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Guide · Removing apps

How to uninstall an app on your Mac or Windows PC, and what it leaves behind

By the AI Repair team · Updated

An app you never use, a free trial that keeps nagging, or one that came along with something else: removing it is quick on a Mac and on a Windows PC. Here’s the right way for each kind of app, what it leaves behind, and what to do when it won’t go.

In short

On a Mac: quit the app, open the Finder, click Applications and drag the app to the Trash. Your Mac may ask for its password. If the app came with its own uninstaller, use that instead. Then empty the Trash to get the space back.

On a Windows PC: choose Start › Settings › Apps › Installed apps, click the three dots next to the app, then Uninstall. On Windows 10, it’s Apps & features: click the app, then Uninstall.

On a Mac: drag the app to the Trash

Most Mac apps are a single item in your Applications folder, and moving it to the Trash removes it (Apple’s guide):

  1. Quit the app if it’s open: click its name at the top left of the screen, then Quit.
  2. Open the Finder, then click Applications in the sidebar on the left.
  3. Drag the app to the Trash at the end of the Dock. Or click it once, then choose File › Move to Trash.
  4. If your Mac asks for a name and password, type your Mac’s password. That’s an app installed for everyone who uses the Mac.

Apps from the App Store go the same way, and you can download them again later, free, from your account in the App Store.

If the Finder says the app can’t be moved because it’s open, quit it first. If it won’t quit, choose Apple menu › Force Quit, click the app, then Force Quit (Apple’s guide).

On a Mac: apps with their own uninstaller

Some apps add more to your Mac than the app itself: antivirus, VPNs, drivers for printers and audio devices, Adobe’s apps and some games. Their maker gives them an uninstaller that removes all of it, and dragging the app to the Trash would leave those parts running.

  1. Open the Finder, then click Applications.
  2. Look for a folder with the app’s name, holding an item called Uninstall. Or open the app and look in its menus for Uninstall.
  3. Open the uninstaller and follow its steps. Your Mac may ask for its password.

No uninstaller in sight? The maker’s website usually has one, in its help or support pages.

On a Mac: what an app leaves behind

Dragging an app to the Trash leaves its settings and the files it kept for itself in your Mac’s Library folder. That’s on purpose: if you install the app again, it’s as you left it. These files are usually small, and leaving them does no harm.

A helper some apps start when you log in can stay behind, though. To check:

  • macOS 15 Sequoia and later: choose Apple menu › System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions. On macOS 13 and 14, it’s Login Items in the same place. Select the item under Open at Login and click the Remove button (−). A helper allowed to run in the background has a switch further down: turn it off (Apple’s guide).
  • macOS 12 Monterey: choose Apple menu › System Preferences › Users & Groups, click your name, then Login Items. Select the item and click the Remove button (−).

Don’t delete folders from your Library by hand to tidy up. Many hold things other apps need, and there’s no undo.

On a Windows PC: uninstall from Settings

On Windows, every app is removed through Windows itself, which runs the app’s own uninstaller (Microsoft’s guide):

  1. Choose Start › Settings › Apps › Installed apps. On Windows 10, it’s Start › Settings › Apps › Apps & features.
  2. Find the app: type its name in the search box above the list.
  3. Click the three dots next to it, then Uninstall. On Windows 10, click the app, then Uninstall.
  4. Click Uninstall again to confirm, and follow the app’s steps if it shows any. Windows may ask whether to allow the change: click Yes.

Quicker: right-click the app in the Start menu and choose Uninstall. Some apps ask whether to keep your data, like saved games or settings: keep it if you might install them again.

On a Windows PC: an app that won’t uninstall

  • It says it’s in use: close the app, and quit it from the icons at the right of the taskbar, or restart your PC, then try again.
  • The Uninstall button is grey: the app is part of Windows, like Microsoft Edge, or your work or school manages it. Neither can be removed.
  • Its uninstaller fails: download the newest version from its maker’s website, install it over the old one, then uninstall again. Or try its maker’s own removal tool: antivirus makers have one.
  • It came with the PC: some makers’ apps are removed the same way, and Windows keeps working without them. If you’re not sure what an app does, leave it.

Get the space back

On a Mac, the app sits in the Trash until you empty it. When you’re sure you don’t need anything in the Trash, choose Finder › Empty Trash. That can’t be undone. On a Windows PC, an app you uninstall is gone at once and its space comes back straight away.

Not sure which apps to remove to make room? Our guide to a full disk shows how to see which take the most space.

Apps you can’t remove

The apps that come with macOS, like Safari, Mail, Photos and Music, are part of the system and can’t be removed; the Finder says so if you try. They take little room, and macOS keeps them up to date. The same goes for Windows’ own apps, such as Settings and Microsoft Edge. An app your work or school installed may be back the next day: ask its IT help desk instead.

Advice you can skip

  • An “uninstaller” app that promises to remove every last file. Leftover settings are small, and these tools can delete files other apps share. Our guide on cleaner apps says when one helps.
  • Deleting an app’s folders from the Library, Program Files or AppData by hand. On a PC it leaves Windows thinking the app is still there; on both, it’s easy to take something another app needs.
  • Removing apps you don’t recognize on a PC just because of their names. Some keep your printer, touchpad or sound working. Look the name up first, or leave it.

Common questions

How do I completely uninstall an app on a Mac?

Drag it from Applications to the Trash, or use its own uninstaller if it came with one. Its settings stay in your Library folder, which is small and does no harm. Check that nothing of it still starts when you log in: System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions (Login Items on macOS 13 and 14), or System Preferences › Users & Groups › Login Items on macOS 12.

Why can’t I delete an app on my Mac?

It’s open, so quit it first; it’s part of macOS, like Safari or Mail, which can’t be removed; or it was installed for everyone on the Mac, so the Finder asks for your Mac’s password. An app your work or school manages may be put back.

How do I uninstall a program on Windows 11?

Choose Start › Settings › Apps › Installed apps, click the three dots next to the program, then Uninstall, and confirm. Or right-click it in the Start menu and choose Uninstall. On Windows 10, it’s Apps & features: click the program, then Uninstall.

Does uninstalling an app delete the files I made with it?

No. Documents, photos and other files you saved stay in your own folders. What can go is what the app kept for itself, like its settings or saved games, and some Windows apps ask about that first.

Can I get an app back after I delete it?

Yes. Apps from the App Store or the Microsoft Store download again free from your account there. Others download again from their maker’s website, and some ask for your license or sign-in again. On a Mac, an app still in the Trash can be dragged back.