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Uninstalling Applications

Many of us have Applications on our Macs that we haven't use for a long time and want to get rid of them. Some people just drag the Application to the trash, but the program is not actually removed.

Ways of Uninstalling Applications

There are a many different ways of removing Applications from your hard drive. You can use a program or do it manually.

Manually Uninstalling Applications

I would not suggest this method of uninstalling a application.

1. Locate all the program files relating to the application 2. Delete them all 3. Empty your trash

Uninstalling Applications using AppZapper

AppZapper was created by Austin Sarner and Brian Bell. It costs $13 to buy.

1. Open AppZapper 2. Drag and Drop the Application in the main window 3. Uncheck all the files that you don't want deleted 4. Click Zap 5. Empty your trash

Uninstalling Applications using CleanApp

CleanApp was created by Synium Software. It is a free download.

1. Open CleanApp 2. Drag and Drop the Application in the main window 3. Click Delete Files 4. Click Move to Trash 5. Empty you Trash

Go Which App is For You?

I prefer AppZapper because of the easy of use and the great interface. CleanApp is great if you want to remove programs for free. The manual way basicly stinks, because you can not always find all the files, and it takes a long time.

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Mårten Björk, author

About the Author

I'm a dedicated Mac-User who loves to lend a hand when-ever possible.

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Skalman & Macmonstret: I couldn't agree more!

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4 comments on this article

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macforbeginners2007-02-06

Good job! However, why not unistall and applicatio by dragging it to the trash? I actually think this is a good method since most applications leaves very little behind..


Skalman2007-02-07

Would also suggest people to read the read me text file first as some apps still have uninstallers in them. Or start the installer file to see if a button called "Uninstall" appears.


macmonstret2007-02-10

The files remaining from applications you've moved to the trash is just small .plist files that are so small (some kilobytes) that they don't matter.


macforbeginners2007-02-11 

Skalman & Macmonstret: I couldn't agree more!


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