How to uninstall Steam on Mac completely
Dragging Steam to the Trash isn’t enough: its data folder, with every game you downloaded, stays in your Library folder, and that folder is often many gigabytes. Here is how to remove Steam completely, or remove it and keep your games.
- Open MacWashing and choose Uninstaller in the sidebar.
- Click Show Apps and check Steam in the list.
- Click Remove and confirm. Files that may be yours are listed as Possible and stay unchecked.
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Uninstall Steam the way Valve describes
Valve’s own instructions for a Mac go beyond deleting the app:
- With Steam open, choose Steam › Quit Steam in the menu bar.
- Open Finder › Applications and drag Steam to the Trash.
- In Finder, click Go in the menu bar, hold down the Option key until Library appears and open it.
- Open Application Support › Steam.
- To keep your games, delete everything in this folder except SteamApps. To remove all Steam data, delete the whole Steam folder.
- Empty the Trash: choose Finder › Empty Trash.
SteamApps holds your game downloads and local save files. Games that use Steam Cloud also keep their saves in your Steam account.
What Steam leaves behind
After deleting the app, check these places in the Library folder inside your home folder:
~/Library/Application Support/Steam— Steam’s data: settings and the client’s files. Your games are inside it too, see below.~/Library/Preferences/com.valvesoftware.steam.helper.plist— settings.~/Library/Saved Application State/com.valvesoftware.steam.savedState— the saved window state.~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist— a background item that starts when you log in.
Your downloaded games and local saves are in ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps, inside Steam’s folder. They are your files, not leftovers: keep that folder or move it to an external disk if you may play these games again.
Remove the leftovers by hand
- In Finder, choose Go › Go to Folder (Shift-Command-G), type a path from the list above and press Return.
- Move the folder or file to the Trash. To keep your games, open the Steam folder and move everything except
SteamAppsinstead of the whole folder. - Repeat for the other paths.
- Restart your Mac, then empty the Trash.
Steam isn’t the only app that leaves files behind: see how to uninstall apps on Mac completely.
With MacWashing, it’s one click
The Uninstaller in MacWashing knows the files Steam creates in your Library folder and removes them together with the app, background item included. Folders that may hold your own files, like downloaded games, are listed as Possible and stay unchecked until you check them yourself.
Free trial · macOS 14 or later
Questions and answers
Will MacWashing delete my own files when it removes Steam?
No. The Uninstaller checks only what belongs to the app: its settings, caches, logs and background items. Folders that may hold your own files are listed as Possible and stay unchecked until you check them yourself, and apps go to the Trash by default, so you can put them back.
What if Steam is still running?
MacWashing waits for it to quit, or quits it at your request, and only then removes its files.
Is it free to uninstall Steam with MacWashing?
Yes, within the free trial: System Junk and the Uninstaller free up to 25 GB in total, with no account or card needed.
Will I lose my games if I uninstall Steam?
Your purchases stay in your Steam account. The downloaded games are in the SteamApps folder: keep it and you won’t need to download them again. Delete it and you can download them again after signing in.
Will I lose my game saves?
Local saves are in SteamApps, so keep that folder if you need them. Games that use Steam Cloud also store their saves in your Steam account.
Can I reinstall Steam later?
Yes. Download Steam again and sign in with your account name and password, which Valve says you need to get your games back.