How to find your remaining 32bit apps

Rod


Joined
Jun 12, 2011
Messages
9,628
Reaction score
1,832
Points
113
Location
Melbourne, Australia and Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Your Mac's Specs
2021 M1 MacBook Pro 14" macOS 14.4.1, Mid 2010MacBook 13" iPhone 13 Pro max, iPad 6, Apple Watch SE.
And perhaps more importantly how to find how many of your apps are already 64bit.
I ran this check on my MBPr primarily to check if HandBrake was now 64bit because it now displays in Dark Mode. I was impressed to find it was.
How to Find All 32-Bit Apps on a Mac
 
OP
Rod

Rod


Joined
Jun 12, 2011
Messages
9,628
Reaction score
1,832
Points
113
Location
Melbourne, Australia and Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Your Mac's Specs
2021 M1 MacBook Pro 14" macOS 14.4.1, Mid 2010MacBook 13" iPhone 13 Pro max, iPad 6, Apple Watch SE.
Welcome. So easy to do. I only have 13 apps that are not 64bit which is refreshing news to me.
 
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Messages
2,014
Reaction score
184
Points
63
Location
Tyneside, UK
Your Mac's Specs
MBP Retina mid 2015 15.4" 16GB 2.5 GHz OS Monterey; iPhone 12 128gb; iPad Mini 5, 64gb
That doesn't work for me at all. This is what I get, whichever way I search. What am I doing wrong?

Screenshot 2019-04-26 at 13.32.50.png
 

Slydude

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
17,596
Reaction score
1,072
Points
113
Location
North Louisiana, USA
Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
It looks like the first item in the list got selected somehow. Try the same procedure but click in Applications in the list on the left again just to make sure that's what's selected.
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2019
Messages
461
Reaction score
4
Points
18
Hmm. I have well over 200; many show Apple as the developer. Quite a few of them are in the /Developer directory. (Not the /Applications directory.)

I'm not about to deal with all of these manually. I wonder if Apple (or someone else) will (or has) come up with a tool for this?
 
OP
Rod

Rod


Joined
Jun 12, 2011
Messages
9,628
Reaction score
1,832
Points
113
Location
Melbourne, Australia and Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Your Mac's Specs
2021 M1 MacBook Pro 14" macOS 14.4.1, Mid 2010MacBook 13" iPhone 13 Pro max, iPad 6, Apple Watch SE.
@Sue
I had exactly the same problem until I realised the window can be resized. Move it to the left and drag the right border out to its full width. The "details" panel at the bottom can also be resized by dragging it's top edge down, it is a little difficult to discern in dark mode, just hover your cursor over the point where it covers the list view till you see the up/down option but it will always show one app, initially the one at the top of the list.

Screen Shot 2019-04-27 at 08.03.05.jpg
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2019
Messages
461
Reaction score
4
Points
18
I got curious about this whole topic, so I searched around for ways to find 32 bit apps without having to use System Information. (Note that I am no expert when it comes to using the command line, mdfind or grep. If you spot errors, please let me know.)

If you want to see all the 32 bit apps on your machine and are comfortable with the terminal, you can use this:

Code:
mdfind "kMDItemExecutableArchitectures == '*i386*' && kMDItemExecutableArchitectures != '*x86*'"

That will list them all. Note that this command will find every executable file, some of which are buried in strange folders and don't show up in System Information.

The following just tells you how many there are in the Applications folder that end with ".app":

Code:
mdfind "kMDItemExecutableArchitectures == '*i386*' &&
  kMDItemExecutableArchitectures != '*x86*'" | grep ^/Applications | grep -c .app$

110 in my case.

The following creates a file with all 32 bit apps that are in the Applications folder. The file is called 32bit.txt and is in your Documents folder:

Code:
mdfind "kMDItemExecutableArchitectures == '*i386*' &&
  kMDItemExecutableArchitectures != '*x86*'" | grep ^/Applications | grep  .app$  > ~/Documents/32bit.txt

I've tested the above several times on my machine. But, I'm old and clumsy and error-prone, so use at your own risk.
 
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
15,452
Reaction score
3,808
Points
113
Location
Winchester, VA
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 16" 2023 (M3 Pro), iPhone 15 Pro, plus ATVs, AWatch, MacMinis (multiple)
Just a caution on using the System Information trick to find 32 bit applications. If you have a backup with history (that is, Time Machine or any of the cloners with hierarchical saving of old files) and if that backup drive is attached, then SI will find those older versions and report them, inflating the actual number of 32-bit applications you may have on the actual boot drive. To get an accurate report, unmount all externals (including any network drives) and then run SI and look at the results.
 
OP
Rod

Rod


Joined
Jun 12, 2011
Messages
9,628
Reaction score
1,832
Points
113
Location
Melbourne, Australia and Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Your Mac's Specs
2021 M1 MacBook Pro 14" macOS 14.4.1, Mid 2010MacBook 13" iPhone 13 Pro max, iPad 6, Apple Watch SE.
I would have assumed all the other editable file would be updated to 64bit at the point of upgrade to macOS 10.15.
And yes Jake, I made sure all my peripherals were disconnected.
For my purposes this was about checking to see which apps in my application folder had already been updated.
 
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
Messages
2,014
Reaction score
184
Points
63
Location
Tyneside, UK
Your Mac's Specs
MBP Retina mid 2015 15.4" 16GB 2.5 GHz OS Monterey; iPhone 12 128gb; iPad Mini 5, 64gb
Thanks Rod, that worked. Only three and I have no idea what they are so will just let them die.
 

krs


Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
3,555
Reaction score
610
Points
113
Location
Canada
Oh Boy..... looks like I'm going to be stuck on High Sierra for a while.

Is there any way for the Mac to count the 32-bit apps?
Or do I need to do that manually?

I either still use some apps like Acrobat 9.0 or MS Office 14 that work fine, but are 32-bit and would cost a pretty penny to upgrade to 64-bit, but there are a few I use regularly that don't have a 64-bit version with equal or better functionality that the 32-bit version.
Handbrake being one where the 64-bit version no longer converst to .avi files
Seashore is another where the developer changed the functionality and made it worse than the original version
Kies which I just downloaded on 14 April 2019 that I use to download images from a Samsung Cellphone to the Mac
Don't know what others - I must have a few hundred 32-bit ones
 
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
5,053
Reaction score
414
Points
83
Location
North Carolina
Your Mac's Specs
Air M2 ('22) OS 14.3; M3 iMac ('23) OS 14.3; iPad Pro; iPhone 14
Guys - I've been looking in SI for a while since recent macOS upgrades - on my MBPro, I have nearly a dozen listed as 32-bit apps (see pic below blue rectangle) - however, when I scroll down to the 64-bit list a number of these same apps are listed as updated - just put the Canon IJ Printer Utility & the iMovie apps as examples - not sure why these older versions are still listed on my computer - has anyone else found this an issue? Thanks - Dave :)

.
Screen Shot 2019-04-27 at 9.46.25 PM.png
 
OP
Rod

Rod


Joined
Jun 12, 2011
Messages
9,628
Reaction score
1,832
Points
113
Location
Melbourne, Australia and Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Your Mac's Specs
2021 M1 MacBook Pro 14" macOS 14.4.1, Mid 2010MacBook 13" iPhone 13 Pro max, iPad 6, Apple Watch SE.
Wow that's good news Sue. I was pleased at how few I had, given that many of them were games, not really an issue. As for the 64bit apps I was pleasantly surprised at how many have obviously upgraded to 64bit already.
 
OP
Rod

Rod


Joined
Jun 12, 2011
Messages
9,628
Reaction score
1,832
Points
113
Location
Melbourne, Australia and Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Your Mac's Specs
2021 M1 MacBook Pro 14" macOS 14.4.1, Mid 2010MacBook 13" iPhone 13 Pro max, iPad 6, Apple Watch SE.
Dave I would have thought that printer packages would be the last to upgrade if they bother at all. As for the duplicates they may be viewed as separate apps thus giving you two rather than the upgrade of one. That is, they were new versions and in my case some asked if I would like to remove the old version to the trash as part of the installation.
Either way if you are planning to upgrade you can probably remove the old 32bit versions or waiting see what happens at macOS upgrade. If you have a 64bit version already there not much to worry about.
 
Joined
Dec 24, 2018
Messages
44
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
MN
Your Mac's Specs
iMac Pro (2017)
Looks like I have no applications. What am I do wrong?

1.png
 
OP
Rod

Rod


Joined
Jun 12, 2011
Messages
9,628
Reaction score
1,832
Points
113
Location
Melbourne, Australia and Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
Your Mac's Specs
2021 M1 MacBook Pro 14" macOS 14.4.1, Mid 2010MacBook 13" iPhone 13 Pro max, iPad 6, Apple Watch SE.
You were a bit too quick. It takes a minute or so to load the list.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac-Forums
 
Joined
Dec 24, 2018
Messages
44
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
MN
Your Mac's Specs
iMac Pro (2017)
I let it sit for about 10 mintues before posting and nothing shows.
 

IWT


Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
10,218
Reaction score
2,175
Points
113
Location
Born Scotland. Worked all over UK. Live in Wales
Your Mac's Specs
M2 Max Studio Extra, 32GB memory, 4TB, Sonoma 14.4 Apple 5K Retina Studio Monitor
I had this problem to begin with.

Click on the options above and below "Applications" and let them populate.

Then go back to Applications & click on that.

If that fails, start over again from the beginning.

It's a nuisance, I know. I've seen this before.

Ian
 
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
5,053
Reaction score
414
Points
83
Location
North Carolina
Your Mac's Specs
Air M2 ('22) OS 14.3; M3 iMac ('23) OS 14.3; iPad Pro; iPhone 14
Dave I would have thought that printer packages would be the last to upgrade if they bother at all. As for the duplicates they may be viewed as separate apps thus giving you two rather than the upgrade of one. That is, they were new versions and in my case some asked if I would like to remove the old version to the trash as part of the installation.
Either way if you are planning to upgrade you can probably remove the old 32bit versions or waiting see what happens at macOS upgrade. If you have a 64bit version already there not much to worry about.

Thanks Rod - did a little deleting of 32-bit apps not needed and updated several more - the 'old' iMovie was in a folder in Applications, so is now gone (already had the 64-bit iMovie) - have only 6 in that list now, most seem unimportant (i.e. again I have the newer 64-bit version of the Canon printer utility and cannot locate that old version w/ a Spotlight search). Now need to look at my MBAir which likely looks similar relative to 32-bit apps. Thanks again. Dave :)
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top