How do I find 32 bit software applications in Big Sur?

I upgraded to Big Sur. Now how do I find 32 bit applications? I tried System Report, Software, applications, but there is no column for bits.


Posted on Nov 27, 2020 9:51 AM

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13 replies

Nov 29, 2020 8:13 AM in response to acoolerclimate

FYI, all software licensing agreements stipulate that, although you paid money for an app, you did not “buy” it and it is not yours legally - you simply paid for a license to use it. I interpret it as paying “rent” to use it while it is available. The developer is free to withdraw their apps at any time and you have to expect that some will not be available forever.


As for finding apps: go to the Apple > about this Mac > System report > scroll down to Applications. It will show you if it is 32 or 64 bit. You can write down all the names and then search for them. Depending on where they were installed, they may no longer be available for removal since you now have a “sequestered” volume with the OS and system files which is read only. No access to change anything by anyone. FWIW, apps usually do not take up that much space.

Nov 28, 2020 11:33 AM in response to Owl-53

Thanks everyone. What I was trying to do if find all my old 32 bit applications/software and delete them so they won't take up any space, now that they won't work. But now that I'm in Big Sur, I find I cannot locate all the 32 bit apps. So no idea what to do. None of the programs that search for 32 bit apps will find them. They seem to be gone from my application folder as well, but they were games I had paid for and downloaded. If I do a search by name, I can find them, but not in any place that I can delete them. It's like Apple just decided to steal all that money from me, and then hide all the games so I can't do anything with them. I'm ready to toss this iMac off a cliff. No idea why they made this so difficult.

I tried the link above to run Parallels, but that just adds Windows. Which I would have to pay for. I tried the free trial, but I couldn't get my old games to work. Couldn't figure out the screen resolution. Again, everything is so difficult for us not so technical folk. I tried to see if I could run Mohave in Parallels, but again, nope, not in any easy way. Good lord!!!! Do you know how many games I had that were 32 bit that will not be updated to 64? I have lost so much money. I guess the best thing to do is just go and buy a PC and sell this iMac.

Nov 29, 2020 7:56 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks again everyone. Sorry about my last post. I was so frustrated! I decided to just leave it as Big Sur. Get rid of all the old 32 bit applications, and just move forward. I hate all that money gone, but it's not worth moving backward at this point. So now my only question is how to remove all the old 32 bit apps, to gain more space? That's the hard part. I just want to start with a clean slate now.

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How do I find 32 bit software applications in Big Sur?

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