How to Fully Uninstall Inkscape from Your PC

Learn more about Inkscape:

Inkscape is a free, open-source and SVG-based editor that can be used to create or edit vector graphics such as illustrations, diagrams, line arts, charts, logos and complex paintings. The program has an organized and fairly intuitive interface, and it comes with a powerful set of tools for drawing and editing graphic objects, including markers, gradients, shapes, paths, clones, alpha blending and more. Moreover, users can unleash their creativity in graphic editing with a wide range of available filters and extensions. To be honest, Inkscape is an impressive and competitive product on the vector graphics sector (and yes, it is totally free). Even so, it cannot satisfy all level users’ needs, and people may try to uninstall it for personal reasons.

If Inkscape does not work as you expect, then how to get rid of it properly? Have you run into any problem when removing it from Control Panel? And how about the program leftovers after a conventional uninstall? Will you be able to wipe them off from your system? If you are upset by the uninstall issues of Inkscape, you’ve come to the right place. Now read through this tutorial and learn some tips about how to uninstall unwanted program without hassle. Here we will show you two removal ways and you can employ either of them to fully uninstall Inkscape. Let’s begin now.

Option 1: Uninstall Inkscape with Advanced Uninstaller (Recommended)

First of all, we strongly recommend you to uninstall Inkscape (or any other unwanted program you fail to uninstall by yourself) by using the professional and handy utility, namely, Max Uninstaller. This lightweight uninstaller integrates a powerful algorithm with scanning engine, which ensures the high performance in detection and removal process. It is capable of displaying detailed information about installed program, uninstall corrupted programs or stubborn toolbar that Windows Add/Remove Programs fails to remove, and delete all files, folders, and registry entries/keys that associated with the target program once for all. That’s how it uninstall Inkscape:

Step 1. Select Target Program.

• Launch Max Uninstaller after ending all related background processes.
• Select Inkscape on the interface and click on Run Analysis to proceed.

Step 2. Scan for Program Components.

• Click on Complete Uninstall after all the components are scanned out.
• Click Yes in the pop-up dialog and follow the prompts to complete the uninstall.
• Click on Scan Leftovers to conduct a full scan for the program leftover.

Step 3. Perform Complete Uninstall.

• Click on Delete Leftovers and then Yes in the pop-up confirmation dialog.
• After all the leftovers have been removed completely, click OK to end the process.

Incrediblly fast and easy, right? The whole removal process may take even less then one minute to complete and you will successfully uninstall Inkscape, without worrying if there is any residuals left behind. If the program you wanna uninstall does not appear on the interface, you can click on “Not listed above” in Step 1, enter the install directory of target program and click on Scan to perform the force uninstall.

For more PUP removal:

How to Uninstall/Remove OTShot Completely

Recommended Ways to Fully Remove Corel VideoStudio Pro X7

How to Uninstall PhotoScape – Detailed PhotoScape Removal Guide

Option 2: Uninstall Inkscape via Add/Remove Programs Applet

Apart for the aforementioned way to remove Inkscape, you can activate the default uninstaller via Control Panel and then manually remove program leftovers on your system (especially in the Windows Registry). How to uninstall Inkscape manually:

1-1. Reboot Computer into Safe Mode (optional)

At the beginning of uninstallation, you can boot system into Safe Mode to prevent other third-party software from being activated to interrupt the uninstall process.

On Windows 7:

• Reboot the computer and tap the F8 key as soon as the Windows’ logo appears.
• Select the regular Safe Mood in Advanced Options Menu and then hit Enter key.

On Windows 8:

• Access the Run dialogue by pressing the Windows + R keys together.
• Type “msconfig” in the Open: field and click on OK.

• Click the Boot tab in the System Configuration and check the “Safe boot” box.
• Click OK and then Restart in the pop-up dialog box to take effect.

Notice: after the uninstall is finished, you should follow the steps above to uncheck the “Safe boot” box and then restart your computer to exit Safe mode.

1-2. Terminate related Processes in Task Manager

If you skip the step of entering into Safe Mode, you need to turn off Inkscape as well as terminate all associated background processes prior to the uninstall.

• Right click the taskbar and click Task Manager in the list.
• Select the processes associated with Inkscape in the Processes tab.
• Click on End Task to terminated them one by one.

2. Uninstall Inkscape program from Control Panel

As is known to all, the Add/Remove Programs applet (located in Control Panel) works for most of the Windows applications that was correctly installed in the computer. You can uninstall Inkscape by accessing to the Control Panel and do the following:

On Windows 7:

• Hit the Windows key on your keyboard and select Control Panel in the list.
• Click on Programs in Control Panel interface.
• Highlight Inkscape and click on Uninstall/Change to begin uninstall.

On Windows 8:

• Right click on Start menu and select Programs and Features in the list.

• Right click Inkscape and click on Uninstall to activate default uninstaller.

• Click on “Next” in this pop-up window to start uninstall process.

• Click on “Remove” in the Setup wizard and then “Remove” in the next window.

• Reboot your computer after the uninstall process is finished.

More Steps Needed to Remove Inkscape Completely:

Once a program is installed on the system, the associated files and folders will be created in both the hard disk and registry. Users may often neglect the fact that uninstalling a program through Add/Remove Programs applet does not mean you can achieve a 100% uninstall. The main executable files may be removed successfully but those cache files, preference settings and especially registry entries may still be left behind. To fully remove those junk files, you need to do more than that.

3. Delete Invalid Keys/Values in Registry

• (Right) click on the Start icon and then select the Run option.
• Type “regedit” in the box and press Enter key to activate Registry Editor.

• Click Find on the Edit menu in the Registry Editor.
• Type the keyword(s) of target program or its vendor’s name in the search box.

• Enter Find Next (and then hit F3) to locate and delete related keys or values.

Warning: You must be very careful in making any change on the registry keys or values, cause any unintentional mistake might potentially pose dangers to the Windows system. Manually deleting registry entries is not only tedious but also risk-taking. To avoid any unnecessary mis-operation there, you are strongly suggested to apply Max Uninstall for a complete and safe removal of Inkscape components.

4. Delete Associated Files/Folders in Disk

• Click on Start > Control Panel > Folder Options, and then click the View tab.
• Tick Show hidden files and folders and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (recommended) in the Advanced settings.
• Click Apply and then OK in pop-up dialog boxes to save the changes.

• Open File Explore and input the keyword of target program in the Search Bar.

• Go through and delete the matched items in the search results.

In this tutorial we illustrate two solutions to uninstall Inkscape. Comparing with the second removal method, uninstalling unwanted programs with Max Uninstaller seems to be a more convenient and time-saving way to follow. This all-in-one tool is quiet easy to get going, and one of its advantages is that users can delete all program components lingering around the whole system within one click. How amazing it is! Try on MU now and you will be satisfied with its convenience and effectiveness.

External Knowledge:
Inkscape (from Wikipedia)
List of Control Panel Applets in Windows
How to troubleshoot Windows Installer errors