Guide

How to Uninstall OpenClaw

Whether you're cleaning up, moving to a different server, or starting fresh — here's how to safely remove OpenClaw and all its data.

Quick Answer

Uninstall OpenClaw: npm uninstall -g openclaw. To also remove config: rm -rf ~/.openclaw. Back up your config first with ClawSquire or openclaw config export.

⚠️ Before you uninstall

Uninstalling removes your gateway service, agent data, conversation history, and configuration. Make sure to back up first if you want to keep anything.

Recommended: Use ClawSquire

Back Up Config Before Uninstalling

Before uninstalling, use ClawSquire to create a config backup with one click. The Config Backups page lets you snapshot your current setup — so you can restore later if you reinstall.

ClawSquire Config Backups page showing timestamped backups with Create Backup button and Compare/Restore actions — one-click config backup before uninstall OpenClaw

Access from Dashboard: click Backup Now on Quick Actions, or open the Config Backups page.

ClawSquire Dashboard showing OpenClaw status, Config Backups count, and Backup Now Quick Action button for one-click config snapshot before uninstall

Manual Alternative

Uninstall from the terminal.

1

Back up your data (recommended)

Create a restorable snapshot of your configuration, skills, and agent data before removing anything.

openclaw backup create

This saves everything to a timestamped archive. You can restore it later on a fresh install with openclaw backup restore.

2

Stop the gateway

If the gateway is running, stop it first to ensure a clean removal.

# If running as a service
openclaw gateway stop

# If running in the foreground, press Ctrl+C
3

Run the uninstall command

OpenClaw includes a built-in uninstall command that removes gateway data and services while keeping the CLI tool.

openclaw uninstall

This removes: gateway service registration, local data (conversations, sessions), and workspace files. It keeps the openclaw CLI itself installed.

4

Preview before removing (optional)

Not sure what will be deleted? Use dry-run mode to see a preview:

openclaw uninstall --dry-run

This lists every file and service that would be removed without actually deleting anything.

5

Full removal (including CLI)

To remove everything including the CLI tool and all data:

openclaw uninstall --all --yes

After this, remove the npm package:

npm uninstall -g openclaw
6

Manual cleanup (if needed)

If the uninstall command isn't available or something went wrong, manually remove the data directory:

# macOS / Linux
rm -rf ~/.openclaw

# Windows (PowerShell)
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force $env:USERPROFILE\.openclaw

The ~/.openclaw directory contains all config, agent data, and session history.

Want to reinstall later?

Download ClawSquire — FreeReinstall Done Right — from $199

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