Fully removing Windsurf on macOS

@ Last updated: 08.03.2026

Context:

• Environment: macOS (tested on macOS Sequoia 15.x)
• App: Windsurf by Codeium (AI-powered code editor, VS Code fork)

Problem:

Moving Windsurf to Bin (right-click → Move to Bin) only removes the app bundle itself. These directories stay on disk, taking up ~1.75 GB or more:

~/.windsurf/                                          # extensions (~475 MB)
~/.codeium/                                           # Codeium AI engine data (~766 MB)
~/Library/Application Support/Windsurf/               # app data, logs, workspace history (~517 MB)
~/Library/Caches/com.exafunction.windsurf             # app cache
~/Library/Caches/com.exafunction.windsurf.ShipIt      # auto-updater cache
~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.exafunction.windsurf        # HTTP storage
~/Library/Preferences/com.exafunction.windsurf.plist  # preferences
~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.exafunction.windsurf.ShipIt.*.plist

Also check your projects for .windsurfrules files if you used Windsurf's rules feature.

Solution:

Run this in your terminal to clean up all Windsurf and Codeium leftovers:

rm -rf ~/.windsurf
rm -rf ~/.codeium
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Windsurf
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.exafunction.windsurf
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.exafunction.windsurf.ShipIt
rm -rf ~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.exafunction.windsurf
rm -f ~/Library/Preferences/com.exafunction.windsurf.plist
rm -f ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.exafunction.windsurf.ShipIt.*.plist

To verify nothing is left:

find ~ -maxdepth 5 \( -name "*windsurf*" -o -name "*Windsurf*" -o -name "*codeium*" \) 2>/dev/null \
  | grep -v -E "Firefox|\.git"

Automate with an LLM

You can paste the following prompt into any LLM (Claude, ChatGPT, etc.) to have it generate or verify the cleanup commands for your specific system:

  Scan my Mac for Windsurf/Codeium leftovers and clean them up.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                    
  Check and report sizes for:                                                                                                         
  - ~/.windsurf                                                                                                                       
  - ~/.codeium
  - ~/Library/Application Support/Windsurf
  - ~/Library/Caches/com.exafunction.windsurf*
  - ~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.exafunction.windsurf
  - ~/Library/Preferences/com.exafunction.windsurf*.plist

  Then delete them all. Skip ~/.vscode and ~/.codex.