How do I delete an app in OSX?

Sorry for noob question! Thanks.

Just drag it to the trash and empty the trash.

Ok great. Now, will that leave any odds and ends that I have to go manually delete?

It might leave your personal settings for the app in your library folder. Easiest thing to do is type the application name into the spotlight search and see what comes back.

Incidentally, this topic is usually covered at least once a week. Make sure you use the search function to see if your problem has already been discussed

Some like to use AppZapper because you can find small lose ends. However, my brother (some what of an Apple expert) says that you will never notice these tiny files, nor will they affect your machines performance. But if it makes you feel better, by all means check out AppZapper.

It bothers me to have all the random files left over so I use AppZapper. :black:

You can use Secure Empty Trash too, when you are ready to empty the trash go to the Finder menu and select "Secure Empty Trash". It might take a little while to delete everything because it has to find all the little files that go with what you are deleting. It doesnt take forever, unless you are deleting a ton of stuff. So if it looks like its stuck, just give it time. Somebody please correct me if im wrong about this.

Just to clear something up; people often refer to the bits left over after removing an application as 'random files'. This is a throwback to the Windows method of installing/uninstalling that basically throws stuff all over your hard disk, including temp files, dlls, program files and data. Uninstallation might or might not catch these when removing the app.

With OS X, most applications are entirely contained within their 'app folder' (i.e. the icon you see in Applications or the disk image). Removing this removes the entire application. The only files left over are your personal preferences that are saved in the Library folder in your home directory, or in a special directory named with a preceding . for some X11 based applications. These are not randomly left over files, but specifically left over so that your preferences are saved should you decide to reinstall the application.

PunkRockTuba said:

You can use Secure Empty Trash too, when you are ready to empty the trash go to the Finder menu and select "Secure Empty Trash". It might take a little while to delete everything because it has to find all the little files that go with what you are deleting. It doesnt take forever, unless you are deleting a ton of stuff. So if it looks like its stuck, just give it time. Somebody please correct me if im wrong about this.

Click to expand...

This is not what is meant by "Secure Empty Trash". When you delete a file (put it in the trash and empty), it is actually still on your hard drive. The OS just removed the 'link' to where it was, the magnetic orientation is still there. As your drive adds new information, it will overwrite the area where your file was. However, given the right applications, you can recover files that have been deleted, but not yet overwritten.

"Secure Empty Trash" not only removes the 'link', but also overwrites the area on the disk where the file was stored with '0's.

Sometimes even files that have been overwritten can sometimes be recovered. If you open Disk Utility, you can click on your HD, and then the 'Erase' tab. Choose "Erase Free Space" and you can overwrite the free space with '0's, either 1, 7, or 35 times for ultimate security.


As to the OP, yes, it will normally leave prefs, etc, but they are very small, and you do not need to worry about them. If you are, try AppZapper, as suggested.