There often comes a time when you just don’t need to keep an app around. It may be old and unsupported – or maybe you just don’t use it anymore and don’t have a need to keep it around. If that sounds like you, we’ll show you exactly how to uninstall apps on Mac.

1. How To Uninstall Apps On Mac
2. Mac Pro Delete An App
3. Remove App Update On Mac
4. Force Delete App Mac
5. Delete App Update Mac High Sierra

If there are app updates available, you will see a notification bar once you enter the Manager. Simply click on the Update all button to have all your apps updated automatically. Wait for the updates to finish before you quit the Manager. How To Delete Apps On Mac Easily. Good news is that most apps are located in your Mac’s Applications folder and are super easy to delete: Open the Applications folder by navigating to your menu bar and then selecting Go Applications or using a shortcut ⌘ + Shift + A.

Uninstall Mac Applications

Get the best uninstallers to delete any application on your Mac.

With macOS Catalina and later, there are plenty of great reasons to delete apps. If an app is 32-bit, it has to go. Apple made the decision to discontinue support for 32-bit binaries with macOS Catalina, and many app developers didn’t retrofit their apps to be 64-bit as Apple requested. Old 32-bit apps no longer work on macOS.

Some apps may just be unnecessary. If you have apps for managing photos or your music library, you may find the new Photos app that comes with macOS or the new Music app do a great job, so the old software you’d been using is redundant. It’s gotta go!

Whatever the case, there are quick and easy ways to delete apps from your Mac. We’ll walk you through it!

One thing to know is deleting an app isn’t the same as uninstalling it. There are two ways to delete apps, though: Finder, and Launchpad.

How to delete apps on Mac using Launchpad

In Launchpad, you can pressing and holding the app's icon to bring up the wiggly app management feature. Like iOS, app icons start to shake in-place, which allows you to move them around. Third-party apps also have a small ‘x’ icon on the top right of the icon in this mode, which allows you to delete them.

Another way to delete apps is from Finder. There, you simply select the app, then right-click and select ‘delete.’ In either Finder or Launchpad, you can drag app icons to the trash bin to delete the apps.

(If you’re on an older version of macOS – or OS X, for the much older versions – and managing apps via iTunes, the process is similar. Select the app, right-click, and select ‘Move to Trash.’)

Remove apps with the Finder

Remember when we told you deleting and uninstalling weren’t the same? Deleting is the first step in the process; Apple wants you to do more work!

The completely uninstall an app, follow the instructions for deleting an app above. Then head to your library folder from Finder:

• Open Finder
• Select ‘Go’ from menu
• Hold down ‘option’ key on keyboard; you should see a new option for ‘Library’
• While holding down the option key, select ‘Library’

A word of caution before you proceed: DO NOT delete files if you’re not sure what they do. Apple hides the Library for a reason: most people shouldn’t go poking through it and deleting files haphazardly. If you don’t know what a file or folder is for, leave it alone.

Library houses files and folders apps need to operate. Sometimes these files or folders are for updating an app, or managing a Safari extension. Again, Library isn’t a toy. Tread lightly!

When you find a file or folder you know doesn’t belong – and is associated with the app you deleted – you can also delete the file by right-clicking and selecting ‘Move to Trash,’ or dragging it to the trash bin.

Deleting these files completes the deletion of an app. It’s possible those files were doing things necessary for the app that you no longer want, like calling a server or tracking keystrokes. Without the app, those types of features are just spyware.

When you’re done deleting apps and associated files, go ahead and empty your trash bin.

If you’re thinking ‘wow, that all seems sort of scary,’ you’re not wrong. Even seasoned pros get nervous when digging into a computer’s Library file system. There is a better way to uninstall programs from Mac, though!

Uninstall Mac apps and delete left behind files

If the idea of deleting apps and digging into secret libraries on your Mac to remove associated files is daunting, we have a better solution.

CleanMyMacX is a best Mac utility that helps manage your apps and files, in addition to a ton of other features. For now, we’ll focus on app management.

In the CleanMyMacX menu is an ‘Applications’ section on the left pane. It has three options: Uninstaller, Updater, and Extensions. Updater lets you manage updates for apps you want to keep, and saves you the trouble of digging through the App Store just to update an app.

Extensions helps you manage Safari browser extensions, Spotlight plugins, Internet Plugins, and Preference Panes. It’s the simplest and most straightforward way to manage the add-ons some apps demand, which aren’t always caught when deleting or uninstalling an app. When you find an extension you don’t want, just select it and click the ‘Remove’ button at the bottom of the window.

To uninstall apps on Mac, go to the ‘Uninstaller’ option with CleanMyMacX. Here you’ll see apps in a variety of categories. There’s the ‘all’ category for – you guessed it – all of the apps on your Mac. There’s also a section named ‘unused,’ which shows you which apps you’re not really using often.

The ‘Leftovers’ section makes Apple’s ‘Library’ look silly. In CleanMyMacX, Leftovers automatically finds the files associates with apps you no longer have. Hovering over the file in a list brings up the ‘Show’ option, which gives you precise info on exactly what app the file is associated with. No more fumbling through Library and guessing!

How To Uninstall Apps On Mac

There’s also a section for 32-bit apps (remember, we talked about that!) which shows every app that’s no longer supported for macOS. If you really enjoy the app, we suggest reaching out to the developer to see if they will be making it a 64-bit app. If not, go ahead and delete it; it just won’t work on your Mac.

When you’re ready to uninstall programs from your Mac, select the app in any menu you see it in and click ‘Uninstall’ at the bottom of the screen. It’s that easy!

Conclusion

The main goal when uninstalling an app from macOS is to get rid of it completely: files, folders, the app – everything. We’ll also note that if you plan on never using the app or service again, it’s best to request the app developer remove your profile entirely. The method for this varies, but the app or service’s website should have the answer you need.

It takes a long time to delete an app the Apple way, and it’s just not worth it. Digging through the Library is scary stuff, and one wrong move can have a ripple effect on your entire system. No thanks!

We prefer CleanMyMacX, which takes care of the heavy lifting of deleting an app, then removing associated files to completely uninstall it. With a few clicks, you completely rid yourself of an app you don’t want.

For mobile users, there’s also AnyTrans, available for iOS and Android. AnyTrans is a macOS app that lets you manage backups, apps on your device, and account or cloud content in a much cleaner interface than Apple or Google provide. It’s easy to use, and available for both Android and iOS.

Best of all, AnyTrans as well as CleanMyMacX are available free as part of a seven day trial of Setapp. In addition to these apps, you get access to dozens of other handy macOS apps!

Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.

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If there’s one thing in the technology world that never changes, it’s that everything changes. My shiny new device gets covered in greasy fingerprints, my charging cable frays, and my pristine new headphones tangle into an impossible white knot.

I’ve noticed that a similar thing happens inside my computer, too. What started out as a great app starts to run slow, or starts asking me for my password every time I try to open it, or stops responding and gives me the candy-colored pinwheel treatment.

And that’s just the stuff I can see. The older apps get, the more vulnerable they are to security issues and the more likely they are to be incompatible with newer software. Really, it’s a hassle I don’t need.

The key to avoiding frustration and lost productivity for me has been to keep my applications as up-to-date as possible. Sometimes, though, this is easier said than done. Out of the box, my Mac doesn’t have a great way to update apps from third-party developers. And it’s not like I can do my job with just standard apps in the Dock.

Some of these updates are more straightforward than others, which is why a one-stop tool like CleanMyMac X has been a lifesaver for me. Below, I’ll walk you through how to update different kinds of apps on your Mac, and recommend some easy fixes to frustrating problems.

How to update apps on Macbook

The most straightforward way to update apps on your Mac is to use the Mac App Store. This feature collects updates to any app you’ve downloaded, as well as your Mac OS operating system.

When you open the update tab, you’ll always see the most recent available versions of your applications, so there’s no need to compare. Plus, the App Store’s updater makes it a snap to download and install all the updates you need at once.

Here’s how:

1. Click the Apple logo in the top left corner of the screen.
2. Select “App Store” from the drop-down menu (If you have updates waiting, that menu will show you how many).
3. You can also open the App Store from the Dock and click the Updates tab to see which of your applications are out of date.
4. Click the Update button beside each app to start downloading and installing the update, or hit Update All to do them all at once.

You can have the App Store remind you when it’s time to update your OS. In System Preferences, click Software Update and check the box that says “Automatically Keep My Mac Up To Date.” The app will prompt you with a pop-up alert the next time there’s an update ready to install.

Mac AppStore not updating applications? Here’s what to do

Unfortunately, the App Store method only works for software distributed by Apple and other developers through that store. That means that if you want to update any application that you downloaded from another source, you’ll need to find another method.

Some popular third-party apps like Spotify have their own update prompts that appear when new versions are available. Some even have background installers that can auto-update, leaving you one less thing to worry about.

Here’s an example of how to update a third-party app popular with Mac users, Google Chrome:

1. Click the Chrome drop-down menu in the top left corner.
2. Select “About Google Chrome”.
3. Chrome will scan for new versions and let you know if you’re running the most up to date version.
4. If your version is out of date, click the update button.

Some smaller third party applications might not have a built-in update check. You’ll have to visit the developer’s website periodically to check for new versions. Or, you can install an RSS tracker to monitor the developer’s website for updates, which should make the whole process easier.

Updates don’t always make your life easier. For example, the new Mac operating system Catalina no longer supports 32-bit applications. Many Mac users are finding that older apps don’t work after they install the new OS. If you’re worried about having to choose between apps you rely on and a new OS, it’s better to go without the update for now.

How to update apps on Macbook with CleanMyMac X

Mac Pro Delete An App

If all of the above sounds like a bit of a hassle, you’re right (I’ve tried it). Trying to keep everything up to date ended up sapping my productivity. That’s when I decided to try CleanMyMac X. I was already using this powerful tool to cleaning junk off my hard drive and protecting my Mac from malware, but I decided to give the Updater tool a try.

Right off the bat, Updater felt different. It had the same smooth Mac-style interface as the app store, but it showed updates for all the apps I had installed. It also imported developer notes and preview screenshots from the App Store and from other sources so I could see exactly what was going to change.

Remove App Update On Mac

Having it all in one convenient place saved me a lot of time–I can see myself adding an update check to my normal work routine easily.

Force Delete App Mac

Here’s how it works:

1. Open CleanMyMac X — download a free version here.
2. Select the Updater feature from the left-hand panel.
3. Check the boxes next to the apps you want to update, or click “Select All.”
4. Click the large “Update” button.

That’s all it takes! I already rely on CleanMyMac X to handle other tasks, and now I can add app updates to the list.

Delete App Update Mac High Sierra

Recent changes to the Mac operating system mean that software not distributed through the App Store must pass Apple’s notarization process before it will run on macOS Catalina. CleanMyMac X is already notarized by Apple and will work with Catalina, so it’s a great tool for getting your other apps up to date.