How to uninstall apps on a Mac completely

The quick way: drag it to the Trash

This works for most apps you downloaded from a website or the App Store (Apple, Delete or uninstall apps on Mac):

1. Quit the app. If it has a menu bar icon, quit it from there too.
2. In Finder, click Applications in the sidebar, or choose Go › Applications. Some apps live in the Applications folder inside your home folder instead.
3. Drag the app to the Trash, or select it and choose File › Move to Trash. Enter an administrator name and password if macOS asks.
4. Empty the Trash when you're sure. Until then, you can get the app back with File › Put Back.

Uninstalling doesn't delete documents you made with the app, and it doesn't cancel a subscription you bought through it. Cancel subscriptions separately, in the App Store or with the developer.

You can't delete apps that macOS needs, such as Mail, Music, Books, Notes, Podcasts, Maps, News, Stocks and Safari. If macOS says an app is in use, make sure it's closed, then restart (or start up in safe mode) and try again.

App Store apps

App Store apps can go to the Trash from Finder like any other. There's also a shortcut, which changed in macOS 26 when Launchpad was replaced by Apps (Apple, Install and uninstall purchases from the App Store):

• macOS 26 Tahoe and macOS 27: click the Apps icon in the Dock, click and hold an app's icon until it begins to jiggle, then click its close button.
• macOS 15 Sequoia: do the same in Launchpad. If an app shows no delete button there, it can't be removed from Launchpad; use Finder.

Deleting an App Store app doesn't lose your purchase: you can download it again from the App Store.

Apps that come with an uninstaller

Apple says that for apps not made by Apple, an uninstaller is the best way to remove the app along with its login items, extensions and data stored elsewhere. Look for an app named "Uninstall [App]" or "[App] Uninstaller", either next to the app in Applications or inside a folder with the app's name, or for an uninstall or reset option in the app's own menus or settings.

Use the uninstaller for anything that installs parts of itself outside your Library: Adobe and Microsoft apps, security and antivirus tools, VPNs, audio and video drivers, and anything that asked for your administrator password or a system extension during setup. Dragging those to the Trash removes the app but can leave background services and extensions behind.

Remove what's left behind

Most apps keep support files in your user Library, and dragging the app to the Trash leaves them there. They're usually small: preferences and caches. Sometimes they're large, for example downloaded content, offline media or an app's database.

Where support files live

How to find them safely

Search by the app's identifier rather than guessing from names. Before you delete the app, get its identifier in Terminal (replace Spotify with your app's name):

osascript -e 'id of app "Spotify"'

That prints something like com.spotify.client. Then list matching files and folders in your Library. This command only reads; it changes nothing:

find ~/Library -maxdepth 3 \( -iname "*com.spotify.client*" -o -iname "Spotify" \) 2>/dev/null

On one of our Macs, that found five items (home folder shortened to ~):

~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.spotify.client
~/Library/Application Support/Spotify
~/Library/WebKit/com.spotify.client
~/Library/Preferences/com.spotify.client.plist
~/Library/Application Support/io.branch/com.spotify.client

The last line is a good example of why you look before you delete. It sits inside a folder that belongs to a third-party toolkit (io.branch) that other apps may use too. Removing the com.spotify.client folder inside it is fine; removing the whole io.branch folder isn't.

To remove what you've checked, open each location in Finder with Go › Go to Folder, and drag the items to the Trash. Leave the Trash for a day before emptying it.

Login items and background helpers

Open System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions (Apple, Change Login Items & Extensions settings). Remove the app from Open at Login with the remove button if it's still listed, and check the background list, which is called Allow in the Background on macOS 15 and App Background Activity on macOS 26 and 27. Leftover entries for apps you've removed can be switched off. More on startup items.

Some apps also install helpers for every user in /Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/LaunchDaemons or /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools, outside your home folder. These need an administrator password to remove. Use the app's uninstaller for those if it has one, and only remove a file there yourself when its name clearly matches the app you removed.

Delete from Storage settings

Storage settings can also remove apps: open System Settings › General › Storage, click the ⓘ button next to Applications, select an app and click Delete (Apple, Change Storage settings). The list is handy because you can sort apps by size and by when you last used them. Be aware that on macOS 27 this deletes immediately, without a stop in the Trash, and warns that you can't undo it.

Uninstaller apps

Several free apps do the leftover search for you. You drop an app on them, they list the files they think belong to it, and you choose what to remove. Two well-known ones:

• AppCleaner by FreeMacSoft: version 3.7 runs on macOS 15 and later, and 3.6.8 covers macOS 10.14 to 15.6. The site lists no price and has a donate link (FreeMacSoft, checked 13 October 2026).
• Pearcleaner: described by its developer as free and source-available, under the Apache 2.0 license with the Commons Clause. It supports macOS 13 to 26. Its README says development has been on hold since the end of 2025, and the latest release is 5.4.3 from November 2025 (Pearcleaner on GitHub, checked 13 October 2026).

Whichever you use, read the list before you confirm: matching by name can catch files that belong to a different app with a similar name. Larger cleaner suites include uninstallers too; here's how the options compare.

What not to remove

• Shared folders, such as a developer's group container or a toolkit's folder in Application Support, while you still use other apps that rely on them.
• Anything in /System, and system frameworks or extensions that came with macOS.
• Application Support or container folders you haven't looked inside. Some apps keep your documents, libraries or projects there rather than in Documents.
• Your whole Library folder, or whole folders within it. Remove individual items that match the app, nothing broader.

If you remove something by mistake, it's in the Trash until you empty it. After that, a Time Machine backup is the way back, which is a good reason to keep one.

How Tend helps

Tend Pro's Uninstaller lists your apps with their size and when you last used them. It won't remove an app that's running. It moves the app to the Trash first, and only if that works does it move the support files you selected. It finds leftovers by the app's identifier or exact name inside your Library, and leaves containers and Application Support unselected because they can hold your documents. If macOS protects the app, Tend removes nothing and tells you to use Finder instead. Everything goes to the Trash, where you can put it back. How the Uninstaller works.

Questions

Related guides

Sources

• Apple, Delete or uninstall apps on Mac
• Apple, Install and uninstall purchases from the App Store on Mac
• Apple, Install and uninstall apps from the internet or a disc on Mac
• Apple, Change Login Items & Extensions settings on Mac
• Apple, Change Storage settings on Mac
• FreeMacSoft, AppCleaner
• alienator88, Pearcleaner

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