There could be two types of programs installed on your MacBook Pro running Mac operating system (macOS High Sierra for this example) namely:
[listNum]■Obtained from a third-party website (.dmg file)
■Obtained from App Store[/listNum]
Although the steps for removing each of the program types vary, the removal process is absolutely hassle-free and quick. Here’s how:
Uninstalling the Programs Obtained from a Third-Party
- ■Quit the program
Right-click the program’s icon (Google Chrome for this example) from the Dock, and click Quit from the context menu. This stops the program from running, and makes the removal smooth, without any unwanted or unnecessary prompts. Many, if not all, Mac programs keep running in the background even after you close them. Quitting a program ensures that it is no longer opened or used by the operating system. You can know if a program is still running by the black dot that appears under its icon in the Dock. This step is not required if the program is already closed, and you don’t see a black dot.
■Get to the installation directory
Click the Finder icon from the Dock, and click Applications from the left pane of the window that opens up. This selects the Applications folder, all contents of the folder in the right window. In Mac, almost all the installed apps are placed in the Applications folder. If an app’s icon is not pinned to the Dock, you can do so manually from the Applications folder itself. You can even launch a program directly from the Applications folder as well.
■Uninstall a program
Right-click the program you no longer need (Google Chrome for this example), click Move to Trash from the context menu, right-click the Trash icon from the Dock, click Empty Trash, and click Empty Trash again in the confirmation box that appears. This removes the app from your Mac. Another way of uninstalling an app from your Mac is to drag its icon from the Applications folder to the Trash icon, and then empty the Trash as explained earlier.
■Remove the icon
Right-click the app’s icon on the Dock, go to Options, and click Remove from Dock. This unpins the orphan icon of the uninstalled app from the Dock. Unpinning the orphan icons from the Dock makes it less crowded and messy, and allows you to pin, locate, and launch other apps easily.
Uninstalling the Programs Obtained from App Store
- ■Quit the unwanted program as explained earlier
■Open Launchpad
Click the Launchpad icon from the Dock. This opens the Launchpad window. The apps installed from App Store can be launched or removed from this window.
■Enter Edit Mode
Press and hold down the Option (Alt) key while on the Launchpad window. This makes all the icons in Launchpad wiggle, allowing you to uninstall the apps from your Mac. An alternate method is to left-click and hold down the mouse button until the icons start wiggling. While the Option key method makes the icons wiggle only for as long as you keep the key pressed, the left-click method allows you to safely release the mouse button as the icons begin to wiggle.
■Uninstall an app
Click X from the top-left corner of the unwanted app’s icon (PDF Reader Pro Free for this example), and click Delete in the confirmation box. This uninstalls the app from your Mac. Once done, you can follow the method explained earlier to remove its icon from the Dock as well.
Note: Only the apps obtained from App Store have the X sign at their top-left corner in Edit Mode. If any of the icons doesn’t have the X sign, it means that the app is either required by your Mac, is a built-in program, or is not obtained from App Store.
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