Making macOS Apps Uninstallable
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Making macOS Apps Uninstallable
1–10 of 208 posts
Re: Making macOS Apps Uninstallable
#2I recently had to uninstall some apps and it’s common for apps to litter files throughout /Library and ~/Library.
The UX from early MacOS days is you can drag/drop the App to the Trash Can to uninstall it.
Does MacOS actually clean up the misc. files applications leave at some point?
Re: Making macOS Apps Uninstallable
#3I recently had to uninstall some apps and it’s common for apps to litter files throughout /Library and ~/Library. The UX from early MacOS days is you can drag/drop the App to the Trash Can to uninstall it. Does MacOS actually clean up the misc. files applications leave at some point?
I never had macOS remove those files automatically when dragging the app to the trash. I still have files left from 4 MacBooks ago (for apps I haven’t installed in a long time) because I’m always migrating the home folder.
I guess they’re just expected to be left behind in case you change your mind and want to reinstall the app later. That way you’ll still continue where you left with the same settings.
They’re inert files and very small usually, comparative to our current SSD offerings.
Re: Making macOS Apps Uninstallable
#4I recently had to uninstall some apps and it’s common for apps to litter files throughout /Library and ~/Library. The UX from early MacOS days is you can drag/drop the App to the Trash Can to uninstall it. Does MacOS actually clean up the misc. files applications leave at some point?
Nope, still leaves them behind.
I’ve been using AppCleaner (https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/) for years now and it’s a real neat (and free) app that’ll do a pretty decent job of cleaning up crud.
Re: Making macOS Apps Uninstallable
#5I recently had to uninstall some apps and it’s common for apps to litter files throughout /Library and ~/Library. The UX from early MacOS days is you can drag/drop the App to the Trash Can to uninstall it. Does MacOS actually clean up the misc. files applications leave at some point?
I never had macOS remove those files automatically when dragging the app to the trash. I still have files left from 4 MacBooks ago (for apps I haven’t installed in a long time) because I’m always migrating the home folder. I guess they’re just expected to be left behind in case you change your mind and want to reinstall the app later. That way you’ll still continue where you left with the same settings. They’re inert…
> I guess they’re just expected to be left behind in case you change your mind and want to reinstall the app later. That way you’ll still continue where you left with the same settings.
And if apps are well behaved, only writing tiny config files in ~/Library/Preferences/ and the like, it’s not really a problem. The amount of space taken up in that situation was tiny even when OS X 10.0 was brand new and 10GB was a common HDD size.
On the other hand if the app pulls an Adobe and leaves tons of relatively heavy crap strewn about, yeah it should probably come with an uninstaller.
Re: Making macOS Apps Uninstallable
#6I recently had to uninstall some apps and it’s common for apps to litter files throughout /Library and ~/Library. The UX from early MacOS days is you can drag/drop the App to the Trash Can to uninstall it. Does MacOS actually clean up the misc. files applications leave at some point?
I never had macOS remove those files automatically when dragging the app to the trash. I still have files left from 4 MacBooks ago (for apps I haven’t installed in a long time) because I’m always migrating the home folder. I guess they’re just expected to be left behind in case you change your mind and want to reinstall the app later. That way you’ll still continue where you left with the same settings. They’re inert…
Is there any tool that can find those leftovers and remove then permanently?
Re: Making macOS Apps Uninstallable
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
I never had macOS remove those files automatically when dragging the app to the trash. I still have files left from 4 MacBooks ago (for apps I haven’t installed in a long time) because I’m always migrating the home folder. I guess they’re just expected to be left behind in case you change your mind and want to reinstall the app later. That way you’ll still continue where you left with the same settings. They’re inert…
Is there any tool that can find those leftovers and remove then permanently?
The free AppCleaner was mentioned by another reader earlier in the thread, and I've been happy with CleanMyMac X.
Re: Making macOS Apps Uninstallable
#8I recently had to uninstall some apps and it’s common for apps to litter files throughout /Library and ~/Library. The UX from early MacOS days is you can drag/drop the App to the Trash Can to uninstall it. Does MacOS actually clean up the misc. files applications leave at some point?
Nope, still leaves them behind. I’ve been using AppCleaner ( https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/ ) for years now and it’s a real neat (and free) app that’ll do a pretty decent job of cleaning up crud.
AppZapper isn't free, but it's much more thorough.
Re: Making macOS Apps Uninstallable
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
I never had macOS remove those files automatically when dragging the app to the trash. I still have files left from 4 MacBooks ago (for apps I haven’t installed in a long time) because I’m always migrating the home folder. I guess they’re just expected to be left behind in case you change your mind and want to reinstall the app later. That way you’ll still continue where you left with the same settings. They’re inert…
> I guess they’re just expected to be left behind in case you change your mind and want to reinstall the app later. That way you’ll still continue where you left with the same settings. And if apps are well behaved, only writing tiny config files in ~/Library/Preferences/ and the like, it’s not really a problem. The amount of space taken up in that situation was tiny even when OS X 10.0 was brand new and 10GB was a c…
> On the other hand if the app pulls an Adobe and leaves tons of relatively heavy crap strewn about, yeah it should probably come with an uninstaller.
Google is guilty of this sort of things as well. Well, it was anyway at some point. I somehow managed to get rid of everything, including their updater that re-installs itself regardless of what you do to remove it.
I wish we had more control over sandboxes so we could put some software in solitary confinement with no possibility to write anything anywhere without asking.
The new notifications when some software installs a background service is a step in the right direction.
Re: Making macOS Apps Uninstallable
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there any tool that can find those leftovers and remove then permanently?
The free AppCleaner was mentioned by another reader earlier in the thread, and I've been happy with CleanMyMac X.
AppCleaner is no good after you deleted an app by other means and it left crap on the hd tho… as far as I recall CleanMyMac was a paid closed course app?