Uninstalling

Electrobun installer builds include an uninstaller that remains available even when the application bundle cannot start. It is a standalone manager, separate from the app bundle and runtime: uninstalling never needs to execute your app or load its dependencies.

The uninstall prompt

Launching the installed uninstaller interactively shows the same choices on macOS, Windows, and Linux:

• Title: Uninstall <App>?
• Message: The application will be removed.
• Actions: App, App and Data, and Cancel

App is the default, safe choice. It removes the installed application, Electrobun’s installation/update state, and Electrobun-owned system integration such as shortcuts, while keeping the user’s data. Cancel or closing the prompt leaves the installation unchanged.

Choose App and Data to also remove the app’s managed per-user directories. It removes only the directories recorded for this app’s packaged identifier and physical install root:

Managed directory	API path
Application data	Utils.paths.userData
Cache	Utils.paths.userCache
Logs	Utils.paths.userLogs

Those paths resolve under their platform’s normal data, cache, and log roots as <base>/<identifier>/<install-root>:

Platform	userData	userCache	userLogs
macOS	~/Library/Application Support	~/Library/Caches	~/Library/Logs
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%	%LOCALAPPDATA%	%LOCALAPPDATA%
Linux	$XDG_DATA_HOME	$XDG_CACHE_HOME	$XDG_STATE_HOME

On Windows, all three APIs name the same channel root, so App and Data removes that root once. Linux uses ~/.local/share, ~/.cache, and ~/.local/state when the corresponding XDG variable is unavailable or not a valid absolute root. The Linux installer records the roots it used so changing the environment later does not redirect uninstall cleanup.

The install-root name normally matches the app’s release channel. A supported Electrobun v1 install keeps its existing physical root after updating to 2.x. The uninstaller follows that recorded root so the migrated app and its data remain one installation.

Other applications, other identifiers, and separately installed channel roots are never removed. See Paths for the path API and layout.

Electrobun records the managed-root policy with the installation so a newer runtime can continue to clean up earlier Electrobun-managed locations if that policy changes in a future release. It does not scan arbitrary files or run application configuration during uninstall.

Launching an uninstall

The installed standalone manager is the reliable entry point. As a convenience, an installed application may also be launched with --uninstall; the launcher hands that request to the standalone manager before starting the application.

The manager is installed at:

Platform	Location
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/<identifier>/<install-root>/uninstall
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\<identifier>\<install-root>\uninstall.exe
Linux	$XDG_DATA_HOME/<identifier>/<install-root>/uninstall

The Linux location falls back to ~/.local/share/<identifier>/<install-root>/uninstall. The manager is tied to that installation and should not be moved or copied elsewhere.

For non-interactive automation, use:

# Remove the application and Electrobun installation state; preserve data.
<uninstaller> --quiet

# Also remove this identifier and channel's managed data, cache, and logs.
<uninstaller> --quiet --delete-data

--quiet intentionally has the same conservative meaning as selecting App. Automated jobs must opt in to data deletion with --delete-data, which is only accepted after --quiet. Unknown, reordered, duplicate, or incomplete uninstall arguments are rejected before cleanup begins.

Platform integration

The unified standalone manager, interactive choices, and quiet flags are available in macOS, Windows, and Linux installer builds.

On Windows, Electrobun registers each identifier and release channel separately in Windows Installed Apps. Choosing Uninstall there opens the same native Task Dialog. The registered quiet uninstall action uses the conservative App behavior and preserves user data. Migrated apps retain their validated physical install root in the registration metadata.

On Linux, Electrobun uses KDialog first on KDE/Plasma and Zenity first on other desktops, then tries the other graphical helper if necessary. If neither helper works, it offers the same choices in an attached terminal. With neither a working graphical helper nor a terminal, interactive uninstall exits without changing anything and asks for an explicit --quiet invocation.

Package-managed distributions, such as Flatpak, should be removed through their package manager rather than Electrobun’s standalone installer manager.

Application cleanup

There is no electrobun.config.ts setting for arbitrary uninstall paths. Electrobun deliberately limits cleanup to its app-scoped managed directories, which keeps an uninstall from deleting unrelated user files. Store removable application data under Utils.paths.userData, Utils.paths.userCache, or Utils.paths.userLogs; users can then choose whether that data is removed.

If your application writes data elsewhere, document its removal separately for your users. Support for additional declarative cleanup locations is deferred; it will be constrained to paths beneath Electrobun-managed app roots.