How to Uninstall Apps Completely on Mac (Including Leftovers)

20 October 2026 · 3 min read · By Himanshu Singh, maker of DiskMac

On a Mac, “uninstall” usually means dragging the app to the Trash. That removes the app itself. Everything it created while you used it — caches, settings, saved windows, containers, sometimes background helpers — stays behind.

Method 1: Launchpad (App Store apps)

For apps from the Mac App Store: open Launchpad, hold Option until icons jiggle, and click the ✕. App Store apps are sandboxed, so most of their data is in one container — but that container (~/Library/Containers/<bundle id>) is sometimes left behind.

Method 2: The app’s own uninstaller

Apps that install drivers, system extensions or background services — Adobe, Microsoft Office, VPNs, antivirus, audio and display drivers — ship their own uninstaller. Use it. It is often in the app’s folder in Applications or in its Help menu.

Method 3: Manual (any app)

1. Find the app’s bundle identifier:

   osascript -e 'id of app "Spotify"'

   This returns something like com.spotify.client.
2. Quit the app, then drag it from Applications to the Trash.
3. In Finder, press ⇧⌘G and check each of these for folders or files with the app’s name or bundle ID:
   • ~/Library/Application Support
   • ~/Library/Caches
   • ~/Library/Containers and ~/Library/Group Containers
   • ~/Library/Preferences
   • ~/Library/Saved Application State
   • ~/Library/HTTPStorages and ~/Library/WebKit
   • ~/Library/Logs
   • ~/Library/LaunchAgents
4. Check System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions for anything left.
5. Restart and empty the Trash.

Method 4: An uninstaller app

An uninstaller does step 3 for you. DiskMac Pro matches leftovers by bundle identifier — which is exact, unlike name matching — and shows you what it matched on, so you can check its reasoning before anything is removed. Everything goes to the Trash with a “Put it back” button. AppCleaner is a good free option. More in the best app uninstallers for Mac.

Finding leftovers from apps you already deleted

Look in ~/Library/Containers and ~/Library/Application Support for names of apps you no longer have. Sort by size first — the big ones matter most. A disk map makes this much faster; see what’s taking up space on your Mac.

FAQ