diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fdc96d2a52..5981a92c56 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@ test/installer/tmp/*
 test/tmp/*
 *~
 TestResults.xml
+.vscode
diff --git a/lib/core.ps1 b/lib/core.ps1
index b971c484db..664711ddde 100644
--- a/lib/core.ps1
+++ b/lib/core.ps1
@@ -325,7 +325,14 @@ function currentdir($app, $global) {
     "$(appdir $app $global)\$version"
 }
 
-function persistdir($app, $global) { "$(basedir $global)\persist\$app" }
+function persistdir($app, $global) {
+    $persistBaseDir = "$(basedir $global)\persist"
+    if ($app) {
+        return Join-Path $persistBaseDir $app
+    } else {
+        return $persistBaseDir
+    }
+}
 function usermanifestsdir { "$(basedir)\workspace" }
 function usermanifest($app) { "$(usermanifestsdir)\$app.json" }
 function cache_path($app, $version, $url) { "$cachedir\$app#$version#$($url -replace '[^\w\.\-]+', '_')" }
@@ -1076,26 +1083,27 @@ function Confirm-InstallationStatus {
     )
     $Installed = @()
     $Apps | Select-Object -Unique | Where-Object { $_ -ne 'scoop' } | ForEach-Object {
-        $App, $null, $null = parse_app $_
-        if ($Global) {
-            if (Test-Path (appdir $App $true)) {
-                $Installed += , @($App, $true)
-            } elseif (Test-Path (appdir $App $false)) {
-                error "'$App' isn't installed globally, but it may be installed locally."
-                warn "Try again without the --global (or -g) flag instead."
-            } else {
-                error "'$App' isn't installed."
-            }
+
+        $Status = Get-AppStatus -App $_ -Global $Global
+        $App = $Status.App;
+
+        if ($Status.Installed -and ($Global -eq $Status.Global)) {
+            # Add installed
+            $Installed += , @($App, $Global);
         } else {
-            if (Test-Path (appdir $App $false)) {
-                $Installed += , @($App, $false)
-            } elseif (Test-Path (appdir $App $true)) {
-                error "'$App' isn't installed locally, but it may be installed globally."
-                warn "Try again with the --global (or -g) flag instead."
+            if ($Status.Installed) {
+                if ($Status.Global) {
+                    error "'$App' isn't installed locally, but it may be installed globally."
+                    warn 'Try again with the --global (or -g) flag instead.'
+                } else {
+                    error "'$App' isn't installed globally, but it may be installed locally."
+                    warn 'Try again without the --global (or -g) flag instead.'
+                }
             } else {
                 error "'$App' isn't installed."
             }
         }
+
         if (failed $App $Global) {
             error "'$App' isn't installed correctly."
         }
@@ -1103,6 +1111,33 @@ function Confirm-InstallationStatus {
     return , $Installed
 }
 
+Function Get-AppStatus {
+    [OutputType([Object[]])]
+    param(
+        [String]$App,
+        [Switch]$Global
+    )
+    $App, $null, $null = parse_app $App
+    $IsInstalled = Test-Path (appdir $App $Global)
+
+    $Status = [PSCustomObject]@{
+        App       = $App
+        Installed = $IsInstalled
+        Global    = $Global
+    }
+
+    if (!$IsInstalled) {
+        # Check if installed somewhere else
+        $Global = !$Global;
+        $Status.Installed = Test-Path (appdir $App $Global);
+        if ($Status.Installed) {
+            $Status.Global = $Global
+        }
+    }
+
+    return $Status;
+}
+
 function strip_path($orig_path, $dir) {
     if($null -eq $orig_path) { $orig_path = '' }
     $stripped = [string]::join(';', @( $orig_path.split(';') | Where-Object { $_ -and $_ -ne $dir } ))
diff --git a/lib/install.ps1 b/lib/install.ps1
index 519c26403d..3dbdcd8102 100644
--- a/lib/install.ps1
+++ b/lib/install.ps1
@@ -1203,6 +1203,33 @@ function unlink_persist_data($manifest, $dir) {
     }
 }
 
+Function Remove-PersistentData {
+    [CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess = $true)]
+    param(
+        [string]$App,
+        $Global
+    )
+
+    $Status = Get-AppStatus -App $App -Global:$Global
+    $App = $Status.App;
+
+    if (!$Status.Installed) {
+        # remove persistend data if app not installed
+        Write-Host 'Removing persisted data.'
+        $persistDir = persistdir $App $Global
+
+        if (Test-Path $persistDir) {
+            try {
+                Remove-Item $persistDir -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction Stop
+            } catch {
+                error "Couldn't remove '$(friendly_path $persistDir)'; it may be in use."
+                continue
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+
 # check whether write permission for Users usergroup is set to global persist dir, if not then set
 function persist_permission($manifest, $global) {
     if($global -and $manifest.persist -and (is_admin)) {
diff --git a/libexec/scoop-cleanup.ps1 b/libexec/scoop-cleanup.ps1
index 6ce40a211f..225fb69ced 100644
--- a/libexec/scoop-cleanup.ps1
+++ b/libexec/scoop-cleanup.ps1
@@ -9,16 +9,18 @@
 #   -a, --all          Cleanup all apps (alternative to '*')
 #   -g, --global       Cleanup a globally installed app
 #   -k, --cache        Remove outdated download cache
+#   -p, --purge        Remove persistent data
 
 . "$PSScriptRoot\..\lib\getopt.ps1"
 . "$PSScriptRoot\..\lib\manifest.ps1" # 'Select-CurrentVersion' (indirectly)
 . "$PSScriptRoot\..\lib\versions.ps1" # 'Select-CurrentVersion'
 . "$PSScriptRoot\..\lib\install.ps1" # persist related
 
-$opt, $apps, $err = getopt $args 'agk' 'all', 'global', 'cache'
+$opt, $apps, $err = getopt $args 'agkp' 'all', 'global', 'cache', 'purge'
 if ($err) { "scoop cleanup: $err"; exit 1 }
 $global = $opt.g -or $opt.global
 $cache = $opt.k -or $opt.cache
+$purge = $opt.p -or $opt.purge
 $all = $opt.a -or $opt.all
 
 if (!$apps -and !$all) { 'ERROR: <app> missing'; my_usage; exit 1 }
@@ -27,7 +29,14 @@ if ($global -and !(is_admin)) {
     'ERROR: you need admin rights to cleanup global apps'; exit 1
 }
 
-function cleanup($app, $global, $verbose, $cache) {
+function cleanup {
+    param(
+        [String]$app,
+        $global,
+        $verbose,
+        $cache
+    )
+
     $current_version = Select-CurrentVersion -AppName $app -Global:$global
     if ($cache) {
         Remove-Item "$cachedir\$app#*" -Exclude "$app#$current_version#*"
@@ -61,20 +70,34 @@ function cleanup($app, $global, $verbose, $cache) {
     Write-Host ''
 }
 
+$installedApps = @()
+$persistentApps = @()
+
 if ($apps -or $all) {
     if ($apps -eq '*' -or $all) {
         $verbose = $false
-        $apps = applist (installed_apps $false) $false
+        $installedApps = applist (installed_apps $false) $false
+        $persistentApps = applist (persistent_apps $false) $false
         if ($global) {
-            $apps += applist (installed_apps $true) $true
+            $installedApps += applist (installed_apps $true) $true
+            $persistentApps += applist (persistent_apps $true) $true
         }
     } else {
         $verbose = $true
-        $apps = Confirm-InstallationStatus $apps -Global:$global
+        $installedApps = Confirm-InstallationStatus $apps -Global:$global
+        $persistentApps = applist $apps $global
+    }
+
+    # $installedApps is a list of ($app, $global) tuples
+    foreach ($_ in $installedApps) {
+        cleanup -app $_[0] -global $_[1] -verbose $verbose -cache $cache -purge $purge
     }
 
-    # $apps is now a list of ($app, $global) tuples
-    $apps | ForEach-Object { cleanup @_ $verbose $cache }
+    if ($purge -and $persistentApps.Count -gt 0) {
+        foreach ($_ in $persistentApps) {
+            Remove-PersistentData -App $_[0] -Global $_[1]
+        }
+    }
 
     if ($cache) {
         Remove-Item "$cachedir\*.download" -ErrorAction Ignore
diff --git a/libexec/scoop-uninstall.ps1 b/libexec/scoop-uninstall.ps1
index 44f5561db5..5a75cee3ca 100644
--- a/libexec/scoop-uninstall.ps1
+++ b/libexec/scoop-uninstall.ps1
@@ -40,10 +40,22 @@ if ($apps -eq 'scoop') {
     exit
 }
 
-$apps = Confirm-InstallationStatus $apps -Global:$global
-if (!$apps) { exit 0 }
 
-:app_loop foreach ($_ in $apps) {
+$installedApps = Confirm-InstallationStatus $apps -Global:$global
+if (!$installedApps) {
+
+    if ($purge) {
+        # make it possible to remove persintent data of already uninstalled apps
+        :app_loop foreach ($_ in $apps) {
+            ($app, $global) = $_
+            Remove-PersistentData -App $app -Global:$global
+        }
+    }
+
+    exit 0
+}
+
+:app_loop foreach ($_ in $installedApps) {
     ($app, $global) = $_
 
     $version = Select-CurrentVersion -AppName $app -Global:$global
@@ -52,7 +64,6 @@ if (!$apps) { exit 0 }
         Write-Host "Uninstalling '$app' ($version)."
 
         $dir = versiondir $app $version $global
-        $persist_dir = persistdir $app $global
 
         $manifest = installed_manifest $app $version $global
         $install = install_info $app $version $global
@@ -128,19 +139,9 @@ if (!$apps) { exit 0 }
         }
     }
 
-    # purge persistant data
+    # purge persistent data
     if ($purge) {
-        Write-Host 'Removing persisted data.'
-        $persist_dir = persistdir $app $global
-
-        if (Test-Path $persist_dir) {
-            try {
-                Remove-Item $persist_dir -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction Stop
-            } catch {
-                error "Couldn't remove '$(friendly_path $persist_dir)'; it may be in use."
-                continue
-            }
-        }
+        Remove-PersistentData -App $app -Global $global
     }
 
     success "'$app' was uninstalled."