How to Uninstall on a Mac

Getting rid of programs on a Mac can be easy.
Or difficult. Easy because in most cases you
simply drag the program's icon to the trash
and the software disappears. Difficult because
Mac doesn't include the uninstall feature that
Windows users take for granted. Some
programs create files in the nooks and
crannies of your Mac's hard drive , and finding
them can take some detective work.
Why would you want to uninstall a program?
For the same reason you occasionally tidy your
office or clean your garage. Clutter breeds
inefficiency. Applications take up space on
your hard disk and can slow your computer.
Also, a new version of a program may not
work correctly unless you get rid of the old
one [source: Ritchie].
Most of the time, uninstalling is this simple:
1. Exit all programs.
2. Open the Applications folder, which
you'll find by clicking on the hard disk
icon.
3. Drag to the trash the icon of the
program you want to uninstall.
4. Empty the trash.
This method works fine with many
applications, like iTunes or Quicken. The files
for these applications are all stored in one
location. In Mac talk, they are "bundled." To
see if a program is bundled, click on its icon
while holding down the Control key. If a box
appears that says, "show package contents,"
it's a bundled program and the drag-to-the-
trash method is probably the best way to
uninstall it
For some other programs, removal is more
complicated. When installed, these programs
create files in several locations. The first step
in removing them is to check the program's
documentation to see if there is an uninstall
utility. If your program has an uninstall utility
associated with it, it may have been installed
with the program or included on the disk that
came with it. To remove Symantec software,
for example, you can download the uninstall
feature from the company [source: Norton].
Running an uninstall utility can make removing
a program much easier.
You should be aware that removing an
unbundled program by moving it into the trash
can leave behind orphan files on your
computer. Preference files are usually small
and you might want to ignore them if you're
just trying to free up disk space. Background
files or support files can be larger, especially
for multimedia programs like Garageband
[source: MacRumors ]. These files are likely to
reside in Library folders in your hard drive or
Home folder. They will usually be labeled with
the name of the program, like Office or
Acrobat, or the developer, such as Microsoft
or Adobe. You can search for the relevant
names using Spotlight, which is included with
the Mac OS. Drag the files you find to the
trash to get rid of them [source: The,x Lab].
Check out the next page for tips to make your
uninstall go even more smoothly.