How to Uninstall R on Mac: Clean Removal Without Leftover Files

Uninstalling R from your Mac shouldn’t leave behind a digital junk drawer of forgotten files. ⚡ I’ve helped more than a dozen colleagues clean up their systems after messy R installations, and the key is knowing exactly where everything hides—and how to remove it completely.

The process takes about 15 minutes if you follow the right steps, but skipping cleanup means leftover scripts, broken dependencies, and future headaches.

First, you’ll need to hunt down both R and RStudio—one lives in Applications, the other buries itself deeper in your system files. I’ve seen users miss the ~/Library/R folder or the .plist preference files, which can cause phantom R processes to linger.

The Terminal commands are straightforward, but permissions will test you: sudo is your friend here, but use it carefully. Back up any custom scripts or packages first, because once you delete those folders, they’re gone for good.

After the main removal, you’ll want to scrub your shell configuration files (.bash_profile, .zshrc) for any lingering R paths, then restart your Mac to flush out stubborn system caches. I’ve caught leftover R references in my own .zshrc after reinstalling—always double-check.

The payoff? A clean slate for fresh installs, no more mysterious crashes when you’re ready to try Python or Julia instead.

If something goes wrong, we’ll troubleshoot with which R and ls -la /Library/Frameworks/ to spot hidden traces. Trust me, I’ve debugged enough of these to know the most common pitfalls. Let’s get started—your Mac will thank you later.

What you need

Step-by-Step instructions for removing R completely from your Mac

Here's the foolproof method I use to purge R and all its traces from macOS.

First, force-quit any running R sessions by opening Activity Monitor (Applications > Utilities) and ending processes named R or RStudio. This prevents file locks that could block deletion. Next, navigate to /Applications and drag the R application to the Trash. Empty the Trash immediately to free up space.

I always double-check by opening Finder and pressing Command+Shift+G, then typing /Applications to confirm no residual R folders remain. If you see a R.app or R-x.x.x.app file, delete it too—some versions install multiple copies.

Open Terminal (Applications > Utilities) and run these commands one by one to remove R's system files. First, delete the main R framework with sudo rm -rf /Library/Frameworks/R.framework. You'll need to enter your admin password. Next, remove any leftover libraries with sudo rm -rf /Library/R and sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/R.

Here's the thing—some R packages install system-wide libraries in /usr/local or /Library. If you skip this, you'll get permission errors later. I always verify deletion by running ls /Library/Frameworks and ls /usr/local/lib to confirm nothing R-related remains.

Switch to your user directory and delete R's configuration files. Run rm -rf ~/Library/R to remove user-specific libraries, then rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/org.R-project.R.plist to clear R's preference file. For RStudio users, also delete rm -rf ~/Library/Application Support/RStudio if you want a completely clean slate.

Don't forget R's cache files in ~/Library/Caches. Run rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/org.R-project.R to clear them. I've seen cases where leftover cache files cause permission issues when reinstalling R, so I never skip this step.

If you installed R via Homebrew, run brew uninstall r to remove it from your package manager. Then, check your shell configuration files (~/.bashprofile, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.bashrc) for any PATH or R_LIBS_USER entries and remove them. Open each file in a text editor and delete any lines containing R or Library/R.