Can I uninstall Scrivener 3.3.1 for Mac and do a reinstall and start fresh? What is the proper way to uninstall?
Just locate Scrivener in your Applications folder, delete it, and reinstall.
What specific issue are you trying to fix, though?
I’ve used Scrivener successfully for years, but I opened the other day and it was an old file. My backup system is all screwed. I changed my backup location and Scrivener crashed. I have one main project and I throw everything in there. I plan to export all the files to RTF, so I can put them back in a freshly installed. Start from scratch. I will keep my backups to a new dropbox account.
Will I be able to do that so Scrivener will treat this as a new account, i.e., it won’t remember any of my old settings or files?
That’s not the way to solve that issue, at least not permanently.
What has probably happened is that Dropbox has taken it upon itself to store older files exclusively in the cloud, leading to strange behavior when they aren’t available instantly when Scrivener tries to open them. More information and further guidance can be found here:
https://scrivener.tenderapp.com/help/kb/cloud-syncing/dropbox-troubleshooting-macos-monterey
Reinstalling Scrivener will not affect your Scrivener projects. They are stored separately from the application. To clear the Recent Projects list, just use the Clear Menu command at the bottom of the list.
To reset Scrivener’s Preferences file, go here:
https://scrivener.tenderapp.com/help/kb/macos-troubleshooting/resetting-preferences
Thanks. One dumb question. I wasn’t using dropbox before…I have backups on my hard drive and on Mac Cloud…I no longer know where the files are stored. Should I reset preferences before reinstalling or after?
Reinstalling should preserve the Preferences file, although it might not if you’re also upgrading to a different version.
Changing your backup location won’t move existing files. You can locate all projects on your computer by searching for .scriv files in Finder.
iCloud has the same potential issue with “online only” storage that Dropbox does.
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Actually i’d prefer to have the backups saved on my hard drive. (then I can occasionally copy the backup to a portable drive.
That is exactly what I do. Save backups to local drive to then me automatically moved offsite AND local backups.
I direct Scrivener to put the backups to my Dropbox Folder (not the Scrivener Project folder) named "~/Backups/Scrivener. Then Dropbox will sync them offsite to their server. Also, my routine system backup picks up the backup of this folder and everything else on the machine.
As above, my setup does an automatic movement of the Scrivener backups to offsite Dropbox. I also (belt and braces) have a Carbon Copy Cloner process to backup everything (automaticaly) to a connected USB.
I don’t like having any manual processes in my backup regime other than every quarter or so I do a test restore to make sure the backups can be restored.
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If you still want to go that route (uninstalling Scrivener entirely), there are tools that help you with that. They will delete everything that is associated with an app that may be lurking in the ~/Library folder, including settings and such.
I use MacCleanse for that purpose, but there are others.
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Reinstall seemed to fix things.
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