Pavel Jelic You might think after reading the title of this article that uninstalling an application in macOS is very simple and even a trained monkey can do it. However, I must assure you that not everything is as rosy as it may seem at first glance. In the competing Windows operating system, a special section is created for uninstalling applications in the settings, in which you can simply uninstall each program by pressing a button. Most of the time, all data is uninstalled along with the program, but this is not always true when uninstalling apps in macOS.
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Amaya Toman I decided to divide this article into three different levels of uninstalling apps. The first, simplest level, occurs when you have downloaded an application from the App Store. If you've installed an app that doesn't come from the App Store, uninstalling it is a bit more complicated, but still relatively simple. And if you want to be sure that you will delete all the data along with the application when removing the application, you must use programs that can help you with this procedure. So let's refrain from the initial formalities and get straight to the point.
Uninstalling apps downloaded from the App Store
If you have downloaded an application from the App Store, the procedure is practically the simplest. All you have to do to uninstall an app downloaded from the App Store is to open Launchpad. You can either use the shortcut in the Dock or press the F4 key. Once you're in the Launchpad, hold key Option. All application icons will start shake and in some of them it appears in the upper left corner cross. Apps with a cross are those apps you've downloaded from the App Store, and you can delete them with a single tap. For uninstalling application therefore click on the cross and it is done.
Uninstalling apps downloaded outside the App Store
If you downloaded the installation package of an application on the Internet and then installed it, the above procedure will not work for you. In this case, you need to open Finder and go to the section in the left menu Application, where all the applications you have installed on your macOS device are located. Here, just the list is enough find the app, which you want uninstall, then her mark and click on it right click. From the drop-down menu that appears, then click the button Move to trash. It is possible that the system will ask you for some applications authorization using a password. Of course, it is also necessary for the application to be deleted finished. Therefore, if a notification appears that the application cannot be deleted, first close it, and then try to delete it again.
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Uninstalling apps along with other data using AppCleaner
If you uninstall an application on your Mac, it will be deleted in most cases just the app. The data that the app created on your Mac they will stay in case you decide to reinstall the app. In case you would like to delete both the application and the data, you can use different applications for this. However, the application proved to be the most useful for me AppCleaner, which is both absolutely free, aa on the one hand it has simple user interface, which everyone will understand.
Applications AppCleaner you can download using this link. Select on the right side of the page latest version and confirm the download. The app doesn't even need to be installed - it's enough unpack and run immediately. The user interface of the application is very simple. It is always enough to enter the window itself from the folder Application (see procedure above) move here application, which you want uninstall. After dragging, a kind of "scan" of files related to the application is performed. After the scan is complete, the size and total number of files you can delete will be displayed. You can then select, whether you want to uninstall all these files, or just some. Once you have your selection, just click the button remove in the lower right part of the window.
Some applications have their own uninstall packages
Before you try to uninstall the application, make sure that it is not available file to uninstall. For example, if you work with programs from Adobe, so you can use a special file with which all data can be uninstalled together with the application. The special file can be found in Applications, to find the app you want to uninstall. If the application is located in the folders, so it is quite likely that it will contain i uninstall file – usually has a name Uninstall. After running this file, the uninstalling through the official way.
You might have thought that uninstalling apps is not a science in macOS. So, in this article, I may have convinced you otherwise. If you want to completely delete the entire application together with its data, then you probably cannot do without a third-party application.
"Uninstalling apps downloaded outside the App Store"
—> Unfortunately, that's only half the process. This will delete the "application" (actually a package of files), but the preferences and files in the Library will remain - and these are hundreds of megabytes for some applications. In other words: use Spotlight to search for other traces of the application. And to make matters worse, there are two Libraries, system and user.
When it comes to writing instructions, really, right?
That's why the authors immediately described the use of the AppCleaner application, which does what you write without manually searching for files in the libraries ;-)