I had a pc but now I just bought an imac. Can I use the App Cleaner & Uninstaller to remove the files from the computer. Finally, there’s the simple and easy to use App Cleaner & Installer from Nektony.
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App Cleaner from Nekton?
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You might modify your question to ask "Do I need some kind of third-party app to remove other third-party apps?"
No, that's seldom necessary on a Mac. (This is not Windows!)
It's one of the good results of not having a registry in any Mac OS system.
No, that's seldom necessary on a Mac. (This is not Windows!)
It's one of the good results of not having a registry in any Mac OS system.
How would you suggest removing apps? I'm happy to uninstall manually, although I did use AppTrap for quite a while, today I use FAF (Find Any File) to locate application elements and trash them. Not unusual to find 10 or more scattered through the system.
There's no registry true, but there are plenty of folders created by apps that do not get deleted if you just drag an app from the Applications folder to trash.
Apps such as AppCleaner hunt down those folders and allow the user to delete them as well.
So, unless you wanted your drive littered with redundant files, such Apps are very useful.
The downside is that Macs leave a lot of folders, launch agents, daemons, and preference lists behind. I consider the free app cleaner linked above essential to any Mac I own. Using it will show you just how much cruft is left behind. I also use Ccleaner for caches.
This is why I always tell people to learn how their Mac works and learn about the folder structure. Open Finder and go to the Library folder in your Home folder. Then, use the search function in the Finder toolbar to search the Library for the app name and/or manufacturer name and you should be able to find all traces of the files left behind when deleting an app. This stuff is almost always going to be inside the ~/Library, and possibly iCloud Drive, folder and it's the same thing app cleaner software does anyway - finds and removes stragglers. The advantage of doing it manually that you can research every file/folder before deleting it - or you can move them to external storage or whatever you want to do. The point is that you won't have an app "guessing" and possibly trashing something.
We don't need "cleaning" apps on macOS, you can take care of this type of thing yourself and you'll be much better off.
*** Disclaimer: ***
I spent 10 years using nothing other than GNU/Linux and BSD as my sole operating systems on several home and work computers. This was during the time when compiling every app yourself (./configure, make, make install) was the best bet for a clean computer system and using Terminal for hours was a daily requirement. I'm one of those people who actually learned about computers instead of blindly relying on third-party software to do everything for me. Knowledge is power.
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Or you can just use an App to do all that.
Apps are designed to help you do things. Decent App uninstallers are no different. I've no time these days to go around doing manual stuff if an App can do it for me.
In addition, AppCleaner never deletes anything without your approval. It simply finds the associated folders and allows you to check or uncheck them before committing.
In addition it leaves unchecked folders it's found that it's not 100% sure on.
That seems like the best of all worlds to me.
Did I mention it's free?
(No affiliation to the app, I just like it a huge amount).
Cleaning should always be a manual thing, much better to learn how your own system works and learn how to clean/repair it when necessary than relying on somebody else to do it for you. Laziness (another word for "convenience") is never the answer.
I don't care if the app can wash the dishes and do the laundry, it is not going on my computer. I went from knowing nothing about computers 25 years ago to knowing how to write my own software and build my own computers today. And I didn't get here by letting someone else do everything for me.
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For you it should always be a manual thing. And that's great for you.
For other people, no. The exact opposite is true.
Quit inflicting your personal beliefs on others. It's called free choice, let others do what they prefer to do.
I've been in this game 30+ years. From Windows, Unix, Xenix, Novell, Windows, Bsd, Linux and now MacOS. I've written apps, scripts and programs up the wazoo, and I've debugged, wiped, cleaned and done more manual steps in both regular and military grade operating systems, in the name of administration, probably more than others will do in a lifetime.
Now, these days I have an app that helps me out. So I use it.
You don't want to use it then that's fine. However quit with this need to tell others what they should, and should not do with their computer.
I simply gave an option to a paid app. Period.
Do you also do ALL your car maintenance yourself, or do you take it to a service center to have them work on it?
i dont represent any interest but myself. That being said have use I have used (free) "App Cleaner" for a while now. Dont know how good it works but the wheels have not fallen off my apple computer. At least not more than expected as the keyboard has butterflies
also use (free) OnyX to clean between internet secessions.
i use a darker web browser; Brave. Its free too
i use both google & DuckDuckGO for searches
there you go!
of late i have been avoiding installing apps just to test try them out. If i dont really need them i am just not that interested.
I read somewhere that Microsoft Windows has a small temporary virtual envo that you can install run new applications just to see if you like them. Than delete the whole container.
before you DIY your own removal do the research. Do a backup. consider if you have too much time on your hands in the case the DIY effort goes bad for unKnown reasons.
also use (free) OnyX to clean between internet secessions.
i use a darker web browser; Brave. Its free too
i use both google & DuckDuckGO for searches
there you go!
of late i have been avoiding installing apps just to test try them out. If i dont really need them i am just not that interested.
I read somewhere that Microsoft Windows has a small temporary virtual envo that you can install run new applications just to see if you like them. Than delete the whole container.
before you DIY your own removal do the research. Do a backup. consider if you have too much time on your hands in the case the DIY effort goes bad for unKnown reasons.
I have been using AppCleaner for over four years now. I have never deleted an application file by mistake. I think it's very unlikely to happen, as the recommendations have always been correct for me. The user will have a higher probability of deleting an incorrect file, IMO. AppCleaner shows you, with it's path, every file it recommends removing. You have the option to select and deselect as necessary.
Making mistakes is part of life, it means you’re growing and improving. The possibility of a mistake is also why we make backups. A life spent making mistakes is far more valuable than a life spent doing nothing.
With all due respect it is never a good idea to let some third-party do something for you that you can learn to do for yourself. It is advantageous at every level.. including self education. Self-sufficiency is King.. Knowledge is power.
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You can have your easily avoidable mistakes. I'll stick with spell check and AppCleaner, thank you.