Removing programs from a Macintosh can be very easy. In many cases, all you have to do is drag the application's icon to the Trash. Sometimes, though, applications store the files they need to run in other locations on your computer's hard drive, and finding them can take some detective work. If you are used to the uninstall option in Windows, you have a little culture shock — macOS does not have this feature built in.
Apple unveils a new MacBook Air during an Apple launch event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Oct. 30, 2018 in New York City. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
How To Uninstall Appsanywhere Mac
Why would you want to uninstall a program? For the same reason you occasionally tidy your office or clean your garage. Clutter breeds inefficiency. Applications take up space on your hard disk and can slow your computer. Also, a new version of a program may not work correctly unless you get rid of the old one [source: Ritchie].
The easiest way to uninstall an app from Mac is selecting the application's icon and move it to Trash. 1 Click Finder app on the Mac dock. 2 Click the Application folder in the left side panel. 3 Go through all the programs until you find the icon of the program that you want to uninstall. For apps downloaded from the Mac App Store, complete the following steps: Step 1: locate the Launchpad icon. Step 2: Select the program/app you want to delete. Hold it down until all the apps begin to jiggle. Step 3: Click the “X” displayed in the upper corner. Sometimes there will be a “Delete” button too that works the same way.
Here's how: Open a Finder window by selecting File New Finder Window in the Apple menu bar or by clicking the Finder icon on the. Click Applications in the left panel of the Finder window to view the installed applications on your computer. Click on the Application that you want to uninstall. How to delete apps downloaded from the Mac App Store Open Launchpad on your Mac. This can be done by clicking the Launchpad icon on your Dock, tapping F4 in the function. Find the app downloaded from the Mac App Store that you want to remove. Click and hold on the app's icon until it enters jiggly. How to uninstall programs on a mac apps. Step 2: Once open, Launchpad will replace any current windows with a grid of apps.You can view, open, and rearrange apps here if you want, but for now you.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Most of the time, uninstalling is this simple:
When files for the application you want to delete are all stored in one location, dragging the icon to the Trash will take care of most of the work. In Mac talk, apps like this are 'bundled.' To see the files in an application's bundle, click on its icon while holding down the Control key. You should see an option that says, 'show package contents.' Uninstalling applications downloaded from the Mac App Store is even easier — just delete the application from the Applications Folder and its accompanying folder in UserLibraryContainers [source: Tanous].
For some other programs, removal is more complicated. When installed, these programs create files in several locations, often in the System Folder. The first step in removing them is to check the program's documentation to see if there is an uninstall utility. If your program has an uninstall utility associated with it, it may have been installed with the program or included on the disk that came with it. If you downloaded a disk image to install the software, sometimes you'll find an uninstaller there. Running an uninstall utility can make removing a program much easier.
You should be aware that removing an unbundled program by moving it into the Trash can leave behind orphan files on your computer. Preferencefiles are usually small and you might want to ignore them if you're just trying to free up disk space. Background files or support files can be larger, especially for multimedia programs like GarageBand [source: MacRumors]. These files are likely to reside in Library folders in your hard drive or Home folder. They will usually be labeled with the name of the program, like Office or Acrobat, or the developer, such as Microsoft or Adobe. You can search for the relevant names using Spotlight, which is included with the Mac OS. Drag the files you find to the trash to get rid of them [source: Tanous]. .
Check out the next page for tips to make your uninstallation go even more smoothly.
Advertisement
If searching through obscure corners of your computer for what could be hundreds of files sounds like something a machine could do better than you, you're right. There are plenty of software programs that do just that. They're usually your best bet for really cleaning an app off your Mac, and some of them are free. Popular examples include AppTrap, Appcleaner, and AppZapper.
Some of the files that a program might create on your hard disk are invisible. It may be tempting, especially for neat freaks, to find and delete these files. But some files are deliberately hidden because they are essential to the computer's operating system. Deleting the wrong file could land you in deep trouble [source: Landau]. The best advice is not to go where even experienced techies fear to tread. Uninstall utilities can search out and destroy these files, but doing so on your own invites trouble.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Another important thing to do is empty your Trash when you're finished uninstalling. Moving a program's icon to the Trash doesn't actually remove the files from your hard disk or clear up any space. Only when you empty the Trash is the application really gone.
Here are some other important tips:
Removing software from your Mac is a lot less of a hassle than cleaning your office or garage. But clearing away computer clutter and making space on your hard disk can be just as satisfying.
Originally Published: Aug 8, 2011
Advertisement
Related Articles
Sources
When comes to how to uninstall apps from Mac, for most users, they would say 'Yeah, it is pretty simple, just drag it to the trash'. Yes, you do uninstall the app. But today's question is 'how do you uninstall apps from Mac completely?' You can remove normal files like documents and movies by dragging them to the trash. But doing the same to the apps will leave lots of leftovers and junk files on your Mac. Here we're going to show you how to uninstall apps from Mac completely.
How to Uninstall Apps from Mac Completely and Manually?
To completely remove apps from Mac manually, you need to find all of the associated files that come along with the apps. So this means not just dragging the app icon to the Trash bin, but to search and find the depths of the system app files on your Mac and get them all out of your disk.
Let's see how to locate the locations for the most common files that are associated with apps. To remove the app leftovers, go to every folders and find files with the app name you can send them to the Trash.
How Do I Uninstall Mac Apps
So, when uninstalling any app, you have to go over each of these folders one by one and remove the followings:
1. Library can be found in ~/Library/
2. Plug-ins are located in ~/Library/Address Book Plug-Ins/
3. App preferences are located in ~/Library/Preferences/
4. Binary and dock icons can be found in /Applications/
5. Application support files are located in ~/Library/Application
6. App saved states are located in ~/Library/Saved Application State/
7. Crashes are found in ~/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter/
8. Support Caches can be found in /Library/Caches/ and ~/Library/Caches
There are many more hidden files which you can't be accessed to. The system will prevent you from deleting some app files. Then these files will be left behind forever after you uninstall the app.
As you can see, it's not that easy to remove apps from Mac manually if you are not quite familiar with Mac OSX system. When you delete apps from Mac manually, be sure only to remove an app file or folder when you're sure of what it is. Removing the wrong files, let's say some system key files could cause problems with your system or even crash your system.
Remember, please be careful when deleting system files — you never know how it will affect your Mac. We have to address this again as we don't want you get your Mac system messed up under our instructions.
By the way, sometimes you will encounter the issue that you can't uninstall some apps from Mac. Some apps are pre-installed Mac OS components and protected by the system. So they will refuse to delete because they are already open. But in fact, they are not at all.
Anyway, you can try the manual removal after force quitting the app (press Command-Option-Esc and if the app is on the list shut it down) or rebooting your Mac.
If you're still unable to delete it on Mac or if you’re worried you may not do it correctly and want to uninstall in a safer way, there’s the easy way of uninstalling apps from your Mac completely. It actually does a better (and safer) job and saves you a lot of time and effort.
How to Uninstall Apps from Mac Completely Just in an Easiest Way?
Published by IObit, world’s top system utility and security software provider since 2004, MacBooster comes with the feature to uninstall the app and remove all of the leftovers from Mac completely. Here is how you can do it with MacBooster easily:
1: Download MacBooster 7 and open it
2: Go to the Uninstaller module
3: Choose Completely Remove above and click the Uninstall
This module provides you with an easy and powerful uninstalling function. It will remove all of the leftovers associated with the app with just one click. At the same time, it also has the function that reset the app. See more details below:
Complete Remove - For the unwanted applications, you can simply click the Complete Remove button to uninstall them completely including all of the associated files.
Application Reset - If an application contains its own data and configuration files, you can click the Application Reset button to delete all the data and configuration files to reset the application to its initial state. After the reset is completed, the application will start working from its initial state when you launch it next time. https://driverclever838.weebly.com/blog/old-app-mac-os.
We hope that this article will help you to remove the unwanted app from your Mac completely. Thus you could save more space for your disk. If you are a computer geek, then you can uninstall the app completely by yourself. Otherwise, we suggest you use an uninstaller to get it done. MacBooster can always be a help and ready to go. What’s more, it comes with other useful functions, like system junk files removal (remove over 20 types of junk files), Virus & Malware Scan, Startup optimization, Duplicate finder, Photo sweeper, etc. You can always use it to get your Mac tide and safe. So there you have it. Just try it now and uninstall the unwanted apps from your Mac completely right away!
Check out more useful tips:
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |