How to Completely Uninstall Hermes Agent from Windows 11 (2026 Edition)

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Whether you are cleaning up your Windows 11 environment, fixing a broken setup, or removing all traces of the Hermes Agent AI framework, a standard Control Panel uninstall often leaves behind cached builds, background state locks, and package files.

Hermes Agent stores operational code in AppData\Local\hermes, installation caches inside uv, process locks in .local\state, and custom memory in user profile directories.

This updated guide covers two full scenarios:

1. Scenario A: Soft Uninstall (Preserve custom memories, skills & config)
2. Scenario B: Complete Ground-Zero Clean Wipe (Remove application code, uv package caches, Start Menu shortcuts, and temporary logs)

Step 1: Stop Active Hermes Processes (Mandatory)

Windows locks execution files while processes are running. Before deleting files, terminate all active instances:

1. Press Win + X $\rightarrow$ select Terminal (Admin) or open PowerShell as Administrator.
2. Run:PowerShell

# Stop active background services and force-kill instances 
hermes gateway stop 2>$null Stop-Process -Name "*hermes*" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Scenario A: Soft Uninstall (Keep Memory, Skills & Knowledge)

Use this option if you plan to reinstall Hermes or migrate to a new machine while preserving long-term agent memory (MEMORY.md), custom user skills, and API keys (config.yaml).

Step A1: Run the Built-in Uninstaller

PowerShell

hermes uninstall

• Select Option 1 (Soft Uninstall / Keep Configuration) when prompted.

Step A2: Back Up State & Custom Skills

While default built-in skills live in AppData\Local\hermes\hermes-agent\skills, user-created skills and persistent memories are stored in C:\Users\<Username>\.hermes or C:\Users\<Username>\.local\state\hermes.

To back up your state to a folder on your Desktop:

PowerShell

Copy-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.hermes" -Destination "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\Hermes_Custom_State" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Copy-Item -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\state\hermes" -Destination "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\Hermes_Local_State" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Step A3: Remove Program Code

PowerShell

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\hermes" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Scenario B: Complete Ground-Zero Clean Wipe

Use this path to erase everything—including uv Python package manager caches, Start Menu shortcuts, process locks, and cached dependencies.

Step B1: Delete Application Files & Built-in Skills

This removes the core program, CLI utilities (hermes_cli), and built-in skill suites:

PowerShell

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\hermes" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Step B2: Clear State, Lock Files & User Settings

PowerShell

# Remove process locks and execution state
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\state\hermes" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Remove user configuration directory (if present)
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:USERPROFILE\.hermes" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Step B3: Purge Python Package Caches (uv & pip)

Hermes utilizes uv for package management, creating cached wheel archives (hermes_agent.dist-info) inside AppData\Local\uv\cache. Clean them out with:

PowerShell

Get-ChildItem -Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\uv\cache" -Filter "*hermes*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Remove-Item -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Step B4: Delete Windows Shortcuts & Temp Caches

Remove the Start Menu entry, peripheral icon caches (e.g., Dell Display Manager app logs), and temporary runtime caches:

PowerShell

# Remove Start Menu shortcut
Remove-Item -Force "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Hermes.lnk" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Clear recent item links
Remove-Item -Force "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\*Hermes*" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# Clear temporary app cache and Dell display manager icon cache
Remove-Item -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Temp\*hermes*" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Dell\Dell Display and Peripheral Manager\AppLibrary\Icons\hermes.exe.png" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Complete All-in-One Master Clean Script (Scenario B)

If you want to perform the entire Scenario B Clean Wipe in a single copy-paste block, open PowerShell as Administrator and execute:

PowerShell

# 1. Force stop running instances
Stop-Process -Name "*hermes*" -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# 2. Delete main app directories and built-in skills
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\hermes" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\state\hermes" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:USERPROFILE\.hermes" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# 3. Purge 'uv' package caches
Get-ChildItem -Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\uv\cache" -Filter "*hermes*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Remove-Item -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

# 4. Remove Start Menu shortcuts and temp files
Remove-Item -Force "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Hermes.lnk" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Force "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\*Hermes*" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Temp\*hermes*" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Force "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Dell\Dell Display and Peripheral Manager\AppLibrary\Icons\hermes.exe.png" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

Step 3: Verification & Safe Exclusions

To verify that Hermes Agent is completely removed from your Windows user directory, run:

PowerShell

Get-ChildItem -Path "$env:USERPROFILE" -Filter "*hermes*" -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

⚠️ Important Note on System False Positives:

If the search command returns files such as OneDrive\...\hermes.dll or Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost\...\prep_...Hermes_perf.cache, do not delete them.

• hermes.dll is an internal engine file for Microsoft OneDrive.
• StartMenuExperienceHost entries are standard Windows 11 system interface performance cache files.

If only system files remain, Hermes Agent has been successfully and completely removed from your PC.