone-completion.*
rm -f ~/.oh-my-zsh/custom/plugins/rclone/_rclone

echo "Uninstall complete!"

Cleanup

Remove Configuration

# Remove config directory
rm -rf ~/.config/rclone/

# Or just remove the config file
rm ~/.config/rclone/rclone.conf

Remove Cache Files

# Remove VFS cache
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/rclone/

# Remove temp files
rm -rf /tmp/rclone-*

Find Active Mounts

# List all rclone mounts
mount | grep rclone

# Or use process list
ps aux | grep "rclone mount"

Unmount Them

# Unmount specific mount
umount /path/to/mount

# Or force unmount
diskutil unmount force /path/to/mount

# Kill all rclone processes
pkill rclone

LaunchAgent Services

# List rclone services
ls ~/Library/LaunchAgents/*rclone*

# Remove them
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.rclone.*.plist
rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/*rclone*.plist

Cron Jobs

# Check for rclone cron jobs
crontab -l | grep rclone

# Edit crontab to remove them
crontab -e
# Delete any lines containing rclone

If you set rclone to start on boot, head to System Settings → Users & Groups → Login Items and remove any entries related to rclone.

Remove Shell Integration

# Remove from .zshrc
sed -i '' '/rclone/d' ~/.zshrc

# Remove completion files
rm -f ~/.config/rclone/rclone-completion.zsh
rm -f /usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions/_rclone

Or if using bash:

# Remove from .bash_profile or .bashrc
sed -i '' '/rclone/d' ~/.bash_profile
sed -i '' '/rclone/d' ~/.bashrc

# Remove completion files
rm -f ~/.config/rclone/rclone-completion.bash

Remove Aliases

# Check for aliases
alias | grep rclone

# Remove from shell config
# Edit ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc and remove rclone aliases

Troubleshooting

"Operation not permitted" Error

On newer macOS versions:

# May need to disable SIP temporarily
# Boot to Recovery Mode (Intel: Cmd+R, Apple Silicon: hold power button)
# Open Terminal and run:
csrutil disable

# After removal, re-enable:
csrutil enable

Can't Remove Binary

# Check if it's running
ps aux | grep rclone

# Kill any processes
sudo pkill -9 rclone

# Try removal again
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/rclone

Mounts Won't Unmount

# Force unmount
sudo diskutil unmount force /path/to/mount

# Or kill the mount process
ps aux | grep "rclone mount"
sudo kill -9 [PID]

Mac

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