How to Delete Grammarly From Mac: A Complete Removal Guide

Grammarly on Mac isn't a single, simple application. It installs itself in multiple layers — a desktop app, a browser extension, a Safari integration, and background keyboard helper components — which means a standard drag-to-trash uninstall often leaves pieces behind. Understanding what you're actually removing, and where everything lives, is the difference between a clean removal and a Mac that still has Grammarly running quietly in the background.

Why Grammarly Is Harder to Remove Than Most Apps

Most Mac apps follow a straightforward pattern: move the .app file to the Trash, and you're done. Grammarly breaks that pattern because it installs as a system-level keyboard extension on top of its desktop app. That keyboard component integrates with macOS at a deeper level than typical applications, meaning it persists even after you delete the main app bundle.

Additionally, Grammarly may have placed support files, caches, preferences, and login items in several locations across your user Library folder — folders that macOS hides by default.

Step 1: Quit Grammarly Completely

Before removing anything, make sure Grammarly isn't running.

• Click the Grammarly icon in your menu bar (top right of your screen)
• Select Quit Grammarly
• Open Activity Monitor (via Spotlight: Cmd + Space, type Activity Monitor) and confirm no Grammarly processes are active

If a process won't quit normally, select it in Activity Monitor and click the Force Quit (X) button.

Step 2: Remove the Main Grammarly Desktop App

1. Open Finder and go to your Applications folder
2. Locate Grammarly Desktop
3. Right-click and select Move to Trash, or drag it to the Trash
4. Empty the Trash

This removes the core application, but not the supporting files.

Step 3: Disable the Grammarly Keyboard Extension

This step is specific to Grammarly on Mac and the one most users miss.

1. Open System Settings (macOS Ventura and later) or System Preferences (macOS Monterey and earlier)
2. Navigate to Keyboard
3. Click Edit next to Input Sources (Ventura) or open Input Sources directly
4. Look for any Grammarly entry and remove it using the minus (−) button

On some macOS versions, the keyboard extension also appears under: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Extensions → Keyboard

Remove any Grammarly entries you find there as well.

Step 4: Remove Leftover Files From Your Library 🗂️

macOS hides the Library folder by default. To access it:

• Open Finder
• Hold Option and click the Go menu in the menu bar
• Select Library

Inside your Library, check and delete Grammarly-related folders from these locations:

Use Cmd + Shift + G in Finder and type the path directly to navigate quickly (e.g., ~/Library/Caches/).

Step 5: Remove Grammarly From Login Items

If Grammarly was set to launch at startup, it will have added itself to your Login Items.

macOS Ventura and later:

1. Open System Settings → General → Login Items
2. Find Grammarly under "Open at Login" and click the minus (−) button

macOS Monterey and earlier:

1. Open System Preferences → Users & Groups
2. Select your user account and click Login Items
3. Select Grammarly and click the minus (−) button

Step 6: Remove Grammarly Browser Extensions

The desktop app and browser extensions are separate installs. Deleting the app does not remove extensions from Safari, Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.

• Safari: Safari → Settings → Extensions → select Grammarly → Uninstall
• Chrome: Menu (⋮) → Extensions → Manage Extensions → Grammarly → Remove
• Firefox: Menu → Add-ons and Themes → Extensions → Grammarly → Remove
• Edge: Menu (…) → Extensions → Manage Extensions → Grammarly → Remove

The Variables That Affect Your Removal Process 🔧

How much of this applies to you depends on a few factors:

macOS version matters significantly. The steps for managing extensions and keyboard inputs differ noticeably between macOS Monterey, Ventura, and Sonoma. System Settings was redesigned in Ventura, so the navigation paths changed.

How Grammarly was installed also changes what you need to clean up. If you installed it via the Mac App Store, some components are sandboxed and may not leave the same Library footprint as a direct download from grammarly.com. App Store installations also uninstall more cleanly through Launchpad (hold an app icon until it wiggles, then click X).

Which browsers you use determines how many extension removals are required. A user with three browsers and Grammarly enabled in all of them has a meaningfully different cleanup job than someone who only used the desktop app.

How long Grammarly has been installed affects the size and spread of cached files — not whether removal works, but how much residual data you're clearing.

A Note on Third-Party Uninstallers

Some users reach for third-party uninstaller apps (like AppCleaner or CleanMyMac) to automate Library cleanup. These tools scan for associated files automatically and can catch items the manual process might miss. They vary in how thorough they are and how they handle system extensions, so results differ depending on the tool and the macOS version you're running.

Manual removal following the steps above covers the standard install thoroughly — but your specific setup, including any customizations or older macOS versions, may produce a slightly different picture when you go looking.