Can't Delete App On A Mac

Open Launchpad (by clicking its Dock icon, using the trackpad gesture, or searching for it in Spotlight), then click and hold any app icon until the icons start shaking. Click the “X” button next. If you still can’t delete anything on your Mac because the startup disk is too full, your last option is to erase it entirely and reinstall macOS. Of course, this means you lose any data that isn’t already backed up. Click next to the app that you want to delete, then click Delete to confirm. The app will be deleted immediately. Apps that don't show either didn't come from the App Store or are required by your Mac. To delete an app that didn't come from the App Store, use the Finder instead.

By Vernon Roderick, Last updated: July 16, 2020

Every Mac device has the default Mail app. We use it for exchanging messages with our friends, families, co-workers, and most important, most of us should have already found a use of it in our jobs.

Simply put, the Mail app is very convenient, but that doesn’t change the fact that having flaws is inevitable with every application.

The very first thing that comes to mind when we talk about flaws on an email application is the fact that the app have emails piled up and consume a lot of space in the device.

Since it is a default app, you can always delete it then restore it whenever you like. While you might want to uninstall it instantly, we can’t change the fact that it’s a default app.

With that said, you’ll be having problems with deleting the Mail app on Mac immediately since it might cause malfunctions to the system of your Mac.

So today we’re going to talk about how to delete Mail app on mac to save your disk space and other tips on how to save space with your Mail app besides uninstalling it.

Before anything else, let’s discuss what the Mail app really is and how it works in your Mac device.

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Part 1. An Overview of Mail on Mac

The Mail app, better known as the Apple Mail, is the default email service provider that comes with Mac devices. That means whether it be mobile devices or laptops, there will always be a Mail app.

But there’s a limit to the device that can have the app. To be more precise, those that have OS X 10.0 or later version have this app.

Basically, it allows you to exchange emails with everyone you know as long as they have the same app. Plus, you can configure your Mail app with the settings you want to use.

Now talking about how to delete Mac Mail app. It’s important to note that you have other alternatives to clearing up disk space.

To give you a better idea of those alternatives, here’s a look at the different ways to save space on your Mail app.

  • Clean Up Mail Attachments
  • Clear Mail App Files
  • Use Another client

Now let’s get to the process of doing these three methods that we mentioned.

Option 1. Clean Up Mail Attachments

As previously said, the first flaw of the Mail app is that it might consume too much space. And it might give you a better idea of what this means by knowing that the app has a lot of attachments.

These attachments are what takes up the majority of space that the Mail app consumes. It might’ve been fine if these attachments were actually vital, but most of their content are actually useless.

So your first option is cleaning up files inside the attachments you think aren’t needed. There are many ways to do these, but we’ll discuss that later and proceed to the second option first.

Option 2. Reduce the Space the Mail App Uses

We’ve said earlier that attachments make up the majority of the data used by the Mail app, but what about the remaining data?

This is, of course, anything besides the mail attachments. These files are of different classifications, so your best option is to clean the unnecessary ones by using a cleaning software. After all, you don’t want to delete some important stuff in there along with the junk.

Then there’s the last option, which is far easier to do since it doesn’t require you to regularly do it, unlike the first two options.

Option 3. Use Something Else Besides Apple Mail

When we say use something else besides Apple Mail, it means you need to ditch the Mail app. In short, you’ll need to know how todelete Mac Mail app.

As previously said, deleting a default app, in this case is the Mail app, might cause the system to malfunction.

That’s the main reason why we talked about alternatives, but if you can’t afford to waste your time doing needless things, then this will be your last resort.

Either way, you’ll first have to determine whether you can actually do the first two options. So let’s talk about them first.

Part 2. How to Delete Mail on Mac

In our first option and second option, it involves you trying to reduce the space of the Mac Mail app without deleting it, therefore you won’t have to go to the trouble.

So how exactly can you do that? There are two ways you can delete mail on Mac in the Mail app as well as the mail attachments. Here’s the first one.

Deleting A Single Email

You’ll find that this will be the easiest process in reducing the space of your Mail app, although it won’t do much if you do it only once. Regardless, here’s how you can do it:

  1. Select the message you want to delete in your Mac device.
  2. You’ll see a Delete button in the Mail app’s toolbar. Click this and the message will be deleted.

Depending on the settings of your app, the deleted message will either go to the Trash or be permanently deleted.

Either way, you’ll find it very tiresome if you’re planning to go through the process repeatedly to delete all the unnecessary messages in your Mail app. So here’s the perfect remedy for that, which is also our second way to delete an email that we talked about.

Deleting Multiple Emails

This will also be relatively easy to execute. You’ll just have to add some things in the process of deleting a single email. Here’s how you can delete multiple emails:

  1. Instead of selecting a single message, you can select multiple messages by tapping and holding on one email. That way, the multiple selection will be triggered.
  2. Tap on every email you want to be deleted in the list.
  3. Click the Delete button in your toolbar that we talked about before.

After this, you’ll be able to delete multiple emails at once. If you also want to add a specific email in the list of things to be deleted, you can search it up in the toolbar.

Permanently Delete Emails

As we previously said in the Deleting a single email section, the deleted email will either go to the Trash or be permanently deleted. If it’s the latter, then there’s no problem. But what if the former was what happened?

In that case, you should go to your Mail app on your Mac, then choose the Mailbox. Then click the Erase Deleted Items button and you’ll be directed to the Trash.

There, you should be able to view the emails that you tried deleting before. You can either restore it or delete it permanently, which in this case, you’d want to do the latter.

Remember, you should do this regularly or else the mail will start to pile up again and consume a lot of the space in your Mac. So what should you do to be able to be free from this endless cycle?

Part 3. How to Delete Mac Mail App Manually

This is where knowing how to delete Mail app comes in handy. We already said that this will be our last resort, but now that you’re here, you must’ve already decided on it.

As previously said, the Mail app is a default app. So learning how to delete Mail app is not that simple. There will be a long process, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. So without further ado, here are the following steps:

Step 1. Disabling the System Integrity Protection (SIP)

The SIP or System Integrity Protection is a mechanism that is enabled in Mac with versions macOS 10.12 and above.

It makes it impossible for the user to remove any system app on your Mac, and in this case, the Mail app. You can disable SIP by just following these steps:

  1. Enter Recovery Mode on your Mac
  2. Click the Utilities and head to the Terminal
  3. Type the code: csrutil disable into the Terminal and press your Enter key.

This should have already disabled the SIP on your Mac. At this point, you should be able to restart your device without worrying about the SIP. Now let’s head to the second step.

Step 2. Using Terminal Command to Delete Mail App on Mac

If you think it would be easy now that the SIP is disabled, you’re probably wrong. There will, again, be a long process in actually deleting Mail app on Mac. Here’s a detailed step-by-step guide for it:

  1. Boot your Mac
  2. Sign in as the administrator
  3. Launch the Terminal
  4. Type the code: cd/Applications/ in the Terminal and press Enter. This will show you a directory of applications.
  5. Type the code: sudo rm –rf Mail.app/ and press Enter

At this point, the Mail app should already be uninstalled. Since that’s the case, there’s no need for you to keep the SIP disabled, since it might cause problems to you later on.

So you should enter Recovery Mode again and following Step 1 in reverse to turn the SIP back on.

If you’re here, then you’ve probably already read the rest of this guide. So you should also already know just how difficult it is to delete Mail app on Mac manually. So how can you make it easier?

Part 4. How to Completely Delete Mail App on Mac

FoneDog PowerMyMac is created precisely for Mac users to make their life easier. As previously said, every application will have flaws, and your Mac device itself has flaws.

FoneDog PowerMyMac aims to resolve those flaws and problems with just a few clicks. One such flaw that the PowerMyMac software can solve is the deletion of the Mail app.

/balance-checkbook-app-mac.html. In fact, it can even just clean up your Mail app for you automatically, so those who have grown fond of the app can use it as well.

So whether you think learning how to delete Mac Mail app manually is a hassle or simply want to keep their Mail app while preventing it from consuming too much space, FoneDog PowerMyMac is for you!

Part 5. Conclusion

Here are the ways of how to delete Mac mails and mail attachments. There are many things that won’t always go your way. Of course, this applies to also to Mac users, considering the multitudes of applications it has. While you can’t always get away with these problems, you can always leverage different software to ease your life a bit.

If you think you can no longer keep up with computers, you can always rely on third-party software such as FoneDog PowerMyMac to do your bidding for you.

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There often comes a time when you just don’t need to keep an app around. It may be old and unsupported – or maybe you just don’t use it anymore and don’t have a need to keep it around. If that sounds like you, we’ll show you exactly how to uninstall apps on Mac.

Uninstall Mac Applications

Get the best uninstallers to delete any application on your Mac.

With macOS Catalina and later, there are plenty of great reasons to delete apps. If an app is 32-bit, it has to go. Apple made the decision to discontinue support for 32-bit binaries with macOS Catalina, and many app developers didn’t retrofit their apps to be 64-bit as Apple requested. Old 32-bit apps no longer work on macOS.

Some apps may just be unnecessary. If you have apps for managing photos or your music library, you may find the new Photos app that comes with macOS or the new Music app do a great job, so the old software you’d been using is redundant. It’s gotta go!

Whatever the case, there are quick and easy ways to delete apps from your Mac. We’ll walk you through it!

One thing to know is deleting an app isn’t the same as uninstalling it. There are two ways to delete apps, though: Finder, and Launchpad.

How to delete apps on Mac using Launchpad

In Launchpad, you can pressing and holding the app's icon to bring up the wiggly app management feature. Like iOS, app icons start to shake in-place, which allows you to move them around. Third-party apps also have a small ‘x’ icon on the top right of the icon in this mode, which allows you to delete them.


Another way to delete apps is from Finder. There, you simply select the app, then right-click and select ‘delete.’ In either Finder or Launchpad, you can drag app icons to the trash bin to delete the apps.

(If you’re on an older version of macOS – or OS X, for the much older versions – and managing apps via iTunes, the process is similar. Select the app, right-click, and select ‘Move to Trash.’)

Remove apps with the Finder

Remember when we told you deleting and uninstalling weren’t the same? Deleting is the first step in the process; Apple wants you to do more work!

The completely uninstall an app, follow the instructions for deleting an app above. Then head to your library folder from Finder:

  • Open Finder
  • Select ‘Go’ from menu
  • Hold down ‘option’ key on keyboard; you should see a new option for ‘Library’
  • While holding down the option key, select ‘Library’

Ios 13 App Can't Delete

A word of caution before you proceed: DO NOT delete files if you’re not sure what they do. Apple hides the Library for a reason: most people shouldn’t go poking through it and deleting files haphazardly. If you don’t know what a file or folder is for, leave it alone.

Library houses files and folders apps need to operate. Sometimes these files or folders are for updating an app, or managing a Safari extension. Again, Library isn’t a toy. Tread lightly!

When you find a file or folder you know doesn’t belong – and is associated with the app you deleted – you can also delete the file by right-clicking and selecting ‘Move to Trash,’ or dragging it to the trash bin.

Deleting these files completes the deletion of an app. It’s possible those files were doing things necessary for the app that you no longer want, like calling a server or tracking keystrokes. Without the app, those types of features are just spyware.

When you’re done deleting apps and associated files, go ahead and empty your trash bin.

If you’re thinking ‘wow, that all seems sort of scary,’ you’re not wrong. Even seasoned pros get nervous when digging into a computer’s Library file system. There is a better way to uninstall programs from Mac, though!

Uninstall Mac apps and delete left behind files

If the idea of deleting apps and digging into secret libraries on your Mac to remove associated files is daunting, we have a better solution.

CleanMyMacX is a best Mac utility that helps manage your apps and files, in addition to a ton of other features. For now, we’ll focus on app management.

In the CleanMyMacX menu is an ‘Applications’ section on the left pane. It has three options: Uninstaller, Updater, and Extensions. Updater lets you manage updates for apps you want to keep, and saves you the trouble of digging through the App Store just to update an app.

Extensions helps you manage Safari browser extensions, Spotlight plugins, Internet Plugins, and Preference Panes. It’s the simplest and most straightforward way to manage the add-ons some apps demand, which aren’t always caught when deleting or uninstalling an app. When you find an extension you don’t want, just select it and click the ‘Remove’ button at the bottom of the window.

To uninstall apps on Mac, go to the ‘Uninstaller’ option with CleanMyMacX. Here you’ll see apps in a variety of categories. There’s the ‘all’ category for – you guessed it – all of the apps on your Mac. There’s also a section named ‘unused,’ which shows you which apps you’re not really using often.

The ‘Leftovers’ section makes Apple’s ‘Library’ look silly. In CleanMyMacX, Leftovers automatically finds the files associates with apps you no longer have. Hovering over the file in a list brings up the ‘Show’ option, which gives you precise info on exactly what app the file is associated with. No more fumbling through Library and guessing!

There’s also a section for 32-bit apps (remember, we talked about that!) which shows every app that’s no longer supported for macOS. If you really enjoy the app, we suggest reaching out to the developer to see if they will be making it a 64-bit app. If not, go ahead and delete it; it just won’t work on your Mac.

Can't Delete App On A Mac Shortcut

When you’re ready to uninstall programs from your Mac, select the app in any menu you see it in and click ‘Uninstall’ at the bottom of the screen. It’s that easy! Texlive for mac mojave.

Conclusion

The main goal when uninstalling an app from macOS is to get rid of it completely: files, folders, the app – everything. We’ll also note that if you plan on never using the app or service again, it’s best to request the app developer remove your profile entirely. The method for this varies, but the app or service’s website should have the answer you need.

It takes a long time to delete an app the Apple way, and it’s just not worth it. Digging through the Library is scary stuff, and one wrong move can have a ripple effect on your entire system. No thanks!

We prefer CleanMyMacX, which takes care of the heavy lifting of deleting an app, then removing associated files to completely uninstall it. With a few clicks, you completely rid yourself of an app you don’t want.

For mobile users, there’s also AnyTrans, available for iOS and Android. AnyTrans is a macOS app that lets you manage backups, apps on your device, and account or cloud content in a much cleaner interface than Apple or Google provide. It’s easy to use, and available for both Android and iOS.

Best of all, AnyTrans as well as CleanMyMacX are available free as part of a seven day trial of Setapp. In addition to these apps, you get access to dozens of other handy macOS apps!

Setapp lives on Mac and iOS. Please come back from another device.

Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.

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