Every now and then, I get questions from visitors on how they can uninstall KompoZer, the free WYSIWYG web editor. This is often because these users have moved on to a more up-to-date free web editor like Expression Web or BlueGriffon, a commercial web editor like Dreamweaver, or to a blogging program. This FAQ (answer to a frequently asked question) deals with how you can remove KompoZer from your Windows computer.
(Note: if you are looking for information on how to use KompoZer to create a website, please see the article How to Design and Publish Your Website with KompoZer instead.)
KompoZer does not have an installer or an uninstaller. When you set it up on your computer, you manually created a folder for the program, and copied the files to that folder. As such, if you look for an uninstaller in the Add/Remove control panel applet in Windows, you'll not find it. Since you manually created the folder and copied the files to it, uninstall KompoZer by simply deleting the folder containing the KompoZer files.
Here's the procedure for getting rid of KompoZer from your computer.
This guide assumes that you have previously installed KompoZer into its own separate folder and that the folder only contains files and sub-folders belonging to KompoZer. If you unceremoniously dumped KompoZer in a folder containing other files or subfolders, DO NOT DELETE ANYTHING or you may accidentally delete files that you shouldn't be removing (like your data files, website files, files belonging to other programs or even Windows itself). It's better to not uninstall in this case, and waste a bit of your hard disk space, than to remove things you will need later.
The first thing to do is to locate the folder where you placed the KompoZer program and its ancillary files. If you have forgotten where you placed them, ask yourself how you normally started the web editor back when you were still using it.
Did you doubleclick a shortcut to KompoZer on your desktop or some other folder like your Quick Launch toolbar or Start menu? If so, right click that icon and select "Properties". In the dialog box that appears, look at the "Location" field. The location field tells you the folder where the KompoZer files are kept. Write down this location somewhere (eg, on a piece of paper).
Did you go directly to the KompoZer folder, look for a file called "kompozer" (or "kompozer.exe"), and double click that? If so, you already know where the KompoZer folder is.
Go to the folder you noted from the above step. One way to do this is to open a Windows Explorer window, for example, by clicking "My Computer" (for Windows XP) or "Computer" (for Windows Vista) from the Start menu. Navigate to the abovementioned folder. For example, if KompoZer can be found in "C:\Documents and Settings\thesitewizard\Desktop\kompozer\kompozer.exe", click the C: drive, followed by the "Documents and Settings" folder, "thesitewizard", "Desktop" and finally the "kompozer" folder.
The folder should contain numerous files and subfolders, including a file called "kompozer.exe". (You may not be able to see the ".exe" part if you did not configure Windows to display file extensions.) If you're sure you're in the correct folder, and that the folder only contains files belonging to KompoZer, delete all the files and subfolders by dragging it to the Recycle Bin (XP) or Trash Can (Vista). Once done, you can also delete the now-empty KompoZer folder as well.
Important: if you're not sure whether the folder only contains files and subfolders belonging to KompoZer, don't delete anything. It's better to waste a bit of space on your hard disk to hold those unused files than to accidentally delete files that you need.
If you have a shortcut icon pointing to KompoZer on your Desktop, your Quick Launch toolbar or your Start menu, delete it as well by dragging it to the Recycle Bin or Trash Can.
That's it. You have successfully uninstalled KompoZer.
Copyright © 2008-2019 by Christopher Heng. All rights reserved.
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How to Uninstall the KompoZer Web Editor from Your Windows Computer
