How to Delete Apps on Mac! (Solved!)

Whether you want to make room for more storage on your Mac, or you just want to know how to uninstall an app, there are a few methods that you can use to delete a program off of your Mac computer. Thankfully, each method to uninstall apps is simple and quick.

To delete apps on a Mac computer, press the Launchpad icon (the gray circle with a rocket in it), click and hold on the app until it begins to shake, and then press the “X” button on the corner of the app to uninstall it. Users can also click and drag the unwanted app into the trash icon.

Using the Launchpad method is the simplest and quickest form of uninstalling an app, but there are other methods you can use as well to delete apps that you don’t need or want. Keep reading to learn about other ways to delete apps off of your Mac computer.

Deleting Apps via the Launchpad Method

Using the Launchpad is the most convenient method of getting rid of unwanted apps. There are a few ways that you can use the Launchpad method.

• You will first click on the Launchpad icon, or the gray circle icon with a darker gray rocket ship in the center. You can find this icon either on your dock or in your applications folder. (The Launchpad may also look like a square with smaller, mulicolored squares inside). Once you have clicked on that icon, all of your apps will show up on your screen.
  
• Next, you will locate the app that you would like to uninstall. You can either press on the app that you want to delete and hold it until the app starts to shake, or you can just press and hold down the option key (between the control and command key on the bottom left of your keypad) to pick the app that you want to uninstall.
  
• Once you choose an app and it starts to shake, you will click on the “X” button on the top corner of the app icon. However, you might notice that not all of the apps have the “X” next to it. This is either because you didn’t get the app from the App store or your Mac needs this specific app and you cannot delete it (link). If the app does have an “X,” then click on it to delete it.
  
• A pop-up will ask if you want to delete the app or cancel the action. Press delete to get rid of the app.

Not only do you have to use the option key or click and hold the app, but you can also just simply go to the Launchpad icon and drag the app to the trash bin, which is usually located on the right side of your dock. The same pop-up will ask whether you want to delete the app or cancel the action. Click on delete to uninstall the app.

Deleting Apps via the Finder Method

Another way to delete apps is to click on the Finder app, which is a blue and white square icon that has a little smiley face on it.

• Once you have clicked on the Finder app, use the search bar to look for the application that you want to delete.
  
• After locating the app, there are two things you can do. You can either drag the app from the Finder to the trash bin, or you can right click on the app; this will pull up a drop down menu. On the drop down menu, click on “Move to Trash.”
  
• Once the app is moved to the trash bin, click on the trash bin and press “Empty Trash” in the top right corner underneath the search bar.
  
• In some cases, you might need to enter the username and password of the admin in order to delete apps. Just type in the username and password of the admin that you are using to completely delete the unwanted app.

Take a look at the video below if you want to have a better visual of deleting apps using the Launchpad and Finder methods.

Deleting Apps from the Mac Dock

The last method that you can use is to just locate the app on your dock, or the bottom of the screen (unless you have moved it onto another side of your screen). Once you have located the app that needs to be deleted, just drag the icon away from the dock until “Remove” is shown.

Keep in mind that if you delete an app from your dock, it will only get rid of the icon instead of fully uninstalling the app. You can always go into Finder or Launchpad and completely uninstall the app by following the directions from the above sections.

Will Deleting Apps Get Rid of All the Data?

If you do choose to delete an app from your Mac, just know that some larger apps might leave some data behind. This can be frustrating if the reason that you are uninstalling the app in the first place is to make more room for your computer. In order to completely delete all data and files from your deleted apps, you will need to locate the app in the Home/Library/Preferences folders.

These files won’t be able to be used without the associated app, but they can still take up room on your Mac computer. Once you have located these files, simply right-click and press “Move to Trash” or just manually move the files to the trash, then empty the trash.

Restoring Deleted Apps

If you have accidentally deleted the wrong app, there is a way to recover the app so that it will be back on your Mac. First of all, look in the trash bin if you haven’t emptied it out already. If you haven’t deleted the trash, then just right-click on the app that you want and a menu will appear. On that menu, just press “Put Back”, and the app will be reinstalled on your computer.

However, you might have completely emptied out the trash, meaning that you permanently deleted the app. This is not a problem. You will just go back onto the app store and simply download the app again.

If you downloaded an app that did not come from the app store, then you will have to go onto the same source where you originally downloaded it from.