TidyMacHow to uninstall apps on Mac completely
Dragging an app to the Trash removes the app, not the settings, caches and data it created. Here’s where those leftovers live, and step-by-step guides for the apps that leave the most behind.
The five steps for any app
- Quit the app, including any menu bar helper it runs.
- Use the app’s own uninstaller if it has one; otherwise drag it from Applications to the Trash.
- Look in ~/Library for folders named after the app or its bundle ID: Application Support, Caches, Preferences, Saved Application State, Containers, Group Containers and LaunchAgents.
- Check folders that may hold your own data (profiles, chats, recordings, saves) before removing them.
- Move the leftovers to the Trash, then empty it when you’re sure.
Where apps leave files
| Location | What’s usually there |
|---|---|
~/Library/Application Support/<App> | Settings, databases, offline data |
~/Library/Caches/<bundle ID> | Caches the app can rebuild |
~/Library/Preferences/<bundle ID>.plist | Preferences |
~/Library/Saved Application State/<bundle ID>.savedState | Window positions |
~/Library/Containers/<bundle ID> | Everything, for sandboxed and App Store apps |
~/Library/Group Containers/<prefix>.<bundle ID> | Data shared between an app and its extensions |
~/Library/LaunchAgents | Helpers that start at login |
~/Library is hidden: in Finder hold Option and open the Go menu, or use Go › Go to Folder. Not sure what a folder is? See what’s in Application Support, what an app container is, or look it up in the folder library.
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Frequently asked questions
Does dragging an app to the Trash uninstall it on a Mac?
It removes the app itself. Settings, caches and data the app created in your Library folder stay behind, sometimes gigabytes of them. For a complete uninstall you remove those too.
How do I find an app’s bundle ID?
Run osascript -e 'id of app "AppName"' in Terminal, replacing AppName with the app’s name. Most leftover folders are named after the bundle ID, such as com.spotify.client.
Is it safe to delete everything with the app’s name in ~/Library?
Mostly, once the app is gone. Look twice at folders that might hold the only copy of something: browser profiles, chat databases, recordings, game saves. Never delete anything in /System.
What about apps from the Mac App Store?
Delete them from Launchpad (hold Option and click the X) or drag them to the Trash. Sandboxed App Store apps keep their data in ~/Library/Containers, so that’s where leftovers usually are.
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