Organising files

Actually uninstalling an app

Updated 2026-08-08 · 5 min read

macOS has no uninstaller because deleting the app mostly works — the app is a self-contained bundle. Mostly. What stays behind is small per app and large in aggregate, and occasionally it is the thing causing trouble.

What deleting the app removes, and what it leaves

Trashing /Applications/SomeApp.app removes the program. It leaves, scattered under ~/Library:

Location	What lives there
~/Library/Application Support/SomeApp	Documents, databases, plugins
~/Library/Caches/com.vendor.someapp	Regenerable cache
~/Library/Preferences/com.vendor.someapp.plist	Settings
~/Library/Containers/com.vendor.someapp	Everything, for sandboxed apps
~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.vendor.*.plist	Background helpers

The bundle identifier — com.vendor.someapp — is the thread connecting them.

The manual sweep

Find the identifier before deleting the app: select it, Get Info, or:

osascript -e 'id of app "SomeApp"'

Then, after trashing the app, search ~/Library for both the app's name and its identifier and remove what matches. LaunchAgents matter most — an orphaned agent keeps trying to start a program that no longer exists, and it is a common source of login errors months after an app is gone.

All of this is under ~/Library, so Finder's search will not help unless you start the search from within the Library folder itself (⇧⌘L, or Go → Library with Option held). A whole-disk indexed search shows every path containing the identifier in one query, which turns the sweep into thirty seconds.

When the vendor provides an uninstaller, use it

Apps that install kernel or system extensions, drivers, or menu bar helpers — antivirus, VPNs, audio tools — need their own uninstaller to remove those pieces. Check the DMG the app came on and the vendor's support page before the manual route.

Is it worth it?

For space: occasionally — some Application Support folders reach gigabytes. For hygiene: after an app misbehaves, deleting its preferences and support folder is the reset that reinstalling alone does not provide, because a reinstall reads the same old files back in.

Common questions

Do leftover files from deleted apps slow a Mac down?

Inert files do not. Orphaned LaunchAgents can, and they generate log noise. The rest is disk space and untidiness, not speed.

Why does a reinstalled app remember my old settings?

Its preferences and support files survived the uninstall. Remove the com.vendor.app files under ~/Library for a true clean start.