I have a backup workstation that had some old versions of Creative Cloud and Adobe Apps and wanted to uninstall them and install the newer software. The issue I have is how Adobe wants me to login to my Creative Cloud account to uninstall their software. Am I not the local admin of my own system? Should I not be able to just remove them at will? What diabolical doof thought Adobe should be master of my ship? What gives them the right, right?
While trying to find a solution to remove the software on my terms, I found that their forum is littered with the same complaint and, as is typical with forums, a lot of useless answers. So, I’m writing a Technoogie to cut through the garbage and make it simple for the faint-hearted to uninstall Adobe Creative Cloud apps without an account.
As I read through the chatter, I also realized there are many scenarios where people run into this issue, like they installed Creative Cloud for school, work, or have an expired license. Now I could have just logged into my account and completed the process, but then I would have to kick myself out of my workstation or laptop. That was unacceptable to me. I reserve the right to uninstall without their approval, and you should too. Fortunately, they created some tools for us, if you can find them, for which I have made it easy to find them. I will of course, need to kick myself out of one machine to install anyhow, but my right to uninstall is a matter of principle.
The first step of course is to make backups of presets, action, and settings. You can also make copies of workspaces.
Backup your Preference settings and other assets ( If you need to )
The first step of course is to make backups of presets, actions, and settings. You can also make copies of workspaces. You can find the information for the location to Preference and Workspace data on Adobe’s help site. Close all of your Adobe Apps and the Creative Cloud App.
Path locations can be seen here: Photoshop preference file functions, names, locations (adobe.com)
If you just want to remove the Creative Cloud App ONLY
If you just want to remove the Creative Cloud App itself then this is the only tool you need to download and run (Not recommended unless you have a good reason). After removing Creative Cloud, you could remove each app one at a time, or just the Adobe apps you want to remove, leaving the others installed, but you would need to reinstall Creative Cloud to use them again.
Creative Cloud App Removal Links
Page: Uninstall the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application
Windows Tool: Creative Cloud Uninstaller Windows 64bit Direct Download
Mac Tool: Creative Cloud Uninstaller for macOS v10.12 or later
Creative Cloud App installer (In case you need to reinstall it)
Repair or Remove Adobe Creative Cloud and Apps
If you need to repair an installation, fix Creative Cloud connectivity issues, or you want to remove it all, then this page has the details and a download for the Adobe Creative Cloud and Apps cleaner tool. After I ran this tool, I checked my Preference data locations and everything was still there and just the Adobe applications were removed.
Use the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool to solve installation problems (adobe.com)
Rip the guts out all at once with these tools.
Creative Cloud Cleaner tool for Windows
Creative Cloud Cleaner tool for macOS
Instructions From Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner Page
( minor adjustments )
Use Creative Cloud Cleaner tool for Windows
- Download the Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner tool.
If prompted, click Save File to download the file on your device. - Right-click the downloaded file and choose Run as Administrator.
Note: If Run as Administrator isn’t available when you right-click, then double-click AdobeCreativeCloudCleanerTool.exe to run the file. - Follow the onscreen instructions in this order:
- Choose your language: Type e for English or j for Japanese, and then press Enter.
- Review the Adobe End-User License Agreement: Type y to accept or n to decline (if you decline, the script stops). Press Enter.
- Type the number that corresponds to the option you want to select, and then press Enter. For example, type 1 to remove everything and 4 (CC Apps) if you want to uninstall a Creative Cloud app.
- Subsequently, to remove an app, select the app that you want to remove by typing the number that corresponds to the app name, and then press Enter.
If you are facing issues with file syncing, you might have to remove Adobe Content Synchronizer. In this example below, you would type 1 or 27 and press Enter. Then type the number that corresponds to Adobe Content Synchronizer and press Enter.
- Confirm that you want to remove the entry: Type y and then press Enter.
- (Optional) If you’re unable to connect to Adobe’s servers, repeat these steps to fix your host file. After accepting the End-User License Agreement, type 12 to select the host file option. Confirm that you want to fix the host file: Type y and then press Enter. The Cleaner tool creates a backup of the host file (named hosts_bkup) in the same directory, which you can revert to if a problem occurs.
- Choose your language: Type e for English or j for Japanese, and then press Enter.
- When you see the message “ Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner tool completed successfully,” press Enter and restart your computer.
- Once you have successfully run the Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner tool, install your Creative Cloud or Creative Suite application.
- Download your Creative Cloud apps (Creative Cloud)
- Creative Suite 6 installation instructions (CS6)
- Instructions to install Adobe Creative Suite 5 or 5.5 (CS5.5 and CS5)
- Creative Suite Help (CS4 and earlier)
Use Creative Cloud Cleaner tool for macOS
- Download the Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner tool.
- To run the Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner tool, double-click the AdobeCreativeCloudCleanerTool.dmg file.
- Double-click Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner tool and follow the onscreen instructions in this order:
- Select your language from the menu in the upper right.
- Review the Adobe End-User License Agreement: Click Accept to accept or Quit to decline (if you decline, the script stops).
- Select an option from the menu in the upper right. For example, select CC Apps if you want to uninstall a Creative Cloud app.
- Select the app you want to clean up from the table, and then click Cleanup Selected. (Click Clean All to clean up all installer-related files for the option you chose in step C.) Similarly, if you’re facing issues with file syncing, you might need to clean up Adobe Content Synchronizer. First, ensure that you have selected All in the pop-up menu. Then select CoreSync from the list and click Cleanup Selected.
- (Optional) If you’re unable to connect to Adobe’s servers, select Fix Host File from the table to repair your host file, and then click Cleanup Selected. The Cleaner tool creates a backup of the host file (named hosts_bkup) in the same directory, which you can revert to if a problem occurs.
Note: The End-User License Agreement is displayed in English or Japanese, depending on the language setting of the Root user account.
- Select your language from the menu in the upper right.
- When you see the message “ Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool completed successfully,” click Quit and restart your computer.
- Once you have successfully run the Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner tool, install your Creative Cloud or Creative Suite application.
- Download your Creative Cloud apps (Creative Cloud)
- Creative Suite 6 installation instructions (CS6)
- Instructions to install Adobe Creative Suite 5 or 5.5 (CS5.5 and CS5)
- Creative Suite Help (CS4 and earlier)
How to use the Creative Cloud Cleaner tool for enterprise users (Enterprise admins only)
Run the Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool in silent mode to list all the products that the tool can remove. It enables you to remove all Creative Cloud or Creative Suite apps installed on the computer, or to remove selected apps by commenting out the lines in an XML file that the tool generates. For details, see Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool for enterprise users.
Update: Folders Don’t Get Removed
My desktop, used for Adobe Creative Cloud, became unusable. It would give me errors on every other click, especially with the move tool. Clicking on an object resulted in an instant program error. The only way I could select things was from layers. I’d sometimes need to End Task and open again up to three times, and wait patiently before I dared touch a thing, lest it lockup.
I tried reinstalling and back-revving to no avail. It was time to remove everything and start from scratch.
I uninstalled everything through Creative Cloud. However, it didn’t give the option to uninstall Acrobat, which I had to do manually from Apps and Features. Even though I removed everything, the only thing left was the Creative Cloud app, and it would not uninstall.
So, I used the removal tools from this blog post to rip its guts out, but it left a lot of remnants. If you’re daring, you can just delete them. The various places you have to go to remove the rest of it are in the root of your C: drive for Windows, Program Data, Program Files (x86), and Program Files. If you want to copy them somewhere else, like I did, it might be wise. Who knows.
I created matching folder structures and moved all of those folders and files into them for a backup before reinstalling Creative Cloud and the apps I use.
The other location is in your profile. There is a Creative Cloud files folder, and also in the profile, within the AppData folder, are three folders: Local, LocalLow, and Roaming. Each of these has an Adobe folder within it. Dimension CC has a folder all of its own in Roaming. Also, in Roaming, there is com.adobe.dunamis. I have no idea what that is, but it has a lot of cryptic folders in it, and mine goes all the way back to 2021.
Summary
Why all the fuss? Just let us remove it like every other normal application does. Regardless, the Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool will set you free. If you’re just having a font issue, which is very common in Adobe products, then this post on fixing fonts problems might be all you need.
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Professional geek and early implementer of virtualization in 1998.
Small business owner and was once the network admin for Knight Transportation. Racquetball fanatic, but had to retire from it.
Business, Technical, and Administrative Professional of Web Design, SEO, SSO, UX/UI, Networked Systems, and Virtualization with more than 20 years of experience.