The short version: Quit Rectangle from the menu bar, remove it from System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, then drag the app to the Trash. That’s a clean uninstall. If what you actually want is to fix a broken configuration rather than remove the app, use the reset option in Rectangle’s settings instead — it restores defaults without uninstalling a thing.
Decide first: uninstall or reset?
These are two different jobs, and people regularly grab the wrong one. Uninstalling wipes the app out. Resetting keeps the app but returns your configuration to defaults — which is what you’re really after if shortcuts have tangled, settings act strangely, or you’ve customized yourself into a corner.
If the goal is “make it work properly again,” reset first. Seconds of work, and you keep the app. If the goal is “get this off my Mac,” follow the uninstall steps. Both are here, starting with the gentler one.
Resetting Rectangle to defaults
The Rectangle app ships a reset option in its settings that restores every default without touching the installation. Open Rectangle from the menu bar, dive into settings, and find the reset or restore-defaults option.
This clears custom shortcuts and preferences, putting everything back to first-launch state. That’s the whole point — a corrupted or over-customized configuration genuinely causes odd behavior, and starting clean beats hunting for the single bad setting.
Two things to know before you pull the trigger. Any shortcuts you spent time remapping vanish, so jot down the important ones if you like your setup. And if you’re on Rectangle Pro with iCloud sync, a reset on one Mac may propagate through sync — check that first if you have several machines configured.
Uninstalling Rectangle: the complete steps
Step 1 — Quit the app
Click the Rectangle icon in your menu bar and quit properly. Deleting an app while it’s still running leaves a process behind and makes for a messier removal, so this leads rather than trails.
Step 2 — Remove it from Accessibility
Head to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, find Rectangle, and remove the entry with the minus button. Most uninstall guides skip this, and skipping it strands a permission entry pointing at an app that no longer exists.
It matters even more if you intend to reinstall later — a leftover entry from a previous installation is a known source of permission problems on the fresh install.
Step 3 — Delete the application
Open Applications, drag Rectangle to the Trash, empty it. Installed via Homebrew? Use brew uninstall --cask rectangle instead, which handles removal properly for that method.
Step 4 — Remove leftover preferences (optional)
The app is gone by now, but its settings file lingers in your user Library. For most people that’s irrelevant — a tiny file doing nothing on its own. Remove it if you want a genuinely clean slate, or if you’re reinstalling to fix a configuration problem and want certainty that old settings won’t return.
Rectangle’s preferences sit in the standard macOS location for application preference files: the Preferences folder inside your user Library, in a file named after the app’s bundle identifier. Deleting that file removes every stored setting. Library is hidden by default, so reveal it in Finder via Go → Go to Folder, then navigate to Preferences.
Not comfortable rooting around in Library? Skip it. A leftover preferences file causes no trouble.
Reinstalling cleanly after a bad setup
If the uninstall is specifically a repair attempt, sequence matters. Quit the app, remove the Accessibility entry, delete the app, then delete the preferences file. Only after all four should you reinstall Rectangle for Mac from the official site or Homebrew and grant permission fresh.
That order dodges the most common frustration — reinstalling, granting permission, and hitting the exact same broken behavior because the old configuration or a stale permission entry survived and got picked straight back up.
Switching to something else
Removing Rectangle because it isn’t the right fit? Worth knowing where you’re headed. macOS Sequoia tiles windows natively now, so you may need no replacement at all for basic halves and quarters. Want more? Loop offers a radial-menu approach, Amethyst does automatic tiling, and yabai is the full power-user tiling window manager — our roundup of free Mac window managers covers all of them.
Also worth asking whether the problem was configuration rather than the app. A reset costs nothing and settles a surprising share of “this app doesn’t work for me” cases before an uninstall becomes necessary.
Frequently asked questions
How do I completely uninstall Rectangle from my Mac?
Quit Rectangle from the menu bar, remove it from System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility using the minus button, then drag the app from Applications to the Trash. For a Homebrew install, use brew uninstall –cask rectangle. Optionally delete its preferences file from your user Library for a fully clean removal.
How do I reset Rectangle’s settings without uninstalling?
Rectangle has a reset-to-defaults option in its settings, reachable from the menu bar icon. It restores every default and clears your custom shortcuts while leaving the app installed. This is the right choice when the app misbehaves due to a tangled configuration.
Do I need to remove Rectangle from Accessibility before deleting it?
You should. Deleting the app without removing its Accessibility entry leaves a stale permission pointing at software that no longer exists. It also causes problems if you later reinstall, since leftover entries are a known source of permission failures on fresh installs.
Will uninstalling Rectangle affect my windows?
No. Rectangle only moves windows when you tell it to; it doesn’t hold them in place. After uninstalling, windows stay wherever they currently are and behave like normal macOS windows. You’ll simply lose the snapping shortcuts and drag zones.