Uninstalling applications in Mac OS X
Previously we looked at how to install applications in Mac OS X. We identified different forms applications for your Mac can come in and how to handle those different types.
Today we will learn how to uninstall applications again.
Basics
Uninstalling applications in Mac OS X is really easy. Go to the Applications directory and locate the application in question.
To delete it, drag the application to the trash bin.
Done.
What happened in the background?
As we described in the previous post (on installing), applications are application packages, containing all the files necessary to run the application. So we trash this entire package and the application is gone.
No Add/Remove Software panel, no un-installers and most importantly: No Windows-Registry, making things difficult.
Application preferences
The only thing that is not stored in this application package are preferences, they are stored in a different location (most of the time <your home folder>/Library/Preferences).
However, since Mac OS X has no such thing as a Registry or any other central place where preferences are stored, these files are nothing else but tiny files on your hard drive. Mac OS X does not use them in any way. No indexing, no checking, nothing.
So it’s OK, to just leave your files there. They take up very little disk space and don’t slow your system down or do any other bad stuff.
But I really want to delete everything!
Instead of hunting through your system for those preference files (and maybe accidentally deleting something important) we recommend the freeware application AppDelete, available here.
Download the .dmg file and install it in your Applications directory. For help on installing, see this post on installing applications.
After installing AppDelete, find it in your Applications directory and drag it to your Dock.
Now the only thing you need to do is to drag an application, you want to delete, onto this icon. AppDelete will search through your hard disk for all files, associated with the application.
Of course, AppDelete will NOT delete the application directly. It will put it in a folder in the trash bin, so you can always review it and find out, which files AppDelete deleted for you.
Deleting Custom System Preferences
Certain software products come as additional System Preference panes, located in the Other section of the System Preferences. To delete such a custom System Preference pane, control-click it and select Remove…
These custom System Preferences are also files on your hard disk, located at
Macintosh HD/Library/PreferencePanes or
<your home folder>/Library/PreferencePanes.
From there you can drag custom System Preferences onto the AppDelete icon as well. Again, this removes all files associated with the custom System Preference pane.
Deleting Dashboard Widgets
In this post, introducing the Dashboard, we already covered how to delete a widget. However, it’s the same again. The widget is deleted, but maybe a preference file stays on your hard disk.
While this doesn’t do anything bad, except taking up minimal hard disk space, you can use AppDelete to get rid of everything associated with a widget.
Widgets are also files on your hard disk (in the end they are mini applications). They are located in <your home folder>/Library/Widgets.
To delete a widget, just drag it onto the AppDelete icon and AppDelete will take care of the rest.
Now you now everything about installing and uninstalling applications / System Preferences and Widgets in Mac OS X. If you have any questions, leave a comment or send us an email.
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Tags: dock, freeware, installing, System Prefs, uninstalling, widgets
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