How To Remove Apps From Bottom Of Mac

Depending on the application and the installation method, you may be able to completely uninstall an application from macOS past only dragging the .app bundle into the trash. Yet, that typically leaves behind at to the lowest degree a few preference files. In some cases it can leave behind gigabytes of data.

On macOS, applications generally like to stay inside their .app parcel. Compare this to Windows, where an installer can spew files beyond the system in dozens of arbitrary locations. Although, this happens with some Mac apps as well, as y'all'll see if you endeavor to manually uninstall more complex applications.

If possible, you should always default to using the applications uninstaller, if it has one. Applications with web service components, similar Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft Office 365, should exist removed according to the instructions on the developer's website. If there is no uninstaller application or uninstall procedure, you tin can remove the application yourself. It just might have a fiddling while, unless you lot don't heed paying a few dollars to have information technology taken care of for you lot.

Method One: App Cleaner

The easiest manner to completely uninstall a game on the Mac is with App Cleaner. It works past searching for files associated with the app package and deleting everything together at the same fourth dimension. Y'all tin can download and install App Cleaner for gratis, merely it costs $10 to unlock the cadre file-deletion functionality. With the costless version of App Cleaner, yous can search for apps but not uninstall them.

If you're looking for a complimentary option, there is a gratis, similarly-named program, AppCleaner, that performs similarly but not identically to the paid App Cleaner.

i. Open App Cleaner.

ii. Type the name of the app you lot want to delete in the search bar at the bottom of the app list.

3. Check the box side by side to the application to mark information technology and its associated files for deletion.

iv. If you want to completely uninstall more than ane app, you can search for another app and cheque it too. Both will be uninstalled in the last step.

5. To delete all selected applications and their associated files, click "Remove."

6. Empty the Trash in Finder to remove the files from the disk completely, and you're done.

Option 2: Manual Uninstall

App Cleaner is useful because not all applications are entirely contained within their app bundles. While some apps can be deleted simply by deleting the .app bundle, not all apps are so well-organized or simplistic.

Many apps, specially powerful apps, tin can sprawl beyond your system, depositing files in a variety of "~/Library/" folders. In this mode developers have managed to import our to the lowest degree favorite Windows feature: installer vomit.

Finding these files on your own requires knowledge of any names that might be associated with the application. By delving into package identifiers and metadata, App Cleaner uses its machine smarts to serve up all the associated files across all the most common system directories. With one click the files can exist deleted entirely. If you want to accomplish that task yourself, y'all'll have to perform the search manually.

Possible Library Binder Locations

To completely uninstall an app from macOS manually, y'all'll demand to look for files associated with the awarding in the post-obit folders. Within each binder, look for the proper noun of the application and the name of the company that created it. For example, if you were trying to uninstall Word manually, you would await for both Discussion and Microsoft.

/Library
/Library/Awarding Support
/Library/Preferences
/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
/Library/PreferencePanes
/Library/StartupItems
~/Library/
~/Library/Awarding Back up
~/Library/LaunchAgents
~/Library/Preferences
~/Library/PreferencePanes
~/Library/StartupItems

Additional Locations

You'll too demand to look for any related kernel extensions. Known as "kexts," kernel extensions are the drivers of the macOS earth. A kext extends the advice power of the kernel, adding new methods of interfacing with the organization. Y'all'll find them installed in "/System/Library/Extensions," and yous'll need to search thoroughly for anything related to your application. When yous're prepare to remove the kexts, yous'll need to utilise sudo rm.

You may also notice files in the "~/Documents/" binder. This is especially true of applications and games that are ported from Windows to macOS. Storing user files in the Documents folder is a standard, and perhaps abrasive, behavior on Windows, and that's easily transferred to macOS.

Other more circuitous applications tin deposit files in less typical locations. If you install a different shell, for example, you lot'll find hidden files and folders associated with that crush in your home directory. With Finder foremost, press Command + Shift + . to reveal hidden folders. Delete whatever associated files or folders from your home directory.

Conclusion

In most cases simply deleting the app bundle is enough to uninstall an app from your Mac. Consummate removal is all-time when the app has large helper files, or you lot're attempting to fix some sort of trouble by reinstalling the application.

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