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@vitorbritto
Last active February 28, 2025 09:58
Remove MySQL completely from Mac OSX

Remove MySQL completely

  1. Open the Terminal

  2. Use mysqldump to backup your databases

  3. Check for MySQL processes with: ps -ax | grep mysql

  4. Stop and kill any MySQL processes

  5. Analyze MySQL on HomeBrew:

    brew remove mysql
    brew cleanup
    
  6. Remove 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*
    
  7. Unload previous MySQL Auto-Login:

    launchctl unload -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist
    
  8. Remove previous MySQL Configuration:

    # Edit this file: /etc/hostconfig
    # Remove the line MYSQLCOM=-YES-
    
  9. Remove previous 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*
    
  10. Restart your computer just to ensure any MySQL processes are killed

  11. Try to run mysql, it shouldn't work

Remove MySQL completely (Apple Silicon Version)

  • brew remove mysql
  • rm -rf /opt/homebrew/var/mysql
  • brew install mysql
  • mysql.server start
  • mysql -uroot
@vitorbritto
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vitorbritto commented May 10, 2021

subl /etc/hostconfig`
has a hanging backtick

Also, not everyone has sublime text. Better to simply say "edit this file".

Thanks @commadelimited, gist updated.

@vitorbritto
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subl /etc/hostconfig`
has a hanging backtick

Thanks @lexjacobs, gist updated.

@seemly
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seemly commented May 24, 2021

When setting up my Apple M1 Macbook Pro I was experiencing the issue of the following error message being thrown:

Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2)

My fix was to modify the MySQL config file:

nano /usr/local/etc/my.cnf

Append the following lines:

tmpdir=/tmp
user=root

Then run:

brew services restart mysql@5.7

This fixed my issue, and I was then able to connect successfully with my DB client.

@Eddievin
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@seemly Thanks for this

@HusseinMalingha
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Thanks <3

@KalisaFalzone
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This was very helpful. I also had to do:

rm /usr/local/etc/my.cnf

Something I had done previously had resulted in a my.cnf file that prevented MySQL from working (I was getting the dreaded ERROR 2002 (HY000): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2) error).

Thank you! This was what I needed!

@iRiziya
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iRiziya commented Jan 5, 2022

Awesome Thanks 😊🙌🏻

@keomony
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keomony commented Jan 25, 2022

saved my day! Thank you :)

@ingmarrr
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ingmarrr commented Mar 4, 2022

Thank god for your beautiful ass mate, I was looking for this for like an hour

@zhafed
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zhafed commented Apr 11, 2022

Append the following lines to:

  • /opt/homebrew/etc/my.cnf

  • /opt/homebrew/Cellar/mysql@5.7/5.7.37/.bottle/etc/my.cnf

tmpdir=/tmp
user=root

Thanks @seemly it's worked , i spend 8 hours searching .

@seemly you saved me with these Comment : here

@bantya
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bantya commented Jun 4, 2022

Thanks for this awesome guide.
@tnorthcutt's reply helped a lot!

@rebek73
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rebek73 commented Jun 29, 2022

Thanks, it worked!!

@mkomigor
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mkomigor commented Jul 1, 2022

Thanks

@TienPV-ROR
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nice

@SaimumIslam
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sudo rm -rf /opt/homebrew/etc/my.cnf

does the trick for me

@YUN-RU-TSENG
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YUN-RU-TSENG commented Nov 29, 2022

it works, i remove MySQL 8 successfully.
Thanks

@SeFeX
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SeFeX commented Dec 7, 2022

When setting up my Apple M1 Macbook Pro I was experiencing the issue of the following error message being thrown:

Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' (2)

My fix was to modify the MySQL config file:

nano /usr/local/etc/my.cnf

Append the following lines:

tmpdir=/tmp
user=root

Then run:

brew services restart mysql@5.7

This fixed my issue, and I was then able to connect successfully with my DB client.

This works!

@websterl3o
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On the Apple Silicon:

brew remove mysql
rm -rf /opt/homebrew/var/mysql
brew install mysql
mysql.server start
mysql -uroot

just running this already fixed it for me

@BranchDev110
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I installed mysql v5 through package.
How can I uninstall that?

@mhbaando
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Thanks it worked for me

@ArifaAbid
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Thanks, it help a lot

@Thlenzi
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Thlenzi commented Oct 13, 2023

Great Job!!! It worked for me !!!

@nghitruongdev
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Thanks, it worked!

@AldianBaim
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Thank you very much, finnaly this method is solved my problem!

@wltrallen2
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OMG! Needed this for hours. Finally found this. Thank you!

@Kiansaziz
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Thnaks, it worked !

@martris
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martris commented Mar 15, 2024

brew remove mysql rm -rf /opt/homebrew/var/mysql brew install mysql mysql.server start mysql -uroot
this would work , but I noticed that there is another version of mysql on my mac:
> mysql -V mysql Ver 14.14 Distrib 5.7.24, for osx11.1 (x86_64) using EditLine wrapper
Later use this command :type -a mysql
It shows that anaconda3 installed a old version automatically.Ops....
mysql is /opt/anaconda3/bin/mysql
Remove it , then reinstall.

@andragri
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andragri commented Apr 8, 2024

@seemly god bless you! I spend about 8 hours to look for an answer that could help me

@Walrus-Dreamer
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Thank you! You just saved my life with this tutorial!!!!!

@Teslima02
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brew remove mysql rm -rf /opt/homebrew/var/mysql brew install mysql mysql.server start mysql -uroot this would work , but I noticed that there is another version of mysql on my mac: > mysql -V mysql Ver 14.14 Distrib 5.7.24, for osx11.1 (x86_64) using EditLine wrapper Later use this command :type -a mysql It shows that anaconda3 installed a old version automatically.Ops.... mysql is /opt/anaconda3/bin/mysql Remove it , then reinstall.

@martris Thank you

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