How To Completely Delete An App On Mac

You can uninstall apps from your Mac by moving them to the Trash.
If you downloaded the app from the App Store, you can also uninstall it through Launchpad.
Uninstalling an app should delete most of its data, but some data may be left behind on your Mac.
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If you're like most people, apps take up more space on your Mac than any other kind of file. And in many cases, the biggest apps are ones that you barely use.

Luckily, it's easy to uninstall apps on a Mac. You can get rid of them like any other file: Just throw them in the trash.

Here's how to uninstall apps from your Mac.

How to uninstall apps on a Mac

Using Finder

1. Find the app you want to uninstall, either on your Desktop or in a Finder window. If the app is on your Dock but you can't find it anywhere else, right-click it in the Dock and then select Options and Show in Finder.

2. Once you find the app icon, you have two options. You can:

Right-click the icon and select Move to Trash
Click and drag the app icon to the Trash app

You can right-click on any app or file to delete it.

In either case, the app icon will disappear from your Finder or Desktop, along with all or most of its data. If the app icon is still in your Dock, just click it and it should give an error message and then disappear.

And to fully delete all the data, open Trash and click Empty in the top-right corner.

Click "Empty" to fully delete everything in the Trash folder.

Using Launchpad

If you downloaded the app you're uninstalling from the Mac App Store, you can also uninstall it through the Launchpad.

1. Open Launchpad and scroll to find the app you want to uninstall.

2. Click and hold your mouse on the app until all the apps start to shake.

3. If the app was downloaded from the App Store, it should have an X icon in the top-right corner. Click that X, and then click Delete.

Click the X and then confirm you want to delete the app.

The app icon — and its data — will disappear.

Olivia Young contributed to a previous version of this article.

William Antonelli

Editor & Staff Writer for Tech Reference

William Antonelli is a writer and editor based in New York City. As Editor of Insider's Tech Reference vertical and a founding member of the Reference team, he's helped grow Tech Reference from humble beginnings into a juggernaut that attracts over 20 million visits a month. You can find him on Twitter @DubsRewatcher, or reach him by email at wantonelli@insider.com.