Claude Code Uninstaller

Anthropic's native binary installation (currently in beta) doesn't provide an uninstall method. This script removes both npm and native binary installations completely.

Anthropic now provides official uninstall instructions. As of 2026‑01‑06 you can follow their guide directly, but this script remains available if you prefer a single command that cleans up every installation source and makes backups for you.

Usage

Why this exists

Mixed npm/native installs used to leave stray binaries, shell completions, and caches that interfered with new releases. This script gives you a clean slate by removing every known Claude Code path (with backups) in one pass, which was especially important before Anthropic shipped an official uninstall flow.

Quick install (recommended)

chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh            # installs to ~/.local/bin/cc-uninstall by default
cc-uninstall --help

Verification:

command -v cc-uninstall   # should print ~/.local/bin/cc-uninstall
cc-uninstall --help       # shows usage banner

Run directly

chmod +x cc-uninstall.sh
./cc-uninstall.sh

Options:

• --force - Skip prompts
• --quiet - Silent mode (implies --force, perfect for scripts)
• --help - Show help

Examples:

# Interactive (asks before removing ~/.claude)
./cc-uninstall.sh

# Automation/CI-CD
./cc-uninstall.sh --quiet

What Gets Removed

• Binaries: ~/.local/bin/claude, /usr/local/bin/claude, etc.
• Data cache: ~/.local/share/claude
• NPM packages: Global installations and broken leftovers
• Shell configs: Removes Claude lines from .bashrc, .zshrc, etc. (creates backups)
• User settings: ~/.claude, ~/.claude.json
• Project settings: .claude/ directory and .mcp.json in the directory where you run the script

Safety Features

Shell config backups: Before modifying any shell config file, creates timestamped backups:

~/.zshrc.claude-backup.20250904-143022

Automatic asset backups: Every directory/file deleted by the script (~/.claude, ~/.local/share/claude, ~/.claude.json, project .claude/, .mcp.json, npm installs, PATH binaries) is copied next to the original as <name>.claude-backup.<timestamp>. Restore by moving or copying that backup back into place, and you can confirm they exist with ls <path>.claude-backup.*.

Path validation: Only removes the expected ~/.claude directory, refuses to delete unexpected paths.

Binary safety: Only removes files ending with /claude from PATH to prevent accidents.

Exit codes: Returns 0 on success, non-zero if any major operation failed (good for CI/CD).

NPM-Only Users

Just use npm's official command:

npm uninstall -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

But if that fails with ENOTEMPTY errors (common), run this script instead.

Troubleshooting

"Could not remove" warnings:

# Script shows exact commands to run
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/claude

Claude still in PATH after uninstall:

1. Restart terminal
2. Run ./cc-uninstall.sh --force again

Platform Support

• macOS (Intel/Apple Silicon)
• Linux (x64/ARM, including Alpine/musl)
• Windows via WSL

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Use at your own risk. Script removes files and directories.