Mac uninstaller: remove apps with all their files

What dragging to the Trash leaves behind

An app keeps its files outside the app itself: settings in ~/Library/Preferences, data in ~/Library/Application Support, caches in ~/Library/Caches, sometimes helpers and background items in the system’s Library. They stay after the app goes to the Trash, and some keep starting at login. The manual way to find them is in how to uninstall apps on Mac completely.

How to remove an app completely with a Mac uninstaller

1. Open MacWashing, click Uninstaller in the sidebar, then Show Apps.

2. The list shows every app with its full size, files included, and when you last opened it. Sort it by Size, Name or Last Used, or find an app with the search field.

3. Click an app to see what it has on the Mac: the app, its data and caches, background items. Items marked Possible were found by folder name only and stay unchecked: look at them before you check them.
4. Check the box next to the app. A label next to it says whether it is removed completely or some files stay.

5. Click Remove at the bottom and confirm. If the app is running, MacWashing quits it first.

Remove several apps at once

• Check several apps in the list: Remove takes them all in one go.
• Select Unused checks every app you haven’t opened for six months or more. Look through the list before you remove.
• Inside an app you can check only some folders, for example its cache, and keep the app.

What the uninstaller never removes

• Apple’s own apps, such as Safari or Mail: macOS protects them.
• Shared components used by apps from other vendors: they go only together with the last app that uses them.
• Your documents made in the app: they are where you saved them, not in the app’s folders.
• MacWashing itself.

Removed apps go to the Trash or are deleted right away, as set in Settings › General › Removal › Large Files and Apps. Without Full Disk Access, some files in protected folders aren’t found, and MacWashing says so above the list.