Help · Mac apps

How to uninstall OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive on a Mac.

By Grant and Brad, who make Pangalin's apps · Updated 10 October 2026

Uninstalling a cloud drive app removes the app from your Mac, not your files from the cloud: they stay in your account online. The order matters, though. Unlink or disconnect first, and make sure anything you need on this Mac is really downloaded.

Before you start: files marked online-only have no full copy on your Mac. If you need some of them locally after uninstalling, download them first and copy them to a normal folder such as Documents. Don't drag files out of the cloud folder to “save” them: that moves them out of the cloud.

OneDrive

1. Click the OneDrive cloud icon in the menu bar and open Help & Settings › Preferences.
2. On the Account tab, click Unlink this Mac.
3. Quit OneDrive, then drag OneDrive from Applications to the Trash.

Microsoft says unlinking or uninstalling doesn't lose data: your files stay on OneDrive.com. If you're uninstalling to fix a problem, Microsoft's reset script may help instead: Control-click OneDrive in Applications, choose Show Package Contents, open Contents/Resources and run ResetOneDriveApp.command (or ResetOneDriveAppStandalone.command).

Dropbox

1. Click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar, click your avatar and choose Quit.
2. Drag Dropbox from Applications to the Trash.
3. Optionally, unlink the computer from your account: on dropbox.com, open your avatar › Settings › Security, and under Devices click the trash icon next to this Mac, then Unlink.

Uninstalling doesn't delete your account or your Dropbox folder. To remove the folder from this Mac too, drag it to the Trash; Dropbox recommends backing up first.

Google Drive

1. Click the Drive for desktop icon in the menu bar and open Settings › Preferences.
2. Open Advanced Settings, find your account and click Disconnect account, then OK. Google notes that offline copies of streamed files are removed when you disconnect.
3. From the same menu, choose Settings › Quit.
4. Drag Google Drive from Applications to the Trash.

Afterwards

Check the Locations section of Finder's sidebar. If an empty folder for the provider remains in ~/Library/CloudStorage, you can remove it once you're sure everything you need is safe in the cloud. None of these providers documents further files to remove.

Based on the developers' own instructions, checked October 2026. Menu names can change between versions.