How to Uninstall FFmpeg Completely on macOS

Removing FFmpeg from your macOS system requires deleting the core application binaries along with their associated configuration files and dependencies. This guide provides direct, step-by-step instructions to completely uninstall FFmpeg from your Mac, covering both the common Homebrew package manager method and manual installation removals.

Method 1: Uninstalling FFmpeg via Homebrew

If you installed FFmpeg using Homebrew, you can remove it and its unused dependencies using the Terminal.

Open the Terminal application (found in Applications > Utilities).
Run the following command to uninstall the FFmpeg package:
```
brew uninstall ffmpeg
```
Homebrew often installs additional libraries (dependencies) to run FFmpeg. To remove these leftover packages that are no longer needed by any other software, run:
```
brew cleanup
```
Finally, remove any cached Homebrew downloads related to FFmpeg by running:
```
brew cleanup -s
```

Method 2: Uninstalling a Manual or Static Binary Installation

If you downloaded the FFmpeg static binaries directly or compiled them from source, you must delete the files manually.

Open Terminal.
Locate where the FFmpeg binary is installed by running:
```
which ffmpeg
```
This will typically return a path like /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg or /opt/local/bin/ffmpeg.
Remove the FFmpeg binary using the rm command. If the path returned was /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg, run:
```
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg
```
(You may need to enter your macOS administrator password to authorize this command).
If you also installed the companion tools ffprobe and ffplay, delete them as well:
```
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/ffprobe
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/ffplay
```

Method 3: Removing Remaining Configuration and Cache Files

Regardless of how you installed FFmpeg, some configuration folders may still remain in your user directory. Run these final commands to ensure a complete cleanup:

Check for and delete the FFmpeg configuration directory in your home folder:
```
rm -rf ~/.ffmpeg
```
Check for and delete configuration files in your local config directory:
```
rm -rf ~/.config/ffmpeg
```

To verify that FFmpeg has been successfully and completely removed, restart your Terminal and type ffmpeg. You should see a command not found message, indicating the uninstallation is complete.