Uninstallation?

[Taylor]

Uninstallation? [updated]

How, exactly, do I uninstall a program?

 

[dtravis7]

Basically go to the Applications folder, find the program you want uninstalled, drag the icon to the trash, and everything is gone. With some apps there might be a few small config files around but in most cases it's all gone. Very easy and one thing about OSX I love so much.

 

[Taylor]

Wow! That is cool!

 

[dtravis7]

I am sure you know this but just in case, be sure to empty the trash.

 

[Taylor]

Haha, yeah.

 

[daveh]

Sorry if this sounds dumb, but is that really all there is to it?

Made 'the switch' a couple of months ago, so still finding my way. Also still used to windows applications destroying my registry and changing a whole host of other stuff during install / uninstall.

If the are any other files left, where would be a good place to start looking?

Thanks, Dave.

 

[technologist]

Often, an app will leave some preference files in the Library folder of your user folder. (Usually in ~/Library/Application Support or ~/Library/Preferences)

These files just take up space (usually very little...a few KB) so it's usually not worth it to remove them, unless you're running out.

 

[fyulaba]

I installed the Photoshop CS2 Tryout a few days back. I've now got Adobe Studio CS2 from work which I tried to install. I told me that I had to remove the tryout of PS. So I grabbed anything that said Adobe on it in the Applications directory and Applications/Utilities and tried again. Same thing.

I didn't look into the directory mentioned above though. I'll try that and see what happens!

And I hadn't emptied the trash either!

 

[fyulaba]

There we go ... empty the trash and no problem!

THANKS!

Man I love this Mac!

 

[Taylor]

Sorry guys, more problems: Now, I have no problem uninstalling in general, but there is one program I am trying to uninstall and I move the files to the trash and try to empty the trash, but it says that it cannot delete it because the program is still running. Now, how exactly do I stop these programs before deleting them?

 

[claudius753]

Try logging out or rebooting, then log back in and empty the trash. If the program is still running, you can quit the process forcefully:

Go to Applications -> Utilities -> Activity Monitor

You can then type the name in the 'Filter' box, and 'Quit Process'. Just be sure it is the right process. Most likely it will be owned by you, under the "User" column it will say your username.