How to Uninstall Apps on a Mac Completely (Including the Files They Leave Behind)
Uninstalling an app on a Mac looks easy: drag it to the Trash and you're done. That removes the app itself, but usually not the preferences, caches, support files and background helpers it created while you used it. One app's leftovers are rarely a big deal. A few years' worth of apps you tried once can add up to gigabytes, and some of those helpers keep running after the app is gone.
Quick answer: Quit the app first. If it came with its own uninstaller (common for Adobe, Microsoft, antivirus and VPN apps), use that. Otherwise, open Finder → Applications and drag the app to the Trash, or select it and press ⌘Delete, then empty the Trash. For App Store apps you can also use System Settings → General → Storage → Applications. To remove leftovers, check ~/Library/Application Support, Caches, Preferences and Containers for folders named after the app, and turn off its entries in System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions. Or let MacCove Space's App Cleaner remove an app and every file it left behind in one step.
The ways to uninstall an app on a Mac
| Method | Best for | Removes leftovers? |
|---|---|---|
| The app's own uninstaller | Adobe, Microsoft 365, antivirus, VPNs, drivers | Usually most of them, including helpers |
| Drag to Trash from Finder | Most downloaded apps | No |
| System Settings → General → Storage → Applications | Seeing apps by size and deleting several at once | No |
| App Store → your account | Apps bought from the Mac App Store | Mostly; sandboxed apps keep data in Containers |
| Homebrew (brew uninstall --zap) | Apps installed with Homebrew | Yes, for apps whose cask lists them |
| A dedicated uninstaller app | Removing an app and all its files in one step | Yes |
1. Use the app's own uninstaller first
Apple's own advice is that if an app came with an uninstaller, that's the best way to remove it, because it also removes login items and extensions the app installed. Look in the app's folder in Applications for something called Uninstall [App] or [App] Uninstaller, or check the developer's website.
Some big ones:
Adobe Creative Cloud apps: uninstall individual apps from inside the Creative Cloud desktop app, then remove Creative Cloud itself with its uninstaller.
Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook): Microsoft has a step-by-step guide that includes removing folders from Containers and Group Containers. Back up Outlook data first, because those folders hold it.
Antivirus, VPN and audio driver apps: almost always need their own uninstaller, because they install system extensions that Finder can't remove.
2. Drag the app to the Trash
Quit the app. If it won't quit, use ⌥⌘Esc to force quit it.
Open Finder → Applications.
Drag the app to the Trash (or select it and press ⌘Delete). Enter your admin password if asked.
Empty the Trash.
If you see "The item can't be moved to the Trash because it's open," something from the app is still running, often a menu bar helper. Quit it from the menu bar, or restart and try again.
3. Delete from Storage settings
Open System Settings → General → Storage and click the ⓘ next to Applications. You get a list of your apps sorted by size, with the date each was last used. Select one or more and click Delete. This is the quickest way to find big apps you haven't opened in a year.
4. What happened to deleting apps from Launchpad?
On older versions of macOS you could hold Option in Launchpad and click the ✕ on an app. macOS Tahoe replaced Launchpad with the new Apps view, and you can't delete apps from it. Use Finder or Storage settings instead.
5. Mac App Store apps
You can delete App Store apps from Finder like any other app. Apple also lets you remove them from the App Store app: click your name in the bottom-left corner, find the app, click ⋯ and choose Delete App.
Apps you can't delete (and why)
Apps that are part of macOS, such as Safari, Mail, Music, Notes, Maps and Photos, live on a protected, read-only system volume. Finder won't let you delete them, and they don't show up in the Storage list. They also don't take up space in your own data, so there's nothing to gain from removing them.
If your Mac is managed by an employer or school, some apps may be installed and enforced by device management, and will reappear if you delete them.
Where the leftover files live
To look for leftovers, open Finder, press ⇧⌘G (Go to Folder), type ~/Library and press Return. Then look inside these folders for items named after the app or its developer (for example com.developer.appname):
| Folder | What's in it | Safe to delete after uninstalling? |
|---|---|---|
| ~/Library/Application Support | Settings, databases, downloaded content, sometimes large | Yes, if the folder clearly belongs to the removed app |
| ~/Library/Caches | Cached data the app can rebuild | Yes |
| ~/Library/Preferences | .plist settings files | Yes. They're tiny but clutter up |
| ~/Library/Containers | Data for sandboxed (mostly App Store) apps | Yes, for the removed app's container |
| ~/Library/Group Containers | Data shared by several apps from the same developer | Only if you've removed every app from that developer |
| ~/Library/Saved Application State | Window positions to restore at launch | Yes |
| ~/Library/Logs | Log files | Yes |
| ~/Library/HTTPStorages and ~/Library/WebKit | Web data from apps that show web content | Yes |
| ~/Library/LaunchAgents | Per-user background helpers | Yes, for the removed app's helpers |
| /Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/LaunchDaemons, /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools | System-wide helpers (need an admin password) | With care, only for apps you've removed |
Two cautions. First, Group Containers are shared: Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook all use the same ones, so deleting them because you removed one Office app will break the others. Second, never delete anything inside /System.
The Library is also where the real size hides. An app might be 200MB, while its Application Support folder, full of downloaded models, sample libraries or offline caches, is several gigabytes.
Don't forget the background items
Apps can register helpers that run in the background: updaters, sync agents, menu bar utilities. These often survive the app being deleted. Open System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions and check two places:
Open at Login: select anything belonging to a removed app and click –.
App Background Activity (called Allow in the Background before macOS Tahoe): turn off entries from apps you've removed.
If the list is full of stale entries that won't go away, there's a reset command: sudo sfltool resetbtm in Terminal, followed by a restart. Be aware that it resets all third-party login and background items, so apps you still use will ask for permission again. Delete the leftover helper files first, or the old entries can come straight back.
Uninstalling developer tools: Homebrew, Docker and Xcode
These three are some of the largest things people install, and some of the messiest to remove:
| Tool | How to remove it | Where the big leftovers are |
|---|---|---|
| Homebrew | Run Homebrew's official uninstall script from the Homebrew/install repository on GitHub | /opt/homebrew (Apple silicon) or /usr/local (Intel) |
| Homebrew apps (casks) | brew uninstall --zap appname removes the app plus the Library files its cask lists | Shared files may affect other apps; read the warning |
| Docker Desktop | Troubleshoot → Uninstall in Docker Desktop, then delete the app | ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.docker and ~/.docker |
| Xcode | Delete Xcode.app, then remove simulator runtimes in Xcode → Settings → Components first, or with xcrun simctl runtime delete | ~/Library/Developer (DerivedData, Archives, device support files, simulators) |
The Xcode leftovers are often far bigger than Xcode itself. It's common to find tens of gigabytes in ~/Library/Developer on a Mac that hasn't been used for iOS development in years.
Doing it in one step
Finding every leftover by hand works, but it's slow, and it's easy to miss a helper or delete a shared folder by mistake. Uninstaller apps exist to solve exactly that. MacCove Space's App Cleaner removes an app together with the preferences, caches, containers and support files it scattered, and flags apps you haven't opened in months so you can decide whether they're worth keeping. Everything goes to the Trash first, so you can undo it if you change your mind.
FAQs
Does deleting an app on a Mac delete all its data?
No. Dragging an app to the Trash removes the app bundle only. Its settings, caches and support files stay in your Library folder until you delete them.
Does deleting an app cancel my subscription?
No. Subscriptions are tied to your Apple Account or the developer's account, not to the app on your Mac. Cancel them in App Store → your account → Account Settings → Subscriptions, or on the developer's website.
Will deleting an app delete the documents I made with it?
No. Files you saved in Documents, Desktop or iCloud Drive aren't touched when you uninstall the app that created them.
Why does an app reappear after I delete it?
Usually because it's managed by your organisation, because an installer or updater put it back, or because it's part of a suite that reinstalls missing pieces. Remove the suite's installer or updater first.
How do I uninstall an app that won't quit?
Force quit it with ⌥⌘Esc, check the menu bar for a helper icon and quit that too, then try again. If it still won't go, restart your Mac and delete it before opening anything else.
Related guides
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How to Clear System Data on a Mac
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