{"id":7912,"date":"2017-07-14T18:07:20","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T18:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/?p=7912"},"modified":"2021-06-03T12:33:38","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T12:33:38","slug":"uninstall-apps-mac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/help\/uninstall-programs-mac.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Uninstall Apps on Mac"},"content":{"rendered":"

You need to know how to uninstall programs on Mac computers to free storage space. On the surface, this seems like an easy task. You can uninstall most applications just by moving their folders to the Trash. However, this will not work for all applications.<\/p>\n

The above formula leaves junk files behind. While harmless, those left-over files can build up over time, leaving you with even less space than before. Plus, some applications have their own specific uninstall process that you must follow or they will break your system.<\/p>\n

\"Uninstall<\/p>\n

To ensure that you removed all the files, you need a more advanced uninstall method. You have two options. You can search for the left-over files and delete them manually. Other than that, you can use some uninstall program Mac console commands to completely remove the apps. Sure, there are a few uninstaller apps out there, but none of them are worth their price. The ones that are, such as Disk Drill, will only show you where to find every file a program installs on your system. The general recommendation is: using the official app\u2019s uninstaller usually bundled with the app itself to remove it completely from your Mac.<\/p>\n

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How to Uninstall Applications on Mac<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Most of your apps are self-contained. They do not mess with the rest of your system. Thus, you can uninstall them just by deleting their .app container (which is actually a folder). You do this by opening the Application sidebar in a Finder window. To uninstall, you either control-click or right-click the app\u2019s icon, and then select \u201cMove to Trash\u201d.<\/p>\n

You can just drag and drop the app\u2019s icon to the Trash icon on your dock, either from the Application sidebar or Launchpad. You can then Control-click or right-click the Trash icon and choose \u201cEmpty Trash\u201d to completely remove the app from your system. Some apps may ask for a password, but that is because you installed them to your admin folder. You can safely uninstall these apps in the same way if you remember installing them in first place, but we would recommend checking if they have any official instructions at removing them before trashing them.<\/p>\n

Just note that you cannot remove any built-in applications such as the Chess app. OS X will display an error message saying that the system appsare required by the operating system and therefore cannot be modified or removed. You cannot even remove them from the command line either.<\/p>\n

Most people will only need one of the three solutions above to uninstall their apps. If none of them work, there is a fourth option. You can manually uninstall Mac applications from the command line. This is for more advanced users as you need a deep understanding of how OS X works, but it is an option.<\/p>\n

Before doing that it may help to keep reading to learn how Disk Drill can find your application folders.<\/p>\n

How to Uninstall Apps on Mac for Advanced Users<\/strong><\/h4>\n

If you can remove an app from your system, you can remove it through command line commands from any terminal window. Anyone can use them, but issuing the wrong command may break your system, which is why we only recommend them for advanced users. Most users will rarely need them.<\/p>\n

For brevity, we will not explain what each command does. That would take too long. Instead, we will give you the most useful commands. You can then seek the help of an OS X command guide if you need more information.<\/p>\n

To use these commands, you need to open a Terminal window. Once in Terminal, you can issue a mdfind command to find an app\u2019s folder. The syntax is \u2018mdfind -name \u201cApplication name\u201d\u2019. You just replace \u201cApplication name\u201d with the name of the app you want to uninstall. The command will then tell you where the files are in your system. You then use the sudorm command to uninstall the app: \u2018sudorm-rif \u201cApplication folder name\u201d\u2019 with \u201cApplication folder name\u201d coming from the list you got from mdfind. You will need to issue this command for each entry in the mdfind list separately.<\/p>\n

While the returned list will give you every file from the app on your system, you may not want to uninstall everything. Some of the files might be used by multiple applications and may cause a crash if you remove them. For most applications, the files are in one of these folders:<\/p>\n