Uninstall and fresh install of IDE

Development Tools IDE 2.x
1

I was having issues withe the IDE crashing on my MAC so decided to take the advice of @horace to completely uninstall and do a fresh install of the IDE. I carried out the uninstall as per the following instructions:

1. Remove the Application

  1. Ensure the Arduino IDE is completely closed (press Command + Q to quit, or Force Quit if it's frozen).
  2. Open Finder and go to your Applications folder.
  3. Locate Arduino or Arduino IDE and drag it to the Trash.
  4. Empty your Trash. [1, 2, 3]

2. Delete Residual Configuration and Support Files

Arduino IDE stores your preferences, board packages, and user data in hidden system folders. To delete them:

  1. Open Finder, click Go in the top menu bar, and select Go to Folder... (or press Command + Shift + G).
  2. Type or paste the following paths one by one and delete the associated Arduino folders or files if they exist:
    • ~/Library/Arduino15 (Contains installed boards, cores, and libraries)
    • ~/Library/Preferences/cc.arduino.ide.plist or cc.arduino.ide2.plist
    • ~/Library/Saved Application State/cc.arduino.ide.savedState
    • ~/Library/Application Support/arduino-ide
    • ~/Library/Caches/cc.arduino.ide

3. Remove Your Sketchbook (Optional)

If you want to remove your personal sketches and downloaded libraries permanently, they are kept in a separate folder.

  • Go to ~/Documents/Arduino and delete this folder. (Note: Only do this if you are sure you do not want to save your past projects).

4. Remove the Arduino Cloud Agent (Optional)

If you also installed the web-based Arduino Cloud Agent, you need to remove it separately:

  1. Go to the Applications folder.
  2. Move ArduinoCloudAgent or ArduinoCreateAgent to the Trash and empty it.

I then reinstalled Arduino IDE, Boards and most Libraries as some I could not find using the Libraries manager. The ones I could not find were:

ansiTest

Bridge

MikroMatrix

URTouch

UTFT

VarSpeedServo

That is what the folders were called from the old install, any ideas on the missing Libraries. Also I am assuming it will be safe enough to import my Sketches again?

I was under the impression that this would delete everything and the install would be completely fresh

The IDE takes at least 10 times as long to open up as it did before - 58 seconds, and the additional boards URLs was still in the preferences, which I found a bit odd. Other than the instructions above, have I missed anything?

I have uninstalled again and will wait on advice or any pointers to check before I install again. One additional question, do I install the Apple Silicon version of IDE 2.3.10 or do I stick with the normal version

2

You can search https://support.arduino.cc/hc/en-us/articles/4415103213714-Find-sketches-libraries-board-cores-and-other-files-on-your-computer#boards for your operating system and check against the list that you posted.

I'm not a Mac user so can't help further.

3

On MacOS and Linux, Arduino IDE 2 also stores settings in ~/.arduinoIDE

4

If it was installed it via Library Manager, then it is this library for the Yún boards:

My guess:

My guess:

Perhaps this:

Unless you have a specific reason for wanting them installed, I think it is best to not worry about them. We tend to accumulate some detritus in our libraries folder over time.

If you do have a specific reason you need these libraries, just restore those folders from your trash.

This is stored in the arduino-cli.yaml file under the folder @pjrc pointed out.

Arduino IDE will automatically regenerate the contents of that folder (using the default preferences), so you are welcome to delete it if you want to do a full reset of your installation.

If your Mac uses an Apple Silicon processor (M1, M2, M3, M4, M5), then you absolutely should install the Apple Silicon build of Arduino IDE.

The "Intel" build of Arduino IDE will work on Apple Silicon machines, but this relies on the Rosetta 2 binary translator. That will incur a performance penalty. Using the "Intel" build on an Apple Silicon machine could explain why you encountered a longer startup duration is longer after reinstalling.

5

Next time you try an uninstall delete the entire ~/Library/Arduino15 folder.

6

@pjrc

The second time I uninstalled the IDE, I deleted that folder and it did the trick!

7

@ptillisch

Probably don't need them, but I kept a copy of the Arduino folder with the libraries in it, just in case. I didn't know you could just copt the folder across, I thought you had to install them.

Did that for the second uninstall and it did the trick.

I did a reinstall late last night and did not choose the silicon version. Can I upgrade, or would it be better to uninstall again?

8

@sonofcy

I did that the first time but deleting the .arduino-ide folder did the trick

9

Sorry, I forgot to mention that one.

10

Yeah, there is no magic to it. The library only needs to be present under the libraries folder for Arduino IDE to recognize and use it. It doesn't matter how that folder happened to get there.

We do always recommend library installation via Library Manager, or via the "Add .ZIP Library..." feature if the library is not in Library Manager. The reason is that, in addition to being convenient, these methods ensure correct installation. Members of our community without fluency in working directly with the file system may struggle to achieve the correct file structure for manual installations. However, there are some scenarios where neither of those installation methods are applicable to a given library. The obvious example would be a custom library you are developing. Another common scenario is where a library is not in Library Manager, and the package in which it is available for download does not have the correct archive structure for compatibility with "Add .ZIP Library...".

You would need to wait for the next release. Arduino IDE generally has a long release cycle, so that could mean using an IDE with poor performance for months. So I don't think it makes sense.

Yes, but there is no need for you to go through all the acrobatics of clearing your system back to a clean state and then reinstalling everything. Whatever benefit that might have come from all that have already been accomplished by your previous efforts. So just delete the current installation of the Arduino IDE application alone (don't delete any other folders), then install the Apple Silicon build. Other than the time to download Arduino IDE again, this should only take a minute or two to accomplish.

11

@ptillisch

I copies the one library that I wanted over from the old installation, tried the sketch and it works fine. Many thanks for that.

Done and works perfectly, much quicker at opening up.

Many thanks for your help, it is very much appreciated.

I will try the boards, sketches and libraries as I need them, but what I have tried so far works as expected.

Thanks again!

12

Great news!