How to Uninstall OpenClaw

Before You Uninstall

Before removing OpenClaw, consider whether you actually need to uninstall or just need to fix an issue:

• Gateway not starting? — See the gateway pairing fix
• Rate limit errors? — See the rate limit troubleshooting guide
• Bot not responding? — See the bot troubleshooting guide
• Want to start fresh? — You can reset your config without uninstalling, but back it up first: the reset removes credentials, sessions, skills, and configuration, not just preferences.

The archive contains API keys and channel credentials. Keep it private and move it to encrypted storage if you retain it.

# macOS / Linux: inspect and archive the OpenClaw data directory
ls -la ~/.openclaw
umask 077
OPENCLAW_BACKUP="$HOME/openclaw-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).tgz"
tar -czf "$OPENCLAW_BACKUP" -C "$HOME" .openclaw
chmod 600 "$OPENCLAW_BACKUP"
tar -tzf "$OPENCLAW_BACKUP" >/dev/null

Remove the gateway service before the CLI

While the openclaw command still exists, stop and uninstall its managed gateway service. This removes the launchd, systemd, or Windows Scheduled Task registration before the package manager removes the cleanup command. The official uninstall guide also documents the interactive openclaw uninstall flow.

openclaw gateway stop
openclaw gateway uninstall

Uninstall on macOS

If installed via npm

npm uninstall -g openclaw

If installed via Homebrew

brew uninstall openclaw

Remove config and data

# Permanent: removes configuration, credentials, sessions, and workspace data
rm -rf ~/.openclaw

# Remove any cached skills
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/openclaw

Uninstall on Windows

If installed via npm

npm uninstall -g openclaw

If installed via installer

Open Settings → Apps → Installed apps, search for “OpenClaw”, and click Uninstall.

Remove config and data

# Back up first (PowerShell); stop if copying or verification fails
$BackupPath = "$env:USERPROFILE\openclaw-backup"
Copy-Item -Recurse -ErrorAction Stop "$env:USERPROFILE\.openclaw" $BackupPath
$BackupItems = Get-ChildItem -Force -ErrorAction Stop $BackupPath
if ($BackupItems.Count -eq 0) { throw "OpenClaw backup is empty" }

Only after that backup succeeds and you have inspected it, run the permanent removal separately:

# PowerShell: permanent removal of OpenClaw user data
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:USERPROFILE\.openclaw"

# Or in Command Prompt
rmdir /s /q "%USERPROFILE%\.openclaw"

Uninstall on Linux

If installed via npm

npm uninstall -g openclaw

If installed via package manager

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt remove openclaw

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -R openclaw

Remove config and data

# Permanent: run only after inspecting and verifying your backup
rm -rf ~/.openclaw

Uninstall Docker Installation

If you're running OpenClaw in Docker, inspect its mounts before removing the container. The data may live somewhere other than ~/.openclaw or ~/openclaw-data.

# Record every bind mount or named volume before removing the container
docker inspect --format '{{range .Mounts}}{{println .Type .Source "->" .Destination}}{{end}}' openclaw

For each bind-mounted directory reported above, substitute its exact source path below, archive it, and verify the archive. Named Docker volumes need their own volume backup procedure.

OPENCLAW_DATA_DIR="/absolute/path/from-docker-inspect"
test -d "$OPENCLAW_DATA_DIR"
umask 077
OPENCLAW_DOCKER_BACKUP="$HOME/openclaw-docker-data-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).tgz"
tar -czf "$OPENCLAW_DOCKER_BACKUP" -C "$(dirname "$OPENCLAW_DATA_DIR")" "$(basename "$OPENCLAW_DATA_DIR")"
chmod 600 "$OPENCLAW_DOCKER_BACKUP"
tar -tzf "$OPENCLAW_DOCKER_BACKUP" >/dev/null

# Stop and remove the container only after its data backup is verified
docker stop openclaw && docker rm openclaw

# Remove the Docker image
OPENCLAW_VERSION=2026.6.6
docker rmi "ghcr.io/openclaw/openclaw:$OPENCLAW_VERSION"

Deleting the bind-mounted source is optional and irreversible. Only after checking the resolved path and verified archive, remove that exact directory—never a guessed default path.

Verify Removal

Confirm OpenClaw is fully removed:

# Check if the command is still available
which openclaw
# Should return "openclaw not found"

# Check if config directory is gone
ls ~/.openclaw
# Should return "No such file or directory"

# Check for running Docker containers
docker ps | grep openclaw
# Should return nothing

Having Issues with Self-Hosting?