How to completely uninstall Parallels Desktop on Mac
Dragging Parallels to the Trash removes the app itself, but its support files, caches and settings stay on your Mac. Here is where they are and how to remove all of them.
Parallels' own instructions are to shut down your virtual machines, quit Parallels Desktop and move the app to the Trash. That leaves settings, caches, command-line tools in /usr/local/bin and containers behind.
Uninstalling does not delete your virtual machines. They are .pvm files, by default in ~/Parallels, and they are usually the largest thing Parallels has on your disk. To remove one, use Remove in Parallels' Control Center before uninstalling, or delete the .pvm file afterwards. A subscription is managed in your Parallels account, not by uninstalling.
com.parallels.desktop.consoleRemove Parallels by hand
- Quit Parallels. If it has a menu bar icon or runs in the background, quit that too.
- Open the Applications folder and drag Parallels to the Trash.
- In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder (Shift-Command-G), paste each location below, and move what you find to the Trash. Not every location exists for every version.
- Empty the Trash, then restart your Mac so nothing from Parallels is left running.
Where Parallels keeps its files
/Applications/Parallels Desktop.app~/Library/Caches/com.parallels.desktop.console~/Library/Preferences/com.parallels.desktop.console.plist~/Library/Saved Application State/com.parallels.desktop.console.savedState~/Library/Containers/com.parallels.desktop.console~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.parallels.desktop.console~/Library/WebKit/com.parallels.desktop.console
Other places Parallels uses
~/Library/Parallels/Parallels DesktopData~/Library/Parallels/Applications MenusData~/Library/Preferences/ParallelsData/Library/Preferences/ParallelsData~/Library/Caches/Parallels Software/Parallels DesktopData~/Library/Logs/parallels.logData~/Library/Containers/com.parallels.desktop*Container~/Library/Group Containers/*.com.parallels.DesktopContainer~/Applications (Parallels)Data~/.parallels_settingsData/usr/local/bin/prlctlTool data/usr/local/bin/prlsrvctlTool data
Items under /Library need your administrator password to remove.
The quick way
Diskzy finds Parallels and the files listed here, shows the size of each one, and moves them to the Trash together. Files that another app also uses are left alone.
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