Removing or Uninstalling Applications

Speaker: Now, let’s take a look at how we uninstall apps on the Mac. Uninstalling apps is very easy to do. We basically throw them in the trash. Let’s see what I mean. Let’s go to my Mac.

Uninstalling an application by deleting it: I installed their Permute app. What I want to do now is I want to uninstall it. Well, all I have to do is go to my applications folder. I’m going to go up to go here, and let’s go and open up my applications folder. Now what I need to do is I need to find the app. I have the app sitting right here, and then if I wanted to uninstall this, I would drag this down into the trash. That’s all we have to do to uninstall an app on the Mac. Now, in some cases, it’ll ask you for the password to your computer.

Why does it do this for some apps and not for others? If you install the app through the App Store, it’s going to ask you for the computer password before we can throw it away. In this case, if I were to throw this one away because I did not install it through the App Store, it would just go into the trash, and I’d be done. This app here, Pixelmator, I installed that through the App Store. If I were to throw this one away, it would ask me for the password of my computer. After that, it’ll just go into the trash. Then that app is uninstalled.

Deleting an application with an uninstaller: Now in very few cases, there will be an uninstaller. This is typical with Adobe apps, or in the past, it’s been with Adobe apps. I haven’t seen too many lately, but I’ll show you how that works. I’m going to scroll up here. There’s a Utilities folder in my applications folder, also in your applications folder. This is where we find different utilities. I double-click on it, and you’re going to see I have Adobe AIR uninstaller. What I would do is I would double-click on this, and then this installer or uninstaller would go and uninstall or delete Adobe AIR from my computer. In some cases, to delete an app, you may need to download an uninstaller; very rarely do I see this anymore, though.

In most cases, all you have to do is drag the app to the trash. If you aren’t sure, you can go to that app’s developer’s website and see if they have an FAQ or ask the developer how to uninstall it. Again, in most cases, all you have to do is drag that app to the trash, and then that app will be deleted from your Mac.

That’s how you uninstall apps on the Mac.