Does this sound reasonable or are there better methods to accomplish this?Īlso I am wondering if it is good practice to also remove traces of the package using pkgutil -forget - if I don't do this, the next time the package is installed it shows up as being upgraded instead of installed.

The purpose is basically to stop the daemon if running, unload and delete the corresponding plist as well as remove any application files. My thinking is to include a file called uninstall.sh and place it into /Library/Application Support/com./ and refer to this from the application documentation. The application is installed using a package rather than just being dragged into the Applications folder because it is a daemon-type app that also requires to run a script at installation to be launched. For example, if you want to remove the backup software Backblaze, it has a specific uninstaller app which you can find on the Backblaze help pages.As a service to my users I would like to provide an uninstall script to completely remove all traces of my application on Mac OS X. Blame the developer for making this much more difficult than it needs to be, whilst doing a Google search. How to locate the uninstaller for your app is one of life’s great mysteries, as there’s no easy way. This contains a number of apps, including an uninstaller: However, some are only available from the original installer, or via a separate app entirely, which will need installing as required.įrom experience, backup and sync software, apps related to hardware devices, and antivirus software are the types that you should probably investigate using a specific uninstaller for.įor example, in my Applications folder I have a folder for a Huion graphics tablet. App Uninstall (was App Uninstaller) provides a straightforward way to remove apps and their associated files including applications caches, application log files, application preferences, and crash reports. These can sometimes be found in the Applications folder in Finder (sometimes within a sub-folder). Some programs will come with an uninstaller app. Some apps may require your system password before they will uninstall, depending on what permissions are required to fully clean the app from the Mac.

Find the app in question and drag/drop it into the bin.

To uninstall any of these apps, click on the “X”.

Apps which can be uninstalled from the Launchpad will show an “X” in the top-left corner.

Just like on an iOS device, click and hold over any icons and, after a couple of seconds, they should start shaking.

The Launchpad can be used to uninstall an app (albeit not every app) on your Mac, and is the easiest way to do it. Read on to better understand how to uninstall an app on Mac. However, the method of uninstallation is down to the individual app and there are various ways it can be done. Macs uninstalls apps much more cleanly than Windows does, often needing little more than dragging and dropping the app into the bin to get rid of it.

Mac application uninstaller