QUESTION
How to uninstall Capture One on Windows?
How to uninstall Capture One on my Mac?
ANSWER
Windows
Check out the instructions on how to uninstall Capture One on Windows. This is specifically useful when the application is not responding.
1. Deactivate Capture One
If activated, deactivate Capture One so that the license key could be used to activate the software on another computer or on the same computer but with different hardware. This can be done by navigating to Help -> License... -> Deactivate or from your account on the captureone.com website in the Manage License section.
Learn more in this article:
2. Verify that the application is not running
Press Control+Alt+Delete keys simultaneously and choose Task Manager. In the Processes tab, end the Capture One process and make sure that the application is not running. If it is still running, then highlight CaptureOne.exe and click End Process.
3. Make sure that the hidden Folders on Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 are accessible to change local settings
Go to Control Panel -> Appearance and Personalization -> Folder Options. Select the View tab in the pop-up menu. Mark the Show hidden files, folders and drives option.
4. Run the uninstaller
Open Control Panel -> Programs -> Programs and Features. Choose the corresponding version of Capture One by right-clicking on it and press Uninstall.
5. Delete the folder
For Capture One 20 (13.0.4) and older versions:
Go to C:\Program Files\Phase One\Capture One X (where X is the software version) and delete this folder.
For Capture One 20 (13.1.0) and newer versions:
Go to C:\Program Files\Capture One\Capture One X (where X is the software version) and delete this folder.
6. Optional step. Delete the CaptureOne AppData folder (for those who will not use Capture One any longer)
Go to Users -> User Name -> AppData -> Local -> Capture One and delete this folder.
IMPORTANT: Please skip this step or make a backup of this folder if you plan to reinstall Capture One.
Learn how to show hidden folders on Windows
7. Delete the Capture One Program Data folder
For Capture One 20 (13.0.4) and older versions:
Go to C:\ProgramData\Phase One\Capture One and delete this folder.
For Capture One 20 (13.1.0) and newer versions:
Go to C:\ProgramData\Capture One\Capture One and delete this folder.
8. Delete the Preference Files
For Capture One 20 (13.0.4) and older versions:
Go to C:\Users\USER NAME\AppData\Local\Phase_One\CaptureOne.exe_Url....\Number.x.x\user.config (where Number corresponds to the Capture One version) and delete it.
For Capture One 20 (13.1.0) and newer versions:
Go to C:\Users\USER NAME\AppData\Local\Capture_One\CaptureOne.exe_Url....\Number.x.x\user.config (where Number corresponds to the Capture One version) and delete it.
NOTE: There will be sub-folders for every version installed containing user.config with the preferences.
Mac
1. If activated, deactivate Capture One so that the license key could be used to activate the software on another computer or on the same computer but with different hardware. This can be done by navigating to Capture One -> License... -> Deactivate or from your account on the captureone.com website in the Manage License section.
Read more in this article:
2. Quit Capture One (if running).
3. Drag the Capture One application from your Applications folder to the trash.
4. In Capture One 7-21, make a backup of the default Capture One session or catalog if you have to work in it later. Go to Users -> Username -> Pictures and then delete the default session or catalog.
In Capture One 5-6, go to Users -> Username -> Pictures -> Capture One Library -> Capture One.col (Capture One.col50) and delete it.
5. Access the User Library folder.
Method 1. Go to the Library folder from Finder by navigating to Go -> Go to folder.
You can then enter the folder destination "~/Library".
Method 2. Alternatively, you can press Go in the finder menu next to the Apple icon, hold the Option key when going down through the list, and select the Library folder there. You will be redirected to the Library folder.
NOTE: On OS X 10.11.x, the shortcuts might be different.
6. Reset the preferences.
On OS X 10.9 and later versions, you cannot simply delete the preference file. On OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) and later there is a daemon running in the background (maintaining a cache of all those .plist files) called “cfprefsd”. Deleting a .plist file from Finder (as mentioned for 10.7 and 10.8) doesn’t work in 10.9 because this service will restore it from the cache when the file is needed. Do not delete the file from Finder but run the following commands in the Terminal and hit return after each line. Capture One must be closed when you do this. You will have to wait several seconds for the command to take effect. You can access terminal via Spotlight search or manually by navigating to Applications->Utilities->Terminal.app.
Please ignore any comments below in (italics). These should not be typed in Terminal. The commands are case sensitive. The preferences are specific to the corresponding version of Capture One. Thus, you only need to enter the commands for the particular version of Capture One you have.
(To delete main plist type the following:)
defaults delete com.phaseone.captureone7
defaults delete com.phaseone.captureone8
defaults delete com.phaseone.captureone9
defaults delete com.phaseone.captureone10
defaults delete com.phaseone.captureone11
defaults delete com.phaseone.captureone12
defaults delete com.captureone.captureone13
defaults delete com.captureone.captureone14
(Then delete the session history preference in the same manner:)
defaults delete com.phaseone.captureone7.LSSharedFileList
defaults delete com.phaseone.captureone8.LSSharedFileList
defaults delete com.phaseone.captureone9.LSSharedFileList
(Capture One 10 and later do not have a separate file for this)
(end)
For OS X 10.8 and older: Delete the Preference files located here
/User/Library/Preferences/com.phaseone.captureone.plist and/or .captureone7.plist
/User/Library/Preferences/com.phaseone.captureone.LSSharedFileList and/or com.phaseone.captureone7.LSSharedFileList
7. Optional step (in case you will not use Capture One in the future)
If you plan to reinstall Capture One, only delete the Batch Queue folder within User -> Library -> Application Support -> Capture One -> Batch Queue. If you do not plan to reinstall Capture One, delete the entire Capture One directory. 
NOTE: If you do not see the Application Support folder, it is likely that you are in the System Library and not in the User Library. If this is the case, please refer to Step 5 to access the User Library.
8. Delete the ImageCore and CaptureCore cache. Delete the Capture One folder located in the Shared folder by navigating to Hard Drive -> Users -> Shared -> Capture One.
Comments
16 comments
There is an alternative method to deactivating one's licence:
https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002467237-Deactivating-Capture-One
It would be useful to include this information. I had to reinstall a previous version of Capture One 20 since the latest version excludes some Mac users who cannot run the newest update. In those cases, the app crashes before it even opens. So, one cannot deactivate the license via the dialog box shown above in point 1.
It would save precious time to customers to make explicit reference to this alternative way of deactivating the license.
Hi Humberto,
Thanks a lot for your suggestion and comment.
This link will be added to the deactivation step for both Mac and Windows instructions.
I have some difficulties to follow your instruction for WIN 10. The first is sure for my low knowlwdge, but the second seems a typo, probably pasted from older versions, specifically:
point 6. I am not able to find "CaptureOne" folder in Pictures folder. (Assuming thta in WIN 10 Library - Directory - Folder has the same meaning).
point 9. In folder C:\Users\USER NAME\AppData\Local\Phase_One, I have the following content: CaptureOne.exe_StrongName_y3yh4brhpfi14u41fltdrpfruizxirsn\13.0.4.8\user.config. Even if I am runnng version 13.1.1.
But I have another user.config in the current version-folder here: ....\Local\Capture_One\CaptureOne.exe_StrongName_y3yh4brhpfi14u41fltdrpfruizxirsn\13.1.1.31\user.config
Thanks for help at point 6 and a confirmation that I can delete both folders Phase_One and Capture_One for pont 9.
Kind regards
Mario
Hi Mario,
Thank you for your questions and notes.
As for point 9, starting from Capture One 20 (13.1.0) the folder structure in AppData/Local has slightly changed, so feel free to delete ...\13.1.1.31\user.config from Capture One folder and also ...\13.0.4.8\user.config from Phase One folder.
As for point 6, this is not necessary to delete those files if you plan to reinstall Capture One.
I am a Mac user. This seems incredibly complicated. What if I just use my AppCleaner app? It does a great job finding all associated files and deleting them. And why deactivate the license? You never come back to that point at all.
Hi Mark,
Thank you for your comment.
Running AppClearner might be an option, and afterwards you can discover whether it has removed the associated files and folders mentioned here.
Please, note that some steps indicated here are for those who want to uninstall Capture One completely from the computer. In case you just need to update Capture One when a new release comes out, please refer to this article - How to update Capture One?
Running AppCleaner did work. I also clicked on your link "How to update to Capture One?" and discovered that EVEN FOR REGULAR UPDATES you recommend deactivating the license. I followed this instruction and deactivated the license ... something I have never done before because I have never heard of having to do this with any other software.
Long story short: my histogram is now dynamic and I look forward to using the software. Thanks for you help.
The instructions for deleting an older, deactivated version of Capture One (e.g. C1 20) on Mac so that you can use the new version are RIDICULOUS. Could it be any more difficult? Going into terminal mode? Seriously?
Why can't this be made easier?
If you want my continued support, Capture One, you’ll need to work hard to make upgrading a much more simple operation. Seriously.
I agree with Al Avery. Usually when I upgrade software, all that deleting of old, unnecessary stuff is taken care of by the upgrading software itself.
Re: 'This is specifically useful when the application is not responding.'
Does this need to be updated to reflect the latest installation instructions for Capture One 21, namely 'we recommend uninstalling any previous versions of Capture One on your machine, prior to installing your new version of Capture One.'
See How to get started with your Capture One 21 pre-order/upgrade https://support.captureone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360014172697
Suggest it be changed to read: 'Uninstalling previous versions of Capture One is recommended a) prior to installing a new version of Capture One or b) when the application is not responding.'
Michael Crow, that would be a very good idea. As I said somewhere above, deleting the old software before installing an upgrade is not necessary in most cases. Therefore Capture One should emphasise the need for the uninstallment, perhaps including it on the page where people go to download the new software.
Re Step 9 (Windows version) Deleting the Preferences File 'user.config'
As you correctly note 'There will be sub-folders for every version installed containing user.config with the preferences.'
So after deleting the user.config files we are left with empty sub-folders, correct?
eg: I have four remaining: 13.1.0.162, 13.1.1.31, 13.1.2.35 and 13.1.3.13 created today when I ran C1-20 to deactivate my licence as per the instructions to be followed before installing C1-21.
Dear Lily,
I went through complete unistall 4 months ago to recover from a series of bugs on my Win 10 laptop after reformatting. It was quite problematic to follow your instruction that looked like “not current”. However you helped me get out of the quagmire. Nevertheless a series of errors are still present in the above page. So, in order to prevent some problems – to myself and other users – I am now sending you the list of the issues I found trusting in your fully determined support.
Before listing, I allow myself for a general consideration: I think that Windows instructions should be written by a Windows user that does not know the Mac word. Only in such a way the language would be exempt from terms that “only-Win” user does not understand.
Specifically:
5. Delete the folder C:\Program Files\Phase One\Capture One X (where X is the software version). In my PC the folder has a different path: please check in your current Windows installation and replace \Phase One\ with \Capture One\.
6. Delete the Library file Libraries -> Pictures -> Capture One Library. Find the Capture One.col file (it might have other extensions such as .cosessiondb, .col, .col45, .col50) and delete it.…… in my PC the folder “Capture One Library” does not exist, what/where have I to search to find the mentioned file? (Even if I have the plan to reinstall version 21, I would like to find and read the content of the “library”.)
Please note that the term “Library” is never used by PC users (maybe it is common for Mac user…). Clarify this point.
7. Delete the CaptureOne AppData folder Users -> User Name -> AppData -> Local -> Capture One. In my PC there is not this folder. Instead of it there are 2 similar:
Capture_One and CaptureOne. The former contains the config file in the following path: \Capture_One\CaptureOne.exe_StrongName_y3…omissis…irsn\13.1.2.35\user.config that is discussed at your below point 9. Delete the Preference Files.
Remains the latter called “CaptureOne” one-word. It contains a huge amount of data (also customizations, I think), i.e.: 16 folders like: Batch120, Color Profiles, … Image Core, Presets60, Recipes120,…. Worksplaces130 AND the file userLog.db. Do you really ask us to delete these data and customizations?!?
I did last time, and was a nightmare to go into the second installation to recover, if not all, at least most of my customizations… and now I have 19 folders (e.g.: stiles and stiles50; workspaces and workspaces130). Please indicate us a better solution!! I ask also to shortly clarify here the content of the directory and put a big warning about its deleting !
8. Delete the Capture One Program Data folder C:\ProgramData\Phase One\Capture One. Please note that in my PC the folder C:\ProgramData\Phase One is empty (maybe it is there since version 12…). The folder I have is “Capture One” and moreover, differently from the imagine you show, in my PC it contains ONLY “Capture One” (see below image) that in its turn contains 3 folder and 1 file.
9. Delete the Preference Files (For Capture One 20 (13.1.0) and newer versions) C:\Users\USER NAME\AppData\Local\Capture_One\CaptureOne.exe_Url....\Number.x.x\user.config (where Number corresponds to the Capture One version). In my PC I have: …..\AppData\Local\Capture_One\CaptureOne.exe_StrongName_y3y…omissis…irsn\13.1.2.35\user.config
Clarify if we have to delete just the user.config file or the path starting from “Capture_One” directory, included or not.
Thanks for punctual amendments that will simplify a lot Win user life.
Hi Mario,
Thank you for the feedback.
As for 5 and 8, the Phase One folders renamed into Capture One, which happened with the update of Capture One 20 (13.1.0). I will add a note on that.
As for the 7, there is a note:
Please skip this step or make a backup of this folder if you plan to reinstall Capture One.
Thus, there is no need to delete this folder when you plan to continue using Capture One further.
As for 9, just delete this user.config file following the mentioned file path.
As others have said, the uninstall process for Mac OS is far too involved. Like other software, if it isn't a case of dragging the app from the Applications Folder then a discreet Uninstall app should be available within the 'contents'.
This is particularly necessary as the guidance for upgrading to any new version recommends uninstalling the previous version. This means that uninstalling is an integral part of the upgrade process and a user's ongoing relationship with the software and the company providing it.
Since uninstalling is inherent with upgrading it should be done either automatically or at the very least easily. At the moment it is neither.
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