Getting "It seems there is already an App at ..." even when trying to uninstall

[Apromixately]

Output of brew config

HOMEBREW_VERSION: 4.1.7
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: d4444b563e24ac7c05a93121c464c02dfa04d44f
Last commit: 5 days ago
Core tap origin: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core
Core tap HEAD: d57a3e8393e451bf4a049bb11bd1437c360ee4be
Core tap last commit: 2 days ago
Core tap branch: master
Core tap JSON: 01 Sep 10:04 UTC
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /opt/homebrew
HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS: []
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 10
Homebrew Ruby: 2.6.10 => /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/bin/ruby
CPU: 10-core 64-bit arm_firestorm_icestorm
Clang: 14.0.3 build 1403
Git: 2.42.0 => /opt/homebrew/bin/git
Curl: 8.1.2 => /usr/bin/curl
macOS: 13.5.1-arm64
CLT: 14.3.1.0.1.1683849156
Xcode: 14.3.1
Rosetta 2: false

Output of brew doctor

Warning: You have unlinked kegs in your Cellar.
Leaving kegs unlinked can lead to build-trouble and cause formulae that depend on
those kegs to fail to run properly once built. Run `brew link` on these:
  python-certifi
  six

Warning: You have an unnecessary local Cask tap.
This can cause problems installing up-to-date casks.
Please remove it by running:
  brew untap homebrew/cask

Warning: You have an unnecessary local Core tap!
This can cause problems installing up-to-date formulae.
Please remove it by running:
 brew untap homebrew/core

Description of issue

Trying to run pgadmin4 it says it is incomplete or damaged. Trying to upgrade or even uninstall gives: Error: pgadmin4: It seems there is already an App at '/opt/homebrew/Caskroom/pgadmin4/7.4/pgAdmin 4.app'.

What is going on or what am I supposed to do here?

Relevant casks

pgadmin4

[Makki93]

I have the same issue. Can you open up an official issue? Not only a discussion?
Not only for pgadmin, but other apps, like pomatez.

[tony19]

I ran into the same problem (running Homebrew 4.1.19) after aborting a brew --cask installation, which left that app "half-installed".

Trying to uninstall via brew resulted in the error you've mentioned. The trick that worked for me was to use the --force flag:

brew remove --force --cask <CASK_NAME>

That changed the error into a warning and proceeded with the clean uninstall.

BEFORE:

$ brew remove phoenix
==> Uninstalling Cask phoenix
==> Removing login item /Applications/Phoenix.app
==> Removing login item Phoenix
Error: It seems there is already an App at '/opt/homebrew/Caskroom/phoenix/4.0.0/Phoenix.app'.

AFTER:

                 👇
$ brew remove --force phoenix
==> Uninstalling Cask phoenix
==> Removing login item /Applications/Phoenix.app
==> Removing login item Phoenix
Warning: It seems there is already an App at '/opt/homebrew/Caskroom/phoenix/4.0.0/Phoenix.app'; overwriting.
==> Removing App '/opt/homebrew/Caskroom/phoenix/4.0.0/Phoenix.ap
==> Purging files for version 4.0.0 of Cask phoenix

[jswhisperer]

brew install --force app
worked for me without removing
brew upgrade --force // also for all apps

[jswhisperer]

brew cleanup --repair after
brew prune=all // maybe?

[ferenczy]

I'm getting the same error when trying to upgrade using the brew upgrade command. In my case, affected applications (casks) are double-commander, keepassxc, qgis and spark.

[paulochang]

@ferenczy this apps have their own update process. you can use the app update or the brew update but not both. If you want to use brew, uninstall them and re-install via brew.

[drogozan-r7]

But they have been installed using brew. Otherwise brew wouldn't be trying to update them when running brew upgrade. I install everything that's possible using brew. Or is it possible, that after those apps have been installed using brew, they have updated themselves and that has broken the brew upgrade process?

[p-linnane]

It shouldn't break the upgrade process, but by default apps with auto-updates aren't updated by brew upgrade unless you pass --greedy.