1. How To Remove Mac Launchpad Blank Apps Mac
2. Delete Apps From Mac Launchpad

Quick question – how do you uninstall programs on Mac?

If your answer is to drag the app to the Trash, we’re sorry to say that you’ve been doing it wrong.

Apple App Store version. Open the Launchpad. Find the Surfshark application and drag its icon to the Trash bin. A small pop up will appear like in the screenshot below, just click Delete and you will remove the application. To start, open the Finder app on your macOS and go to the Applications section.

You probably know or guess that you can remove apps by dragging them to the Trash bin, but it is not quite so. Dragging normal files like documents and movies to the Trash works fine. But doing the same for apps leaves gigabytes of leftover junk files on your hard drive. We’re going to show you what gets left behind and what you can do to completely uninstall apps from here on out.

How to uninstall on Mac

Also Check: 15 Best Password Manager for Mac – Most Secured. Method 1: Uninstall Apps using Launchpad. If you don’t know let me tell you that you can delete any app on Mac by using Launchpad. Launchpad shows all the apps which are there on your iOS. Follow the given steps and uninstall the app using launchpad. Uninstall Mac programs with Launchpad. How to uninstall on Mac by using the Launchpad? It's easy and this manual method works like this: Click Launchpad icon in your Mac's Dock. Find the app you want to delete. Click and hold the app until it starts shaking. Click X in the top-left corner of the app icon.

If you are trying to delete an old application, reinstall a corrupted software or just free up disk space on your Mac, removing all components of the program is important. These include the app, its preferences and support files, and sometimes other hidden files.

To completely uninstall a program on Mac you have to choose one of three options:

• Using Trash.
• Using Launchpad.
• Using a native uninstaller

The ways mentioned above include navigating your Mac’s in search of the apps you want to remove and then locating their remaining data. The latter can take even more place than the app itself and can be stored anywhere in your folders.

I prefer clearing my Mac from apps using special software made for this particular task - CleanMyMac X. It’s Uninstaller feature, is an app-killer that sweeps away any program you don’t want on your Mac and clears remaining junk.

Now let’s go ahead and delete some apps!

1. Uninstall Mac apps using Trash

Whether you're running macOS Catalina or an earlier macOS, like Mojave or Sierra, the process of manually uninstalling remains relatively similar. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Open Finder.
2. Go to Applications.
3. Choose the app you want to delete.
4. Press Command + Delete (⌘⌫).
5. Open Trash.
6. Click the Empty button in the upper-right corner of the window.

And the app is gone.

Even uninstalling apps on macOS Catalina requires getting rid of leftovers, despite the fact that it's the latest and the most sophisticated system for Mac. Apple has done such a good job on macOS 10.15 but left this unfortunate issue unresolved for another year.

To completely remove programs from Mac manually, you have to find all the associated files that come along with the app. That means not just dragging the app icon to the Trash from your Applications folder, but searching the depths of the system files on your Mac.

We’re going to reveal the locations of the most common files that are associated with apps. To remove the app leftovers from your Mac just navigate to each of these folders and hunt for the app you want to remove. If you find files with the app name you can send them to the Trash.

So, when uninstalling any software, you have to go over each of these folders one by one and remove the following:

• Binary and dock icons are located in /Applications/
• Application support files are located in ~/Library/Application Support
• Support Caches can be found in /Library/Caches/ and
  ~/Library/Caches
  
• Plugins are located in ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/
• Library can be found in ~/Library/
• App preferences are located in ~/Library/Preferences/
• Crashes are found in
  ~/Library/Application Support/CrashReporter/
  
• App saved states are located in
  ~/Library/Saved Application State/
  

There are many more hidden files, some of which cannot be accessed by the user. And macOS/OS X will prevent you from deleting some app files.

As you can see, it's not that easy to uninstall applications Mac doesn't need, even when you know what to do. By the way, be sure to look for the name of the app in the file names of the files you remove. Don’t remove anything you don’t know! Do your due diligence before removing something from your system.

When you delete software on Mac manually, be sure only to remove an app file or folder when you’re sure of what it is. Look at the name very carefully before you nuke it. Removing the wrong files could cause problems with your system.

Remember, please be careful when deleting system files — you never know how it will affect your Mac if you remove the wrong ones (or the right ones for that matter!).

2. Uninstall Mac programs with Launchpad

How to uninstall on Mac by using the Launchpad? It's easy and this manual method works like this:

1. Click Launchpad icon in your Mac's Dock.
2. Find the app you want to delete.
3. Click and hold the app until it starts shaking.
4. Click X in the top-left corner of the app icon.
5. Click Delete.

This will uninstall the app from your Mac. However, keep in mind that after removing the program, you should also delete its leftovers as we've described above.

Can't delete apps on Mac?

Unfortunately, manual methods won’t get everything. Some apps are pre-installed macOS components and protected by the system while others will refuse to delete because they are already open (even though that’s often not true).

So, how to delete the apps on Mac that won't delete? You can try the manual removal after force quitting the app in question (press Command-Option-Esc and if the app is on the list shut it down) or rebooting your Mac.

If you're still unable to delete apps on Mac or if you’re worried you won't do it correctly and want a safer alternative, there’s the easy method of uninstalling apps from your Mac so you don't have to force delete applications. It actually does a better (and safer) job and in a fraction of the time. Read on to learn how to delete apps on Mac automatically.

3. Uninstall apps with CleanMyMac X

When I referred to the easy method of uninstalling apps, I meant using CleanMyMac X. As for me, deleting apps is a pretty tiresome task. I’ve always put away this chore, as it will waste a huge amount of my time. But, my Mac was running low on free storage, so I decided to try CleanMyMac X to fix this problem and uninstall programs on Mac with ease. I used the Uninstaller module to get rid of multiple apps at once. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Download CleanMyMac X, install, and launch it (it takes less than a minute).
2. Go to Uninstaller.
3. Choose All Applications.
4. Check the boxes next to the app you want to remove.
5. Press Uninstall.

As you can see, CleanMyMac X shows precisely how much place each app takes, so it’s easier to detect the heaviest programs. Another benefit is that you can bulk uninstall programs on Mac without dragging each app and its files to the Trash.

Is it possible to delete system files on Mac?

CleanMyMac X doesn’t let you delete system apps like Safari. Neither of Mac cleaners can do that. But, CleanMyMac X allows you to delete the data associated with system apps and reset them completely. Click CleanMyMac X’s menu in the upper-left corner and choose Preferences. Go to Ignore List and click Uninstaller. Here uncheck the box next to “Ignore system applications.”

Now, you can close Preferences and go back to Uninstaller. Click ► next to the app's icon to show its files. Then check the data you want to delete and choose Reset from the drop-down list next to the app’s icon. Then press Remove.

It will help to clear some space on your Mac. Note that your app logs may also disappear after the reset.

4. Use the native uninstaller

Many applications are designed to clean after themselves. They come with a built-in uninstaller — a self-destroying utility bundled with the main app. This is mostly true for third-party apps that you download from the internet. That’s why native uninstallers remain more of a Windows thing, not much heard of in the Mac world.
The original uninstallers can be found in Finder > Applications. If your app looks like a folder (within the Applications folder) most likely it will have a separate uninstaller. The name will read [Your app] Uninstaller or Uninstall [Your App].

Open the folder, find the launcher, and just follow the onscreen instructions. After the removal is complete, you can enjoy your extra storage space!

Clear app leftovers: preferences files and caches

No sane developer wants people to delete their application. As your desperate ex, they would do everything to stay on your Mac, like planting pieces of their software around your Mac so one day they can return. Support files, preference files, and caches — all these will likely remain even if you’ve deleted the app itself.
Here I’ll show you how to root out these remaining traces. I’ll use the Telegram app as an example.

Delete application support files

Click on Finder > Go to Folder… (in the upper menu).
Paste in: ~/Library/Application Support/Your App Name

In my case it's: ~/Library/Application Support/Telegram

Now, delete the content of this folder.

Delete application Preferences

The Preferences folder contains your user settings. These files are tiny but there’s no reason not to delete them, just out of principle.
Click on Finder > Go to Folder…
Paste in: ~/Library/Preferences/

Open the folder. Now type the name of your app in the search bar. Click to search 'Preferences.” Delete the found items.

Delete the caches

In the same vein, you’ll have to delete the remaining app caches.
This time, use the following command to paste in Finder > Go to Folder...
Paste this: ~/Library/Caches/Your App Name

Note: In some cases, you need to search for the app developer's name, rather than the name of the app.

Delete leftovers with CleanMyMac X

If you’ve been doing a 'spring cleaning' in your Applications folder, chances are some files are still left somewhere in your Mac’s system. CleanMyMac X detects and collects them into the Leftovers tab.

Go to Uninstaller once again and select Leftovers. Select all the remaining files and press Uninstall to say goodbye to the app remains.

Now you are just as good at uninstalling applications on Mac as any Apple engineer. Hopefully, you now have plenty of free space. Don't miss a few related articles below.

These might also interest you:

Q: App won't delete from Launchpad, how to fix?

'I have an app that I can't delete. It is a program purchased from the App Store. Even though I have deleted the software from my Applications file, the app won't delete from Launchpad. And dragging to the trash does not work either. Do you guys have this problem?'

Too many applications installed on your Mac can make it slowly to find out what you need, and most importantly, they can eat up limited storage space. When you want to remove futile programs on your Mac, you can delete them from Launchpad or Finder. However, some stubborn Mac software, like that comes with the operating system, can be tricky to remove. Here's how to uninstall Mac apps that will help to make space on Mac and improve its performance.

There are many other hot topics related to apps, one of which is 'The application is not open anymore'.

How to Delete Apps from Launchpad or Finder on Mac

Uninstalling unused Mac applications is one of the ways that frequently used by users to deal with low disk space issues and speed up Mac computer. And it can be done from the Finder or Launchpad.

To Uninstall Programs from the Finder:

Open Finder, go to the 'Applications' folder, drag the selected program you want to uninstall to the 'Trash' folder, finally open 'Trash' folder and select 'Empty' option.

To Uninstall Programs from Launchpad:

Open Launchpad, hold down an app's icon until they start to jiggle, click on the delete button x. Some apps don't show an X button using this way. If you need to remove this kind of software, skip to solution to app won't delete from Launchpad.

Mac Can't Delete App Because It's Open

When you delete an app in Finder, one possible scenario is that there is a message on the screen reading 'The item 'app name' can't be moved to the trash because it's open.' This occurs because the app is still processing in the background, and you haven't closed it thoroughly. Follow the steps to shut it down properly and get it removed for good.

1. Open the Finder and select 'Applications' from the Favorites list.

2. Click on 'Utilities' > 'Activity Monitor'.

3. Find the app you want to delete. You can type search the app in the search bar.

4. Select the app. Click on the X in the upper left corner of the window. Click 'Quit' to end the process. After this, you can uninstall the app on your Mac in the Finder.

How to Delete Apps on Mac That Won't Delete

If you need to uninstall software built-into the system, the above two ways won't be useful. When you are trying to delete Safari, Mail, Face Time, or other default apps with Finder, you'll get a message saying: 'Safari.app can't be modified or deleted because it's required by Mac OS X.' Then, can you force delete an app on Mac? How to delete an app on Mac that won't delete? Two practical methods are introduced below, the first is automatic and simple with a Mac maintenance utility, and the second is more complex.

Uninstall App Won't Delete from Launchpad Easily

If you are proficient in technology, using Terminal might help you to delete system-embedded applications. But for most ordinary users, we highly recommend you try a simpler way to delete default apps by using EaseUS Mac CleanGenius. This program enables you to remove any app with its corresponding files and preferences in one-click without destroying your system. It also provides ultimate Mac cleaning features, such as cleaning junk files, deleting duplicate files from the computer like music, documents, pictures, videos, etc.

Note: EaseUS Mac CleanGenius is compatible with Mac OS X 10.12, 10.11, 10.10, 10.9. If your computer is running macOS 10.13 and later, you can resort to the next manual way.

Step 1. Launch EaseUS CleanGenius and click on Uninstall under Tool;

Step 2. Find and select applications or programs that you want to remove and click on Uninstall;
Selected application, software or program will be removed in seconds.

How to Force Delete an App on Mac Using Terminal

Warning: This will result in the permanent deletion of an app with no undo option. If you need the app again, you have to reinstall macOS. If not necessary, this is not recommended. If you must do, perform a backup in advance and proceed at your own risk.

1. Launch the Terminal, located in /Applications/Utilities/

2. Type the command: cd /Applications/. This will change to the Applications directory. Then, you can start deleting apps.

3. Type the following commands to delete different apps.

How To Remove Mac Launchpad Blank Apps Mac

To delete Safari, type sudo rm -rf Safari.app/

To delete Mail, type sudo rm -rf Mail.app/

To delete FaceTime, type sudo rm -rf FaceTime.app/

Delete Apps From Mac Launchpad

To delete QuickTime Player, type sudo rm -rf QuickTime Player.app/

Similarly, you can enter different software names to delete the corresponding programs.