How to Uninstall Apps on Mac? Erase Idle Files & Delete All Data
Do you feel like your Mac isn’t running as smoothly as it used to? A cluttered system with unused apps and leftover files can sometimes contribute to slowdowns. This guide will show you how to uninstall apps on Mac. Thereby, helping you regain that familiar, responsive experience you expect from Apple devices. We’ll also cover how to clean up any leftover files to ensure a thorough cleanup. But before you hit the delete button, it is important to plan out what to remove and what to retain.
Table of Contents
Preparing to Remove Apps from Mac Make A Checklist First
There is no doubt that the abrupt behavior of Macs is unexpected. Especially considering their premium price. However, we can’t get straight to mass app deletion without knowing its implications. Erasing a particular app might not solve the issue. So it’s better to make a data-driven decision; for that, you can use Activity Monitor.
The know all see all utility is present inside every Mac device. It is the go-to place from where you can view and manage all running applications. It also gives you a detailed account of all processes and their resource usage.
We can use it to see what apps are not in active use but still drain the system via their background processes. That is why it has become increasingly important to know how to uninstall apps on Mac.
You will be able to identify clearly if it is a hardware-based or software-based compatibility issue.
You can check out the official Activity Monitor User Guide for better understanding. Note that apps cannot be removed while they are still in use, so forcing them to quit is a must.
Other than resource consumption, another factor that qualifies the app for deletion is how often it’s used. However, there is no timeline monitoring available on Activity Monitor. For that, you need to see the Screen Time app. But, it is only available on devices operating Mac OS Catlina and later. Next up, we have the reasons why you arrive at such a situation in the first place.
Also Read: Overcome Apple Mail Moving Messages Stuck Error
Scenarios that Trigger an App Uninstallation Request on Mac
- Some applications can hijack resources, making them unavailable for the programs that require them. So users may want to get rid of such apps.
- After you start your Mac, many applications may compete for resources to launch their instances. This may also create a situation where your Apple computer starts to lag.
- While Macs boast significantly better multitasking capability, keeping unused apps open is bound to cause slowdown issues. So close the apps you don’t require.
- The app installer and the app are different entities. If you keep the installer, it might cause interference in regular work.
- Irregularity during the installation may cause multiple copies of the same app to exist on your Mac. Which might also end up slowing your Mac.
Also Read: What to Do if Mac Mail Quit Unexpectedly When Importing MBOX Files.
Learn how to uninstall apps on Mac via LaunchPad
The below-mentioned steps are the easiest way to erase unwanted applications from Apple computers.
Open LaunchPad: Start by launching LaunchPad. It is a square icon with 9 small, colorful squares in it.
Browse LaunchPad: Launch Pad may use more than one page to display the apps, so browse through it till you get to the app you no longer want.
Wait for Shake: Take your cursor over any app, press and Hold till the icons begin to jiggle
Delete App: Tap on the small cross icon that appears on the vibrating icon.
During this, you may witness that a few apps don’t jiggle. These apps are protected and thus can’t be removed via the LaunchPad. If you have to uninstall such an application, use the next method.
Find Out How to Get rid of a Program on Mac With Finder
Finder is another one of Mac’s inbuilt utilities that helps in the management of on-device data. The procedure to carry out app removal is as follows:
- Open Finder (blue square with a smiley face on your Dock).
- Click “Applications” in the left sidebar.
- Find the app you want to remove.
- Drag the app icon directly to the Trash on your Dock (or right-click and choose “Move to Trash”).
- To permanently delete, right-click the Trash icon and select “Empty Trash”.
How to Erase Apps on Macbook Using the Terminal?
- Open Terminal (Applications > Utilities > Terminal).
- Locate the app you want to uninstall in Finder.
- Drag the app icon from Finder and drop it into the Terminal window.
- Type your admin password when prompted (won’t be shown on the screen).
Note: Some third-party applications also claim the ability to do a complete uninstallation of any application.
What to Do After You Remove Apps from Mac Device?
These are a list of steps that are to be taken after a mass uninstallation campaign on your Apple computer.
Restart Your Mac: Uninstallation itself is a massive burden on system resources. Especially if you do it for multiple apps in quick succession. So after it’s done, we recommend that you wait for a while before resuming operations. And while you are at it, restart your app.
Try an Alternative Approach: Uninstallation does not mean that you can never use the app on a Mac again. Even when a local copy of the program is unavailable, it can still be accessed via the cloud. Other than that, if you plan to reinstall the app at any time in the future, do it on external storage.
Check for Duplicates: Sometimes there might be more than one copy of the same file stored on your Mac. If multiple people use the device, such a situation becomes more likely. For that, we recommend using the SysTools Mac Duplicate Finder software. Which can quickly identify any such clutter and help you get rid of unwanted copies of program data on a Mac. But the real challenge is where to find this leftover data. The answer to that is the library folder.
To access it here is the procedure:
- Open Finder.
- Click the “Go” option in the top menu bar.
- Hold down the Option (⌥) key while the menu is open.
- Select “Library” from the dropdown menu.
Inside the library, you have many subfolders. For example,
~/Library/Application Support (Stores app-specific data)
~/Library/Caches (Holds temporary app data)
~/Library/Preferences (Contains app settings)
~/Library/Logs (May contain app-related logs, but exercise caution as system logs are also present)
~/Library/Containers (Stores containerized app data for security purposes).
Don’t worry; this tool is designed to do a deep search and find redundant data wherever it is.
Conclusion
Here we gave users a fully-fledged tutorial on how to uninstall apps on Mac devices of any kind. Be it the legacy Intel core machines or the new M series chip variants, any Apple computer can start to lag or slow down. So it’s better to get rid of all programs that are no longer in use. After the uninstallation is done, there is a chance that residual duplicate data is still present on your system. For that, you can take advantage of the utility that we introduced earlier. With this, we hope that your Mac is back to being a productivity beast again.