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Launchpad & Catalina

Deleted apps that weren't working under new Catalina 10.15 but unable to remove from Launchpad ( used all "3 ways" and the "x" never comes up and drag to Trash doesn't work. These are apps 'marked' by Apple as no longer working in Catalina ( unless upgraded ). Some apps are too old to upgrade or I just want to delete them. No longer in Applications folder but still show up in Launchpad with the big white Apple 'X'

Posted on Oct 13, 2019 5:59 PM

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Posted on Oct 15, 2019 10:08 AM

Thanks for the help. I did find anything that took one 'back' to Applications didn't work ( at least for the Apps and programs I was trying to delete ). In some cases the Uninstaller for an app was also 'whited' out by Apple Catalina update, so that didn't work. After trying all that - your advise to "hunt down" the Apps was good advice.


In the end, I ended up using a free program I had installed in 2016 ( AppCleaner. app from FreeMacSoft.net ). It ended up doing the job on those apps that didn't otherwise work with your advise. I am not endorsing this program, just saying it worked for me and is still available. I'm sure there are other programs that work just as well.


The need is to delete the app or program AND all the associated files which may be all over the place, not just in Applications. The AppCleaner places the app in the Trash so you can recover any file that you may need and was 'accidentally' deleted. As you stated, just don't empty trash until you are sure you won't need the app or file associated with it.


You were correct that Microsoft Office program was difficult to completely delete. Some Programs, like Adobe Photoshop Elements 6, won't offer an update for Catalina as they want one to use their newer programs on a monthly rental. So looking for updates from program developers doesn't always work. A few did. So go that route first.


Some credit, and thanks, to Apple for allowing Catalina to 'open' my old Microsoft .doc, .exls files. Important ones had already been converted to Pages or Numbers. Looking forward to see if new incoming .doc's will also auto-convert as a number of my friends have Windows.

Thanks again for your help on this. ( minor correction - I have (had) Microsoft Office 2008 not 2007 as I had stated earlier )



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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 15, 2019 10:08 AM in response to sberman

Thanks for the help. I did find anything that took one 'back' to Applications didn't work ( at least for the Apps and programs I was trying to delete ). In some cases the Uninstaller for an app was also 'whited' out by Apple Catalina update, so that didn't work. After trying all that - your advise to "hunt down" the Apps was good advice.


In the end, I ended up using a free program I had installed in 2016 ( AppCleaner. app from FreeMacSoft.net ). It ended up doing the job on those apps that didn't otherwise work with your advise. I am not endorsing this program, just saying it worked for me and is still available. I'm sure there are other programs that work just as well.


The need is to delete the app or program AND all the associated files which may be all over the place, not just in Applications. The AppCleaner places the app in the Trash so you can recover any file that you may need and was 'accidentally' deleted. As you stated, just don't empty trash until you are sure you won't need the app or file associated with it.


You were correct that Microsoft Office program was difficult to completely delete. Some Programs, like Adobe Photoshop Elements 6, won't offer an update for Catalina as they want one to use their newer programs on a monthly rental. So looking for updates from program developers doesn't always work. A few did. So go that route first.


Some credit, and thanks, to Apple for allowing Catalina to 'open' my old Microsoft .doc, .exls files. Important ones had already been converted to Pages or Numbers. Looking forward to see if new incoming .doc's will also auto-convert as a number of my friends have Windows.

Thanks again for your help on this. ( minor correction - I have (had) Microsoft Office 2008 not 2007 as I had stated earlier )



Oct 14, 2019 4:20 PM in response to PhiJ95

These segments are from Catalina's help.



So no, you cannot use Launchpad to delete these things. You need to hunt to find them since you say they're not in Applications. I remember from years ago that Microsoft (Office) was extremely difficult to delete because of their complex organization. I imagine Microsoft Home is also extremely complex. And if there is an uninstaller supplied by Microsoft, it needed to be used in MacOS Mojave or earlier.

Oct 14, 2019 4:05 PM in response to sberman

What little I know about Finder - from Finder, one goes to Application Folder and deletes the Apps - that was already done before the question was asked; didn't work. The app icons are only in Launchpad - they 'wiggle' in Launchpad but no X to delete or when attempt to move to trash they remain in Launchpad. ( no, reboot didn't help either ).


Is their another way ( via Finder ? ) to delete these app icons from Launchpad ? or any way that works to delete these app icons which are 'grayed out by Apple' in Launchpad. ( Spotlight doesn't help either ). I have a whole suite of Microsoft Home 2007 icons that won't go away - also Nikon icons the same way along with a few other app icons .

Launchpad & Catalina

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