How to delete non-App Store apps in the Finderįor those apps that you've downloaded from the web, here's how you get rid of them using Finder. This can be done by clicking the Launchpad icon on your Dock, tapping F4 in the function row, or performing a four-finger pinch on your Mac's trackpad.įind the app downloaded from the Mac App Store that you want to remove.Ĭlick and hold on the app's icon until it enters jiggly mode.Ĭlick the 'X' that appears in the upper left corner of the app icon. How to delete apps downloaded from the Mac App Storeĭeleting an app you downloaded from the Mac App Store is a lot like deleting an app from your iPhone. How to delete non-App Store apps in the Finder.How to delete apps downloaded from the Mac App Store.Here is how you delete apps from your Mac. Getting rid of these apps is a simple matter, but there are different ways to go about it.
Here is a selection:įor more information visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on removing software.Over time, our Macs can become full of apps that we no longer use, have stopped working, or that we never really needed in the first place. There are many utilities that can uninstall applications. Be sure you also delete this item as some programs use it to determine if it's already installed. The item generally has a ".pkg" extension. Usually with the same name as the program or the developer.
Some applications install a receipt in the /Library/Receipts/ folder. You can modify Spotlight's behavior or use a third-party search utility, EasyFind, instead. Unfortunately Spotlight will not look in certain folders by default. If an application installs any other files the best way to track them down is to do a Finder search using the application name or the developer name as the search term. Look for them in /Library/LaunchAgents/ and /Library/LaunchDaemons/ or in /Home/Library/LaunchAgents/. Some software use startup daemons or agents that are a new feature of the OS. Locate the item in the list for the application you want to remove and click on the "-" button to delete it from the list. Open System Preferences, click on the Accounts icon, then click on the LogIn Items tab. Log In Items are set in the Accounts preferences. Startupitems are usually installed in the /Library/StartupItems/ folder and less often in the /Home/Library/StartupItems/ folder. Some applications may install a startupitem or a Log In item. Again, they don't do anything but take up disk space once the application is trashed. You can also delete the folder that's in the Applications Support folder. You can also check there to see if the application has created a folder. Some applications may install components in the /Home/Library/Applications Support/ folder. In some cases the uninstaller may be part of the application's installer, and is invoked by clicking on a Customize button that will appear during the install process. Some applications may install an uninstaller program that can be used to remove the application. If you want you can look for them in the above location and delete them, too. Although they do nothing once you delete the associated application, they do take up some disk space. Applications may create preference files that are stored in the /Home/Library/Preferences/ folder. Most OS X applications are completely self-contained "packages" that can be uninstalled by simply dragging the application to the Trash.