On a Mac, uninstalling an app usually means dragging it to the Trash. That removes the app, and nothing else. Its caches, its settings, the files it manages for you and any background helpers it installed stay where they are, sometimes for years.
Most of those leftovers are small. Some aren't, and a few are the only copy of something you made in the app, so it's worth knowing which is which before you clear them.
Removing the app itself
- Quit the app. If it has an icon in the menu bar, quit it from there too.
- If the app came with its own uninstaller, use it. Apps that install system extensions, drivers or background services, such as some security, VPN and audio apps, often include one, and it removes more than Finder can.
- Otherwise, open Applications in Finder and drag the app to the Trash, or select it and choose File › Move to Trash. macOS may ask for an administrator's name and password if the app was installed for all users.
- Empty the Trash when you're sure, to free the space. Apps that come with macOS can't be removed.
Turning off what it left running
Some apps add login items or background items that keep running, or try to, after the app is gone. Open Apple menu › System Settings, click General, then Login Items & Extensions. Check Open at Login and App Background Activity, and remove or turn off anything that belongs to an app you've removed.
Where leftovers live
Everything below is in your Library folder. To open it, hold down Option in Finder, choose Go, then Library. Look for folders and files named after the app, its developer, or its identifier, such as com.developer.appname.
| Folder in Library | What it holds | Before you remove it |
|---|---|---|
Caches | Data the app can download or rebuild | The app rebuilds it |
Logs and HTTPStorages | Logs and saved web requests | Nothing depends on it |
Saved Application State | Window positions for reopening | Only changes how windows reopen |
Preferences | The app's settings, as a .plist file | Removing it resets the app if you reinstall it |
LaunchAgents | Background jobs that start when you log in | Remove the app's own ones; log out and back in after |
Application Support | Data the app manages for you: libraries, databases, projects | Can hold your own work. Check first |
Containers and Group Containers | A sandboxed app's private home, with its data and settings | Can hold notes or documents saved only in the app. Check first |
Some apps also keep files in the Library folder at the top of your disk, shared by all users, such as /Library/Application Support, /Library/LaunchDaemons and /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools. Moving those needs an administrator's password.
Apps you removed long ago
Their leftovers are still in the same places. The folder names usually give the app away, but a container named only with an identifier may need a closer look: open it and check its Data folder before moving it to the Trash.
How the app does it
The app's Applications section lists every app with its size, the size of what it has left around the Mac and when you last opened it, with Uninstall…. Below the apps are the leftovers of apps that are already gone.
For each file, it shows why it belongs to that app: the app's identifier in the name, one of its app groups, its entry in macOS's container records, its package receipt, Homebrew's data for it, a background job that starts it. Files it can only match by a similar name are never checked for you, and a file two apps could own goes to neither.
An uninstall pre-selects the app and the leftovers that are useless without it: caches, logs, saved state, preferences, web data, its background jobs and helper tools, and crash reports. Application Support, Containers and Group Containers start unchecked and are marked as places that may hold your data. The review asks the app to quit, stops its background jobs, and moves everything to the Trash, where Undo and Put Back work as for a cleanup.
With the menu bar item on, the app also notices when you drag an app to the Trash yourself, and offers to review what it left behind. Nothing moves until you confirm.
Finding apps and their leftovers is free. Uninstalling them is PRO.
Safe to delete?
The entries this guide is about, in the words the app shows. Each has its own page with its sources.
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Library/ Application Support/ * Data that apps create and manage for you, such as libraries, databases, downloads and settings, in a folder for each app.
Review first · Explained only: the app shows you how
~/
Library/ Containers/ * The private folder a sandboxed app, such as most apps from the App Store, uses as its own home for data, settings and caches.
Review first · Explained only: the app shows you how
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Library/ Caches/ * Data that apps and macOS services keep so they can load things faster. Apps create it again when they need it.
Safe · Moves it to the Trash