How do I get apps to stop launching and Running in the background and full Uninstall Them

[Sossity]

I need to do some cleaning up of my hard drive, and want to properly and completely uninstall some apps. I aslo notice that many run in the background, and even when I open activity monitor to quit them, they just run again.

 

[chown33]

Please identify exactly which apps you want removed. Also identify the OS version.

There are various mechanisms to run things in the background. Sometimes the app itself has an uninstaller, which removes all its parts. Sometimes a LaunchAgent keeps an app running.

 

[Sossity]

The apps are;

• Citrix Receiver
• Tech Tool Pro
• Wacom

Mac Pro, 5,1, macOS 10.13.6

 

[BangkokCozy]

Good places to look are: /Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/LaunchDaemons/ & ~/Library/LaunchAgents/. In these directories you'll find plist files that can be viewed in an editor. I've attached a screenshot of the contents of com.ea.origin.WebHelper.plist for reference. Look into the plist to find the location of the unwanted utility and delete it, and then delete the plist - you'll probably need root / superuser access to remove from files /Library.

 

[Ruggy]

My wife used Citrix and I remember it was an absolute bu**er to get rid of.
I think it has an uninstaller- sorry I don't remember now but you need to do a search specifically for how to uninstall Citrix and if you've deleted it and you don't have the uninstaller you may have to install it again for it to work.
Most things when you delete them leave tiny files behind and it's often a good idea to leave them. I assume the OS understands what's the best policy on these things.
But there are apps which will totally uninstall for you and some are free.
I've been using one for when I need to clean everything out called AppZapper which works well and which I bought about 12 years ago. You can probably find advice about the free ones.

 

[NoBoMac]

In the case of Citrix, need to run the uninstaller in the installer dmg.

Install, uninstall, and upgrade | Citrix Workspace app for Mac

Learn more about the processes involved in installing, uninstalling, and upgrading Citrix Workspace app for Mac.

docs.citrix.com

And Wacom has an unistaller.

https://support.wacom.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500006264581-How-do-I-uninstall-and-re-install-the-Wacom-driver-on-Mac-OS-for-a-Pen-Tablet-Pen-Display-or-Pen-Computer-

What @BangkokCozy said applies, but even then stuff might restart. Google apps are nasty about reinstalling updaters in LaunchAgents when you fire up their apps.

 

[Sossity]

In the case of Citrix, need to run the uninstaller in the installer dmg.

Install, uninstall, and upgrade | Citrix Workspace app for Mac

Learn more about the processes involved in installing, uninstalling, and upgrading Citrix Workspace app for Mac.

docs.citrix.com

And Wacom has an unistaller.

https://support.wacom.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500006264581-How-do-I-uninstall-and-re-install-the-Wacom-driver-on-Mac-OS-for-a-Pen-Tablet-Pen-Display-or-Pen-Computer-

What @BangkokCozy said applies, but even then stuff might restart. Google apps are nasty about reinstalling updaters in LaunchAgents when you fire up their apps.

Thanks, so I found the DMG downloader to get to the uninstaller package, and I am having to download that since I deleted the original one from my computer, but I went to get the downloader for my version of mac os, since the link to the downloader page is for the most current is for Monterey and big sur.

Was that right to get the one for my mac os version?

 

[NoBoMac]

Not sure, as I don't use Citrix.

If that version does not work, get the version that's installed.

 

[Sossity]

Not sure, as I don't use Citrix.

If that version does not work, get the version that's installed.

The version installed is 12.3.0, i found this version, and downloaded the dmg installer file.

 

[NoBoMac]

That should work.

 

[Sossity]

That should work.

Ok, that will work for my desktop, but my laptop is a different story. I had tried to remove all traces of citrix, however it still persists, and I cannot find the dmg installer nor the app icon, to find out what version I had installed so that I can re download the right version installer to uninstall.

Do I just go to citrix website, and download the one they have, the most current version? even if it might not have been the original version I installed on my laptop?

 

[Fishrrman]

I'm thinking if you download the most current version, it probably -should- (that's a guess) UNinstall all previous versions...

 

[satcomer]

Aslo you could use a free program AppDelete to get ride of all those little files with programs!