New Reviews: The Mac uninstallers
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As a software reviewer, I download a lot of programs to test them out. Some are great programs deserving of a space on my hard drive while others just are not up to snuff. With all the available software here at CNET Download.com, you've probably found a few gems worth keeping, but you've inevitably also downloaded a few programs that just didn't work out. We understand.
On a Windows machine, you can go to the control panel and choose the Add/Remove programs tool to find and uninstall software you don't want. But on a Mac, it's not as easy. When you install on a Mac the process usually involves dragging the software into your Applications folder. What you may not know is other files associated with that program are automatically installed into different folders to make the program work properly. So if you simply drag that app icon to the trash, you're leaving a significant amount of unused files on your hard drive.
Today, we have a group of freshly reviewed apps whose purpose is to extricate those unwanted apps and leftover files from your hard drive. They come in a few different versions, but all are worthy of checking out if you want to trash that one program once and for all, or if you just need to make space on your hard drive.
AppTrap is less of an app than it is a free System Preference pane. Once set up (you can have AppTrap start at login), all you need to do is exactly what you've probably done all along: drag the application to the trash. When you do, AppTrap will ask if you want to delete all associated files. Simply answer yes and you're done. If you're looking for the least work to get your Mac apps off your hard drive, AppTrap is your program.
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AppCleaner is a free program that lets you be a little more hands-on than AppTrap. You can drag unwanted apps to the nice-looking interface, or browse through a list of possible apps to uninstall. AppCleaner shows you all the files you will be deleting before your confirmation so make sure to look closely before you pull the trigger.
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AppZapper is a shareware program I've talked about before and does a fairly good job, but it will cost you ($12.95). Like AppCleaner you can drag-and-drop apps to the interface to display associated apps. But AppZapper also offers the UnZap command, letting you retrieve previously "zapped" software components from the trash. As an added bonus, you can also have the program search for other trash files on your hard drive with the Genie.
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CleanApp is another shareware alternative with a few extra features than AppZapper, and yet it's more affordable ($10). CleanApp offers the same drag-and-drop functionality, but also allows you to track all future installations so you can make absolutely sure you delete every file upon uninstallation. CleanApp seems to forever remain in beta, but does a nice job otherwise and might be just the solution you're looking for.
Not all downloads are good downloads. Unfortunately, when you're on a Mac, it's more difficult to completely extract all files associated with unwanted software. Check out our reviews and look at the available features before installing the uninstaller that's right for you.
Jason Parker writes software reviews and features for Windows, Mac, and iPhone. If he learned to dance, it would make him a fabled "quadruple threat," but we can't get him to do it. 
99% of the time the files scattered all over the place, are actually put in your home/library folder and don't bother anything or anybody, unlike tangled spaghetti registry entries which can hose an entire Windows system.
In other words, it doesn't matter if you leave the files there unless you're the kind of person who want to save 500k of space on your 250GB hard drive.
I'd still prefer the way Mac apps are installed. It's cleaner than how Windows does things. When you drag an app to the application folder, the files are installed there. Combined with an uninstaller menitioned above, the whole install/uninstall process is better than Windows.
I've been using AppTrap for close to a year now. No problems whatsoever.
where is the defensiveness? People are just pointing out that the remaining files with present day hard disks are not such an issue anymore be they 4 kb or 40 kb, but if you're a tidy person these apps can be useful albeit not perfect. ALL of them still miss out on picking up crud left behind and will improve over time, what updates and upgrades are supposed to do.
As to Jason's remark:
"On a Windows machine, you can go to the control panel and choose the Add/Remove programs tool to find and uninstall software you don't want. But on a Mac, it's not as easy. When you install on a Mac the process usually involves dragging the software into your Applications folder. What you may not know is other files associated with that program are automatically installed into different folders to make the program work properly. So if you simply drag that app icon to the trash, you're leaving a significant amount of unused files on your hard drive"
Jason is a nice guy and finds almost every software he mentions nice without giving an in-depth review. So, being not easily shaken - and being a Mac and PC user - myself, I even find this remark odd coming from a nice Mac user, when I see how much crap, let alone crud, remains behind in a Windows machine that slows your system down as well, which I have never encountered with my Mac having over 300 (sic) applications on board!
Dumping an app in the trash still beats having to go in the uninstall procedure on a Windows box!
- by Pete July 31, 2008 8:44 AM PDT
- @Dalmation,
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(13 Comments)where is the defensiveness? People are just pointing out that the remaining files with present day hard disks are not such an issue anymore be they 4 kb or 40 kb, but if you're a tidy person these apps can be useful albeit not perfect. ALL of them still miss out on picking up crud left behind and will improve over time, what updates and upgrades are supposed to do.
As to Jason's remark:
"On a Windows machine, you can go to the control panel and choose the Add/Remove programs tool to find and uninstall software you don't want. But on a Mac, it's not as easy. When you install on a Mac the process usually involves dragging the software into your Applications folder. What you may not know is other files associated with that program are automatically installed into different folders to make the program work properly. So if you simply drag that app icon to the trash, you're leaving a significant amount of unused files on your hard drive"
Jason is a nice guy and finds almost every software he mentions nice without giving an in-depth review. So, being not easily shaken - and being a Mac and PC user - myself, I even find this remark odd coming from a nice Mac user, when I see how much crap, let alone crud, remains behind in a Windows machine that slows your system down as well, which I have never encountered with my Mac having over 300 (sic) applications on board!
Dumping an app in the trash still beats having to go in the uninstall procedure on a Windows box!