How to completely remove MYSQL on your localhost?

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Sometimes, we thought a simple brew remove mysql will remove the entire MySQL but in some cases, it does not. Here is how you can completely remove MySQL on your mac locally.

1. Open your terminal.

Shortcut tip: CMD + Space >> type “ter” >> press enter, terminal will popup.

2. Use mysqldump to backup your databases.

mysqldump -h localhost -u userName -p databaseName > sqldump.sql

3. Stop MYSQL from running.

brew services stop mysql

If you have a specific version for MYSQL you can run this.

brew services stop mysql@5.7

4. Remove MYSQL.

brew remove mysql
brew cleanup

5. Remove the remaining MYSQL files.

sudo rm /usr/local/mysql
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/var/mysql
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/mysql*
sudo rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist
sudo rm -rf /Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM
sudo rm -rf /Library/PreferencePanes/My*

6. Unload MySQL login:

launchctl unload -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist

7. Remove MYSQL configuration. You can use nano or vim.

nano /etc/hostconfig

and remove this line below

MYSQLCOM=-YES-

8. Remove the MYSQL preferences.

rm -rf ~/Library/PreferencePanes/My*
sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/mysql*
sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/MySQL*
sudo rm -rf /private/var/db/receipts/*mysql*

You should have removed all the necessary files by now.

If you still face version or installation errors. You might want to kill the previous MySQL processes using the command below or restart your mac.

Kill the remaining MySQL process.

pkill mysql

or

pkill mysqld

Check if all MYSQL processes are killed.

ps -ax | grep mysql

or check if the port 3306 is being used by any MYSQL process.

lsof -i :3306

Kill the remaining MySQL process, if any.

kill -9 <pid>

I know some are eager to get this solved and get over with like myself…haha. So here is the quick shortcut to copy and paste on your terminal.

brew services stop mysql
brew remove mysql
brew cleanup
sudo rm /usr/local/mysql
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/var/mysql
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/mysql*
sudo rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist
sudo rm -rf /Library/StartupItems/MySQLCOM
sudo rm -rf /Library/PreferencePanes/My*
launchctl unload -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist
nano /etc/hostconfig and remove the line >> MYSQLCOM=-YES-
rm -rf ~/Library/PreferencePanes/My*
sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/mysql*
sudo rm -rf /Library/Receipts/MySQL*
sudo rm -rf /private/var/db/receipts/*mysql*

If you have a better or faster way to do this, do let me know in the comment below. Thanks, everyone!