How to Delete an Application on a Mac

John John (304)
0

Deleting or removing an application in macOS is very different from uninstalling a program in Windows. It can be confusing, too, because deleting an application varies slightly on a Mac depending on how you installed it.

Here are the different methods for deleting an application on a Mac, based on how you installed it.

Visit this guide if you need to just force close an app on macOS instead of deleting it entirely.

Mac computer ×1

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  1. Click the Launchpad icon in the dock.
  2. Then find the app you want to delete.
  3. Click and hold the app you want to delete.
  4. Then click the x and confirm.

You can also follow these step-by-step instructions for how to delete an app downloaded from the Mac App Store.

If the app can't be delete in Launchpad, it may have an uninstaller.

  1. Open Finder.
  2. Then click on the Applications folder.
  3. If your application has a folder, that folder may have an uninstaller. If it does, click the uninstaller to begin the process.

Again, here are step-by-step instructions for uninstalling an app on OS X using an uninstaller.

AppCleaner for Mac

If neither of the above methods work, you can use AppCleaner. This is a step up from dragging the application into the trash because it attempts to find all files associated with the app.

You can find step-by-step instructions for deleting an app using AppCleaner here.

Move App to Trash on Mac
MacMaster

Many apps can simply be dragged right into your trash bin to remove them on a Mac.

  1. Find the app in your Finder > Applications.
  2. Drag the application into your trash bin. (Or, right-click the application and choose Move to trash.)
You clean up your desk, why not your desktop?
Ash Ash (362)
5 minutes

It's easy to uninstall software on a Mac. In most cases, the software is bundled into a single package. But when it isn't, the process for removal can be a little more involved.