Deleting Apps on Mac: How to Uninstall Apps Completely

You’ve stopped using an app and want it off your Mac, or you’re short on space and need to clear out the big ones. Deleting apps on Mac takes a few seconds, but the right method depends on where the app came from and which version of macOS you’re running. Here’s every way to uninstall an app, what changed in macOS 26 Tahoe, and how to clean up the files apps leave behind.

Before you start, quit the app. A Mac won’t let you trash an app that’s still running.

Deleting apps on Mac with Finder (works for almost every app)

Dragging an app to the Trash is the standard way to uninstall on a Mac, and it works on every version of macOS.

1. Open Finder and click Applications in the sidebar.
2. Find the app you want to remove.
3. Drag it to the Trash in the Dock.
4. If asked, enter your Mac’s administrator password.
5. Open the Trash and click Empty to delete the app for good.

Until you empty the Trash, the app isn’t really gone and the space isn’t freed. Changed your mind? Open the Trash, Control-click the app and choose Put Back.

Some apps are installed in a second Applications folder inside your home folder. If you can’t find an app, choose Go › Home in Finder and look for an Applications folder there.

Use the keyboard instead: ⌘Delete

Dragging is fiddly on a trackpad. Select the app in Finder and press ⌘ Command + ⌫ Delete to move it to the Trash. You can also Control-click the app and choose Move to Trash, or use File › Move to Trash.

To empty the Trash from anywhere in Finder, press ⌘⇧ Shift⌫.

Use the app’s own uninstaller if it has one

Some apps install more than a single app bundle: background services, menu bar helpers, system extensions, audio drivers, or browser plug-ins. Dragging the app to the Trash leaves those behind. Apple’s own advice is to use the developer’s uninstaller whenever one exists.

Look for an uninstaller in these places:

• The app’s folder in Applications. Apps like this often install as a folder that contains both the app and an “Uninstall” app.
• The app’s menus or settings. Some apps have an uninstall, remove or reset option in their menu bar menu or settings window.
• The original installer disk image (.dmg). Some developers bundle the uninstaller with the installer.
• The developer’s support site. Search for “uninstall” plus the app’s name.

Suites like Adobe Creative Cloud apps should be removed through the Creative Cloud app, not by trashing the app icons. Security software, VPNs and virtualization apps almost always need their own uninstaller too.

Tip: If you installed an app with Homebrew, remove it with brew uninstall --cask appname. Adding --zap (brew uninstall --zap --cask appname) also removes the leftover files Homebrew knows about.

Delete apps from System Settings (Storage)

Storage settings list every installed app with its size, which makes it the easiest way to find and remove the apps that take up the most space.

1. Open System Settings › General › Storage.
2. Click the Info button (ⓘ) next to Applications.
3. Sort by size if you like, then select the app you want to remove.
4. Click Delete, then confirm.

This works on macOS Ventura and later. On macOS Monterey and earlier, the same list is under Apple menu › About This Mac › Storage › Manage › Applications. For more ways to reclaim space, see our guide to freeing up space on your Mac.

Deleting App Store apps

Apps from the Mac App Store can be deleted with Finder or Storage settings like any other app. You can reinstall them later for free from your purchase history.

The App Store also has its own delete option, though Apple doesn’t make it obvious:

1. Open the App Store.
2. Click your name or account picture in the bottom-left corner to see your apps.
3. Hover over the app, click the More button (•••) next to Open, and choose Delete App.

If you don’t see that option on your Mac, use Finder instead. The result is the same.

Launchpad and the new Apps view (macOS Tahoe)

On macOS Sequoia and earlier, Launchpad gives you an iPhone-style way to delete App Store apps:

1. Open Launchpad from the Dock, or pinch with your thumb and three fingers on the trackpad.
2. Hold ⌥ Option, or click and hold any icon until the icons jiggle.
3. Click the Delete button (×) on the app you want to remove, then click Delete to confirm.

Only apps downloaded from the App Store show the × button. Apps you installed from the web have to be deleted in Finder.

macOS 26 Tahoe removed Launchpad. It was replaced by the Apps view, which opens from the Apps icon in the Dock and works with Spotlight. Apple’s App Store help still describes clicking and holding an icon until it jiggles, but users widely report that the Apps view doesn’t enter that mode, and there’s no delete button to click. On macOS Tahoe and later, use Finder, Storage settings or the App Store to delete apps.

Apps that won’t delete

If macOS refuses to move an app to the Trash, it’s usually one of three things.

The app is still running

You’ll see a message that the item can’t be moved to the Trash because it’s open. Quit the app with ⌘Q, and check the menu bar: many apps keep running there with no window open. If the app won’t quit, press ⌥⌘⎋ Esc, select it and click Force Quit. Our guide to force quitting apps on a Mac covers the other ways, including Activity Monitor.

If the app relaunches itself, a background helper is restarting it. Restart your Mac and delete the app right after you log in, or start up in Safe Mode and try again.

It needs an administrator password

Apps installed for all users need an admin account to remove. If you’re on a standard account, ask whoever manages the Mac to enter their name and password when prompted.

It’s a built-in macOS app

You can’t delete apps that macOS needs. Safari, Mail, Messages, Music, Photos, Notes, Maps, FaceTime and the other core apps live on a sealed, read-only system volume. Don’t try to work around this with Terminal commands or by turning off System Integrity Protection: you’ll free almost no space and risk breaking system features and updates.

Apple apps that come from the App Store are different. Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iMovie and GarageBand can be deleted like any other app and reinstalled later from the App Store. GarageBand’s optional sound library can use several gigabytes on its own.

Remove leftover files in ~/Library

When you trash an app, its settings, caches and support data stay in your user Library folder. Usually that’s a few megabytes and harmless. Sometimes it’s gigabytes of downloaded content, offline files or old databases.

Open your Library folder

The Library folder is hidden by default. Either of these opens it:

• In Finder, click the Go menu, hold ⌥, and choose Library.
• Press ⌘⇧G in Finder, type ~/Library, and press Return.

Where apps leave files behind

Folder	What’s in it	Notes
~/Library/Application Support/	Databases, downloads, plug-ins, sometimes saved projects	Usually the biggest leftovers. Check for your own work before deleting.
~/Library/Preferences/	Settings files like com.developer.appname.plist	Tiny. Safe to remove once the app is gone.
~/Library/Caches/	Temporary data the app can rebuild	Safe to remove. See how to clear cache on Mac.
~/Library/Containers/	All data for sandboxed apps, including most App Store apps	Folders may show the app’s name or its bundle ID.
~/Library/Group Containers/	Data shared between apps from the same developer	Careful: other apps from that developer may still use it.
~/Library/Saved Application State/	Window positions for reopening	Tiny and safe to remove.
~/Library/LaunchAgents/	Background helpers that start when you log in	Remove only files clearly named after the deleted app.

Files that apply to every user on the Mac live in the main /Library folder (for example /Library/Application Support, /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons). Deleting from there needs an admin password, so be especially careful.

How to remove leftovers safely

1. Delete the app first, as described above.
2. In each folder in the table, look for items named after the app or its developer. Many use the app’s bundle ID, which looks like com.developer.appname.
3. Move matching items to the Trash. Don’t empty it yet.
4. Use your Mac normally for a day or two. If anything misbehaves, put the files back.
5. Empty the Trash.

Warning: Only remove items you can clearly match to the app you deleted. Folders named after Apple (com.apple.…) belong to macOS, and a developer’s shared folder may still be in use by its other apps. When in doubt, leave it. A few stray megabytes cost you nothing.

Tip: To find an app’s bundle ID before you delete it, run osascript -e 'id of app "AppName"' in Terminal, replacing AppName with the app’s name. Searching for that ID makes leftovers easy to spot.

Also check System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions (called Login Items on older versions). Remove anything that belonged to the deleted app from Open at Login, and turn off its switch under Allow in the Background.

Let an uninstaller app do it

If you remove apps often, a free tool like AppCleaner finds an app’s related files for you: drop the app on its window, review the list, and delete. Always look over the list before you confirm, since these tools match files by name and can occasionally catch something shared. We cover more utilities like this in our roundup of the best Mac apps, and if you want to see which leftovers are actually big, a disk space analyzer shows you at a glance.

Which method should you use?

• Most apps: Drag to the Trash in Finder, or select and press ⌘⌫.
• Apps that came with an uninstaller: Always use the uninstaller.
• Finding space hogs: System Settings › General › Storage › Applications.
• App Store apps on macOS Tahoe: Finder, Storage settings, or the App Store’s Delete App option.
• A thorough cleanup: Delete the app, then clear its leftovers in ~/Library or use AppCleaner.

Deleting an app doesn’t delete documents you made with it, and it doesn’t cancel any subscription you bought through it. Cancel subscriptions separately before you uninstall so you’re not charged for an app you no longer have.