How do you uninstall Dragon NaturallySpeaking completely?

A complete uninstall of Dragon NaturallySpeaking has two parts. First you remove the program through Windows. Then you delete the user profiles that the uninstall leaves behind, because Nuance says those stay on your drive. We did not find a Nuance removal tool, so the Windows route is the one to use.

Remove Dragon through Windows Settings

Microsoft's support page for Windows 10 and Windows 11 gives the Settings route for a desktop program: Start, then Settings, then Apps, then Installed apps ¹. Find Dragon in the list, choose its uninstall option and follow the prompts. Close Dragon before you start, so that it is not running while its files are removed.

We did not open Dragon's own uninstall screens, so read them carefully and check them against the version you have installed. If Dragon does not appear in the Installed apps list, the Microsoft page covers other routes for removing programs.

Once the uninstall finishes, open the same Installed apps list again and confirm that Dragon is gone. If Dragon is still listed there, the uninstall did not finish, and you should run it again before you delete any profiles.

Your user profiles stay on the drive

Nuance says that your user profiles remain on your local drive after you uninstall Dragon, and that you can remove them yourself if you want to ². Keep them if you may reinstall and want your setup back. Delete them only when you are sure you no longer need them.

To remove profiles by hand, Nuance's steps for Dragon Professional 16 are these. Open File Explorer, type %localappdata% and press Enter. Go to the Nuance\NS16\Users folder. Right-click the profile you want to delete and select Delete ³.

The %localappdata% shortcut opens the AppData\Local folder of the Windows account you are signed in to. Profiles therefore sit under the account that created them, so sign in to that same account before you look for them. A profile created by another Windows user will not appear in your own folder.

Deleting a profile removes the stored setup behind it. A voice profile holds the type of microphone you use and your custom words ⁴, so copy the folder first if you think you might need it again. The same Nuance page also covers profiles moved from an earlier release, which this guide did not open in full.

Upgrade in place instead of uninstalling first

If you are moving from an earlier Dragon to a newer one, you may not need to uninstall the old version first. Nuance says Dragon supports automatic upgrades from versions 14, 15 and 16 to version 16.1 without an uninstall ⁵. Earlier versions follow a different route, so read the Dragon 16 release notes before you start.

What to do, in order

1. Copy your profile folder somewhere safe if you may need your settings again.
2. Close Dragon.
3. Uninstall it through Start, Settings, Apps, Installed apps.
4. Delete the profiles in Nuance\NS16\Users that you do not need.
5. If you are upgrading from version 14, 15 or 16, skip the uninstall and run the new installer instead.

If you are moving Dragon to another computer rather than removing it, the question on transferring Dragon to a new computer covers that case. For whether the product is still sold, read whether Dragon NaturallySpeaking is discontinued. The parent guide to Dragon NaturallySpeaking covers installation and profiles, and the dictation software overview compares the other options if you are replacing it.