Quick question – how do you uninstall programs on Mac?

For apps downloaded from the Mac App Store, just go to Launchpad by clicking the icon in the Dock or pinching the thumb and three fingers together on the Trackpad. Find the app you want to remove, hold down its icon until you see it jiggles, then hit the “X” button to delete it. Note: I used the Rocket app as an example in my pictures, but only because I was removing an earlier version. I love Rocket and would never delete it (it emojifies your Mac!). How to close an app that you thought was already closed or can't figure out how to close on your Mac. Click on the Finder icon in your app dock. See full list on wikihow.com.

• Jul 28, 2020 Uninstall Apps Using the Trash Can. The easiest way to uninstall an app or program from your Mac is by using the trash can located on the Dock.Drag the application from wherever it is located on your Mac and drop it on the trash can.
• Jan 11, 2017 How to delete apps from your Dock; How to delete apps downloaded from the Mac App Store. Deleting an app you downloaded from the Mac App Store is a lot like deleting an app from your iPhone. Open Launchpad on your Mac. This can be done by clicking the Launchpad icon on your Dock, tapping F4 in the function row, or performing a four-finger pinch.
• Now open AppCleaner and select the app that you want to delete from the list on the left side; Select all the boxes that appear on the right side; Click on Remove Files; If you do not want to use third-party apps to remove Cache from your Mac, you can also use the “Library” function. This feature is available in Finder. Here is how you can.

If your answer is to drag the app to the Trash, we’re sorry to say that you’ve been doing it wrong.

You probably know or guess that you can remove apps by dragging them to the Trash bin, but it is not quite so. Dragging normal files like documents and movies to the Trash works fine. But doing the same for apps leaves gigabytes of leftover junk files on your hard drive. We’re going to show you what gets left behind and what you can do to completely uninstall apps from here on out.

How to uninstall on Mac

If you are trying to delete an old application, reinstall a corrupted software or just free up disk space on your Mac, removing all components of the program is important. These include the app, its preferences and support files, and sometimes other hidden files.

To completely uninstall a program on Mac you have to choose one of three options:

• Using Trash.
• Using Launchpad.
• Using a native uninstaller

The ways mentioned above include navigating your Mac’s in search of the apps you want to remove and then locating their remaining data. The latter can take even more place than the app itself and can be stored anywhere in your folders.

I prefer clearing my Mac from apps using special software made for this particular task - CleanMyMac X. It’s Uninstaller feature, is an app-killer that sweeps away any program you don’t want on your Mac and clears remaining junk.

Now let’s go ahead and delete some apps!

1. Uninstall Mac apps using Trash

Whether you're running macOS Catalina or an earlier macOS, like Mojave or Sierra, the process of manually uninstalling remains relatively similar. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Open Finder.
2. Go to Applications.
3. Choose the app you want to delete.
4. Press Command + Delete (⌘⌫).
5. Open Trash.
6. Click the Empty button in the upper-right corner of the window.

And the app is gone.

Even uninstalling apps on macOS Catalina requires getting rid of leftovers, despite the fact that it's the latest and the most sophisticated system for Mac. Apple has done such a good job on macOS 10.15 but left this unfortunate issue unresolved for another year.

To completely remove programs from Mac manually, you have to find all the associated files that come along with the app. That means not just dragging the app icon to the Trash from your Applications folder, but searching the depths of the system files on your Mac.

We’re going to reveal the locations of the most common files that are associated with apps. To remove the app leftovers from your Mac just navigate to each of these folders and hunt for the app you want to remove. If you find files with the app name you can send them to the Trash.

So, when uninstalling any software, you have to go over each of these folders one by one and remove the following:

• Binary and dock icons are located in /Applications/
• Application support files are located in ~/Library/Application Support
• Support Caches can be found in /Library/Caches/ and
  ~/Library/Caches
  
• Plugins are located in ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/
• Library can be found in ~/Library/
• App preferences are located in ~/Library/Preferences/
• Crashes are found in
  ~/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter/
  
• App saved states are located in
  ~/Library/Saved Application State/
  

There are many more hidden files, some of which cannot be accessed by the user. And macOS/OS X will prevent you from deleting some app files.

As you can see, it's not that easy to uninstall applications Mac doesn't need, even when you know what to do. By the way, be sure to look for the name of the app in the file names of the files you remove. Don’t remove anything you don’t know! Do your due diligence before removing something from your system.

When you delete software on Mac manually, be sure only to remove an app file or folder when you’re sure of what it is. Look at the name very carefully before you nuke it. Removing the wrong files could cause problems with your system.

Remember, please be careful when deleting system files — you never know how it will affect your Mac if you remove the wrong ones (or the right ones for that matter!).

2. Uninstall Mac programs with Launchpad

How to uninstall on Mac by using the Launchpad? It's easy and this manual method works like this:

1. Click Launchpad icon in your Mac's Dock.
2. Find the app you want to delete.
3. Click and hold the app until it starts shaking.
4. Click X in the top-left corner of the app icon.
5. Click Delete.

This will uninstall the app from your Mac. However, keep in mind that after removing the program, you should also delete its leftovers as we've described above.

Can't delete apps on Mac?

Unfortunately, manual methods won’t get everything. Some apps are pre-installed macOS components and protected by the system while others will refuse to delete because they are already open (even though that’s often not true).

So, how to delete the apps on Mac that won't delete? You can try the manual removal after force quitting the app in question (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 apps on Mac or if you’re worried you won't do it correctly and want a safer alternative, there’s the easy method of uninstalling apps from your Mac so you don't have to force delete applications. It actually does a better (and safer) job and in a fraction of the time. Read on to learn how to delete apps on Mac automatically.

3. Uninstall apps with CleanMyMac X

When I referred to the easy method of uninstalling apps, I meant using CleanMyMac X. As for me, deleting apps is a pretty tiresome task. I’ve always put away this chore, as it will waste a huge amount of my time. But, my Mac was running low on free storage, so I decided to try CleanMyMac X to fix this problem and uninstall programs on Mac with ease. I used the Uninstaller module to get rid of multiple apps at once. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Download CleanMyMac X, install, and launch it (it takes less than a minute).
2. Go to Uninstaller.
3. Choose All Applications.
4. Check the boxes next to the app you want to remove.
5. Press Uninstall.

As you can see, CleanMyMac X shows precisely how much place each app takes, so it’s easier to detect the heaviest programs. Another benefit is that you can bulk uninstall programs on Mac without dragging each app and its files to the Trash.

Is it possible to delete system files on Mac?

CleanMyMac X doesn’t let you delete system apps like Safari. Neither of Mac cleaners can do that. But, CleanMyMac X allows you to delete the data associated with system apps and reset them completely. Click CleanMyMac X’s menu in the upper-left corner and choose Preferences. Go to Ignore List and click Uninstaller. Here uncheck the box next to “Ignore system applications.”

Now, you can close Preferences and go back to Uninstaller. Click ► next to the app's icon to show its files. Then check the data you want to delete and choose Reset from the drop-down list next to the app’s icon. Then press Remove.

It will help to clear some space on your Mac. Note that your app logs may also disappear after the reset.

4. Use the native uninstaller

Many applications are designed to clean after themselves. They come with a built-in uninstaller — a self-destroying utility bundled with the main app. This is mostly true for third-party apps that you download from the internet. That’s why native uninstallers remain more of a Windows thing, not much heard of in the Mac world.
The original uninstallers can be found in Finder > Applications. If your app looks like a folder (within the Applications folder) most likely it will have a separate uninstaller. The name will read [Your app] Uninstaller or Uninstall [Your App].

Open the folder, find the launcher, and just follow the onscreen instructions. After the removal is complete, you can enjoy your extra storage space!

Clear app leftovers: preferences files and caches

No sane developer wants people to delete their application. As your desperate ex, they would do everything to stay on your Mac, like planting pieces of their software around your Mac so one day they can return. Support files, preference files, and caches — all these will likely remain even if you’ve deleted the app itself.
Here I’ll show you how to root out these remaining traces. I’ll use the Telegram app as an example.

Delete application support files

Click on Finder > Go to Folder… (in the upper menu).
Paste in: ~/Library/Application Support/Your App Name

In my case it's: ~/Library/Application Support/Telegram

Now, delete the content of this folder.

Delete application Preferences

The Preferences folder contains your user settings. These files are tiny but there’s no reason not to delete them, just out of principle.
Click on Finder > Go to Folder…
Paste in: ~/Library/Preferences/

Open the folder. Now type the name of your app in the search bar. Click to search 'Preferences.” Delete the found items.

Delete the caches

In the same vein, you’ll have to delete the remaining app caches.
This time, use the following command to paste in Finder > Go to Folder...
Paste this: ~/Library/Caches/Your App Name

Note: In some cases, you need to search for the app developer's name, rather than the name of the app.

Delete leftovers with CleanMyMac X

If you’ve been doing a 'spring cleaning' in your Applications folder, chances are some files are still left somewhere in your Mac’s system. CleanMyMac X detects and collects them into the Leftovers tab.

Go to Uninstaller once again and select Leftovers. Select all the remaining files and press Uninstall to say goodbye to the app remains.

Now you are just as good at uninstalling applications on Mac as any Apple engineer. Hopefully, you now have plenty of free space. Don't miss a few related articles below.

These might also interest you:

By Vernon Roderick, Last updated: July 16, 2020

Every Mac device has the default Mail app. We use it for exchanging messages with our friends, families, co-workers, and most important, most of us should have already found a use of it in our jobs.

Simply put, the Mail app is very convenient, but that doesn’t change the fact that having flaws is inevitable with every application.

The very first thing that comes to mind when we talk about flaws on an email application is the fact that the app have emails piled up and consume a lot of space in the device.

Since it is a default app, you can always delete it then restore it whenever you like. While you might want to uninstall it instantly, we can’t change the fact that it’s a default app.

With that said, you’ll be having problems with deleting the Mail app on Mac immediately since it might cause malfunctions to the system of your Mac.

So today we’re going to talk about how to delete Mail app on mac to save your disk space and other tips on how to save space with your Mail app besides uninstalling it.

Before anything else, let’s discuss what the Mail app really is and how it works in your Mac device.

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Part 1. An Overview of Mail on Mac

The Mail app, better known as the Apple Mail, is the default email service provider that comes with Mac devices. That means whether it be mobile devices or laptops, there will always be a Mail app.

But there’s a limit to the device that can have the app. To be more precise, those that have OS X 10.0 or later version have this app.

Basically, it allows you to exchange emails with everyone you know as long as they have the same app. Plus, you can configure your Mail app with the settings you want to use.

Now talking about how to delete Mac Mail app. It’s important to note that you have other alternatives to clearing up disk space.

To give you a better idea of those alternatives, here’s a look at the different ways to save space on your Mail app.

• Clean Up Mail Attachments
• Clear Mail App Files
• Use Another client

Now let’s get to the process of doing these three methods that we mentioned.

Option 1. Clean Up Mail Attachments

As previously said, the first flaw of the Mail app is that it might consume too much space. And it might give you a better idea of what this means by knowing that the app has a lot of attachments.

These attachments are what takes up the majority of space that the Mail app consumes. It might’ve been fine if these attachments were actually vital, but most of their content are actually useless.

So your first option is cleaning up files inside the attachments you think aren’t needed. There are many ways to do these, but we’ll discuss that later and proceed to the second option first.

Option 2. Reduce the Space the Mail App Uses

We’ve said earlier that attachments make up the majority of the data used by the Mail app, but what about the remaining data?

This is, of course, anything besides the mail attachments. These files are of different classifications, so your best option is to clean the unnecessary ones by using a cleaning software. After all, you don’t want to delete some important stuff in there along with the junk.

Then there’s the last option, which is far easier to do since it doesn’t require you to regularly do it, unlike the first two options.

Option 3. Use Something Else Besides Apple Mail

When we say use something else besides Apple Mail, it means you need to ditch the Mail app. In short, you’ll need to know how todelete Mac Mail app.

As previously said, deleting a default app, in this case is the Mail app, might cause the system to malfunction.

That’s the main reason why we talked about alternatives, but if you can’t afford to waste your time doing needless things, then this will be your last resort.

Either way, you’ll first have to determine whether you can actually do the first two options. So let’s talk about them first.

Part 2. How to Delete Mail on Mac

In our first option and second option, it involves you trying to reduce the space of the Mac Mail app without deleting it, therefore you won’t have to go to the trouble.

So how exactly can you do that? There are two ways you can delete mail on Mac in the Mail app as well as the mail attachments. Here’s the first one.

Deleting A Single Email

You’ll find that this will be the easiest process in reducing the space of your Mail app, although it won’t do much if you do it only once. Regardless, here’s how you can do it:

1. Select the message you want to delete in your Mac device.
2. You’ll see a Delete button in the Mail app’s toolbar. Click this and the message will be deleted.

Depending on the settings of your app, the deleted message will either go to the Trash or be permanently deleted.

Either way, you’ll find it very tiresome if you’re planning to go through the process repeatedly to delete all the unnecessary messages in your Mail app. So here’s the perfect remedy for that, which is also our second way to delete an email that we talked about.

Deleting Multiple Emails

This will also be relatively easy to execute. You’ll just have to add some things in the process of deleting a single email. Here’s how you can delete multiple emails:

1. Instead of selecting a single message, you can select multiple messages by tapping and holding on one email. That way, the multiple selection will be triggered.
2. Tap on every email you want to be deleted in the list.
3. Click the Delete button in your toolbar that we talked about before.

After this, you’ll be able to delete multiple emails at once. If you also want to add a specific email in the list of things to be deleted, you can search it up in the toolbar.

Permanently Delete Emails

As we previously said in the Deleting a single email section, the deleted email will either go to the Trash or be permanently deleted. If it’s the latter, then there’s no problem. But what if the former was what happened?

In that case, you should go to your Mail app on your Mac, then choose the Mailbox. Then click the Erase Deleted Items button and you’ll be directed to the Trash.

There, you should be able to view the emails that you tried deleting before. You can either restore it or delete it permanently, which in this case, you’d want to do the latter.

Remember, you should do this regularly or else the mail will start to pile up again and consume a lot of the space in your Mac. So what should you do to be able to be free from this endless cycle?

How Do I Delete An App On Macbook Pro

Part 3. How to Delete Mac Mail App Manually

Delete Apps I Don't Need

This is where knowing how to delete Mail app comes in handy. We already said that this will be our last resort, but now that you’re here, you must’ve already decided on it.

As previously said, the Mail app is a default app. So learning how to delete Mail app is not that simple. There will be a long process, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. So without further ado, here are the following steps:

Step 1. Disabling the System Integrity Protection (SIP)

The SIP or System Integrity Protection is a mechanism that is enabled in Mac with versions macOS 10.12 and above.

It makes it impossible for the user to remove any system app on your Mac, and in this case, the Mail app. You can disable SIP by just following these steps:

1. Enter Recovery Mode on your Mac
2. Click the Utilities and head to the Terminal
3. Type the code: csrutil disable into the Terminal and press your Enter key.

This should have already disabled the SIP on your Mac. At this point, you should be able to restart your device without worrying about the SIP. Now let’s head to the second step.

How To Uninstall Apps On Mac

Step 2. Using Terminal Command to Delete Mail App on Mac

If you think it would be easy now that the SIP is disabled, you’re probably wrong. There will, again, be a long process in actually deleting Mail app on Mac. Here’s a detailed step-by-step guide for it:

1. Boot your Mac
2. Sign in as the administrator
3. Launch the Terminal
4. Type the code: cd/Applications/ in the Terminal and press Enter. This will show you a directory of applications.
5. Type the code: sudo rm –rf Mail.app/ and press Enter

At this point, the Mail app should already be uninstalled. Since that’s the case, there’s no need for you to keep the SIP disabled, since it might cause problems to you later on.

So you should enter Recovery Mode again and following Step 1 in reverse to turn the SIP back on.

How Do I Delete An App On Macbook Air

If you’re here, then you’ve probably already read the rest of this guide. So you should also already know just how difficult it is to delete Mail app on Mac manually. So how can you make it easier?

Part 4. How to Completely Delete Mail App on Mac

FoneDog PowerMyMac is created precisely for Mac users to make their life easier. As previously said, every application will have flaws, and your Mac device itself has flaws.

FoneDog PowerMyMac aims to resolve those flaws and problems with just a few clicks. One such flaw that the PowerMyMac software can solve is the deletion of the Mail app.

Best Mac App Remover

In fact, it can even just clean up your Mail app for you automatically, so those who have grown fond of the app can use it as well.

So whether you think learning how to delete Mac Mail app manually is a hassle or simply want to keep their Mail app while preventing it from consuming too much space, FoneDog PowerMyMac is for you!

How Do I Delete An App On Macbook Air

Part 5. Conclusion

Here are the ways of how to delete Mac mails and mail attachments. There are many things that won’t always go your way. Of course, this applies to also to Mac users, considering the multitudes of applications it has. While you can’t always get away with these problems, you can always leverage different software to ease your life a bit.

If you think you can no longer keep up with computers, you can always rely on third-party software such as FoneDog PowerMyMac to do your bidding for you.