Re-installation of Desktop

There may be situations where it is recommended to do a fresh install of Desktop. In such cases, it is important to make sure that your existing data is safe so you can import it into your new installation. The following steps guide you through the process:

  1. Locate the DBMS

    If you are not sure where it is located, see Locating a DBMS below. Remember that there may be multiple DBMSs in your installation.

  2. Do a manual dump to back up your data

    See Operations Manual → Back up an offline database. Keep in mind that you need to back up each database in each DBMS that you have in your current installation of Desktop. Also make sure to take note of all your Projects and DBMSs, including what version of Neo4j is used for each DBMS.

    The following step deletes all your data. Do not proceed unless you have completed the back up step.

  3. Tear down the current installation of Desktop

    Once you have securely backed up all of your databases, you need to tear down your installation of Desktop. This is done by deleting the following directories.

    - Relate cache: $HOME/Library/Caches/com.Neo4j.Relate
- Relate config: $HOME/Library/Application\ Support/com.Neo4j.Relate
- Relate data: $HOME/Library/Application\ Support/Neo4j\ Desktop/Application/relate-data
- Neo4j Desktop Application files: $HOME/Library/Application\ Support/Neo4j\ Desktop
- Neo4j Desktop binary e.g. /Applications/Neo4j Desktop.app
    - Relate cache: $HOME/.cache/neo4j-relate
- Relate config: $HOME/.config/neo4j-relate
- Relate data: $HOME/.local/.share/neo4j-relate
- Neo4j Desktop Application files: $HOME/.config/Neo4j\ Desktop/
- Neo4j Desktop AppImage

    Use the uninstaller to uninstall Neo4j Desktop, then delete the directories below.

    - Relate cache: %USERPROFILE%\AppData/Local\Neo4j\Relate/Cache
- Relate config: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Neo4j\Relate\Config
- Relate data: %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Neo4j\Relate\Data

    If the data path has been changed in the app for Windows, you need to locate it and delete it.

  4. Download and install the new Desktop application

    Go to the Neo4j Download Center and select your OS. See Download and install for more information.

  5. Recreate your Projects and DBMS(s)

    Using your notes from the second step, recreate your Project(s) and DBMS(s) in your new installation of Neo4j Desktop. Make sure you use the same version of Neo4j for each DBMS as it had in your old installation.

  6. Import the database(s)

    From the appropriate DBMS, use the neo4j-admin load command to import the backed up databases. See Operations Manual → Restore a dump for more information on the neo4j-admin load command.