I’m running out of disk space on my Mac and want to properly uninstall several apps without leaving leftover files or messing anything up. I’ve tried dragging apps to the trash, but I keep seeing them in other folders and I’m not sure what’s safe to delete. Can someone walk me through the correct way to fully remove apps on macOS and any tools or steps I should use?
Dragging to Trash removes the main app, but leaves support files. Here is a clean way to do it without messing stuff up.
- Use the app’s own uninstaller first
Many bigger apps install an uninstaller.
Check:
• /Applications
• /Applications/[App Name] Folder
• In the app menu: [App Name] → Uninstall or Help → Uninstall
If you find one, use it. That handles daemons, launch agents, etc.
- Manual uninstall for normal apps
For a simple .app you dragged in yourself:
A. Quit the app
• Right click the icon in Dock → Quit
• Then check Activity Monitor to be sure no process with the app name is running.
B. Remove the app file
• Go to /Applications
• Move the app to Trash
• Empty Trash after you finish all steps, so you can undo if you delete wrong stuff.
C. Remove support files
Open Finder, then in menu: Go → Go to Folder. Use these paths one by one.
Look for folders or files with the app or vendor name.
Common locations:
- User Library
Type: ~/Library
Then check inside:
• ~/Library/Application Support/
Example: “Google” or “Slack” or “Adobe” folders.
• ~/Library/Preferences/
Files like com.appname.plist
Delete only ones you know are for that app.
• ~/Library/Caches/
Again, app or vendor name.
• ~/Library/Containers/
For Mac App Store apps and sandboxed apps.
• ~/Library/Logs/
Optional, but good for cleanup.
• ~/Library/Saved Application State/
Files like com.appname.savedState
- System Library for some apps
Type: /Library
Check:
• /Library/Application Support/
• /Library/LaunchAgents/
• /Library/LaunchDaemons/
• /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/
Only remove files where the name clearly matches the app. If you are not sure, leave it. Deleting random stuff here can break things.
-
Check login items and extensions
Go to:
• System Settings → General → Login Items. Remove leftover helpers for apps you removed.
• System Settings → Privacy & Security → Extensions or similar section depending on your macOS version. Disable or remove entries tied to deleted apps. -
Use a trusted uninstaller tool
If you prefer easier:
Popular options people use a lot:
• AppCleaner (free, from freemacsoft net)
Drag an app into it, it finds related files. Review the list before deleting.
• CleanMyMac and similar tools exist, but they are heavier and not free.
AppCleaner is usually enough. I use it for almost everything.
- Find large forgotten stuff
To see where your disk space goes:
• Apple menu → About This Mac → Storage → Manage
or on newer macOS:
• System Settings → General → Storage
Check:
• Applications
• Documents → Large Files
• iOS Files
• Developer, if you installed Xcode
Delete old Xcode, simulators, old iOS backups etc if they are not needed. These take tens of GB.
-
Safe workflow so you do not break anything
• Before deleting from /Library or ~/Library, move items to a temporary folder on Desktop instead of Trash.
• Use the Mac for a day. If nothing breaks, delete that temp folder.
• If something misbehaves, move the files back. -
Bonus quick wins for space
• Empty Trash
• Clear Downloads folder
• Remove old DMG installers in Downloads
• Optimize Photos: Photos app → Settings → iCloud → Optimize Mac Storage
• Remove old Time Machine local snapshots using tmutil or let macOS manage them by keeping some free space.
If you name a few of the big apps you want to remove, people here can point you to the exact folders and files to nuke more safely.
If dragging to Trash is “level 1 uninstall,” what @hoshikuzu described is “level 2.” Let me add a kind of “level 3” sanity‑saving approach so you don’t spend all day spelunking in ~/Library.
First small disagreement with them: I wouldn’t start by hunting through /Library folders manually unless you really have to. It’s easy to delete the wrong thing and the space savings are often tiny compared to going after the big hogs first.
Here’s how I’d tackle it in practice:
-
Find the real space hogs first
Instead of uninstalling random stuff:- Apple menu → System Settings → General → Storage
- Look at:
- Applications: Sort by size. Target anything >1 GB first.
- Developer: If you see Xcode here and you’re not actively using it, that one app + simulators can be 30–80 GB.
- iOS Files / iOS backups: Old device backups are sneaky huge.
- Documents → Large Files: Sometimes it’s not apps at all, but random huge files.
Sometimes just nuking 2 or 3 big things here saves more space than “perfectly” uninstalling 20 small apps.
-
Use AppCleaner smartly instead of only manually
@hoshikuzu already mentioned AppCleaner, but here’s the twist:- Drag the app from /Applications into AppCleaner.
- Let it find the related files.
- Uncheck anything you’re not sure about instead of blindly trusting it.
- Then delete.
This lets you avoid manually opening ~/Library, /Library, etc every time. You still review what’s going out, so you’re not just praying an automated tool doesn’t kill something important.
-
Special case apps that must be uninstalled their own way
These are the ones where “just delete the app” is a bad idea:- Antivirus, VPNs, kernel extension stuff
- Drivers, tablet software (Wacom, etc)
- Adobe Creative Cloud, security suites, sync tools
For these, I actually disagree with the “look around for the uninstaller” only. I’d:
- Google:
'[App Name] uninstall mac'and use the official doc. - A lot of them ship a dedicated uninstaller in /Applications/[Vendor]/ or via a menu option.
- If they provide a script or official tool, use that first, then optionally run AppCleaner after to catch the tiny leftovers.
-
When manual cleanup is worth it
If an app was huge (say, 5–10 GB) and you removed it but didn’t get much space back, then it’s worth digging:Focus on locations that tend to grow big:
~/Library/Application Support/- Look for folders with the exact app/vendor name. Game launchers, music/video apps, and editors can leave multi‑GB caches here.
~/Library/Caches/~/Library/Containers/for App Store apps
Instead of deleting instantly:
- Create a folder on Desktop like “_maybe-trash”
- Move the suspected folders there.
- Use the Mac for a day. If nothing complains, then delete that folder.
That safety step costs you nothing and keeps you from nuking something critical.
-
Be careful with system‑level stuff
I’m a bit more paranoid than @hoshikuzu here:/Library/LaunchAgents/Library/LaunchDaemons/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools
I’d only touch these if:
- The file name clearly includes the app name, and
- You know that app is gone, and
- You’ve already removed it via its official uninstaller if it has one.
Randomly “cleaning” here can cause weird startup behavior or background services failing silently. It usually doesn’t free huge amounts of space anyway.
-
Some “fake uninstall” cases to watch out for
A few examples where people think they uninstalled but didn’t really clear the heavy stuff:- Steam / game launchers: Removing the app does not remove game data. Check:
~/Library/Application Support/Steam~/Library/Application Support/[Other launcher]
- Creative apps: Video editors, sample libraries, etc might store assets in:
~/Movies~/Music~/Library/Application Support/[Vendor]
- Xcode: Even after uninstalling, old simulators & device support files live in:
~/Library/Developer- You can also run:
sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineToolsif you truly don’t need CLT, but only if you know what you’re doing.
- Steam / game launchers: Removing the app does not remove game data. Check:
-
Quick “don’t forget” wins that aren’t app uninstalls
People obsess over deleting apps and miss the easy stuff:- Empty Trash (obvious but often forgotten).
- Clean
~/Downloadsof big DMGs and zip files. - Check the Photos app settings for “Optimize Mac Storage” if you use iCloud Photos.
- If you use Messages heavily, attachments can be huge:
- Messages → Settings → Storage to review.
If you list 2 or 3 of the biggest apps you’re trying to remove (from the Storage view, with sizes), you’ll probably get more targeted hints than just “hunt around Library forever.”