MAC TREAT #102: Thoroughly Delete Unwanted Apps!

ByMike Moffit

In the spirit of all addicts in recovery, “My name is Ed and I am a serial demo software downloader.” I can’t help it. When I hear of a promising or interesting new application for my Mac, I rush online and download it. In the past week alone, I have downloaded demo versions of iStopMotion, BoinxTV and Pagehand.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m grateful we live in a time where is it’s very easy to try a software title before you have to buy it. It used to be that software was only available in a box and if you didn’t like it, tough luck taking it back (since opened software is never returnable).

On the other hand, all this demo software downloading gobbles hard drive space and clutters your Mac’s Applications folder. In some cases, it’s easy to delete an application—grab the icon and drop it the Mac’s Trash. In most cases, however, when an application is installed, it distributes many small files throughout your Mac’s hard drive. Even when you think you’ve fully deleted an app, orphan files may still persist on your hard drive.

In order the completely, thoroughly, and safely delete an application—demo or otherwise—I use a free program called AppCleaner. AppCleaner finds all the small files associated with applications and safely deletes them. AppCleaner itself is a very small program, and is easy to use. You can also use it to uninstall and delete Dashboard widgets. It also has a feature to prevent your favorite apps from being deleted accidentally.

Click here to download the free AppCleaner utility.

Oh wow! Did you know there’s a new version of Bento now, Bento 3? Think I better download the demo to try out…

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