I have many folders from applications that are no longer installed on my computer. They are grayed out and will not delete. I can right click them, choose to move them to trash. I'm prompted with a message that says it will remove this from all devices everywhere, I click ok but the folder simply reappears at the front of list of folders.
How can I get rid of these?
MacBook Pro (2020 and later)
Thanks for getting back with us about this, Junior Radracer! Let's go a different direction and see if we can help you delete those files, if they don't show up in on the iCloud website.
First, put your Mac into safe mode and test. Booting into safe mode will disable any startup and login items from automatically opening, which can help us to isolate the source of the issue further. When you do this, you’ll see some unusual behavior from the display; this is to be expected. Please follow the steps in this article: How to use safe mode on your Mac.
Next, let's see if this behavior persists in a second user account on your Mac. Please follow these steps to make a test account that can be deleted later: Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac.
Please let us know how these tests go. We're here for you. Have a fantastic day!
Got it. Thanks for trying those steps, Junior Radracer. Since the issue persists after doing all that, further assistance may be needed. We want to make sure you reach the right team for help with your Mac, so we recommend that you contact Apple Support directly. Depending on your region, you may be able to reach them here: Get Support.
Thank you for participating in the Apple Support Communities and have a wonderful day.
Hi Judy!
So, safe mode does not change anything. Creating a second user does seem to work. When I log into my iCloud account, the current files and folders show up. Now when I go back to my main administrator account, disable iCloud Drive entirely and then re-enable it, all the grayed out folders return.
Hello Junior Radracer,
Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities. Upon review of your post, it seems that you want to delete fillers in iCloud Drive. We can see why you’d want this taken care of, so let us help from here! Let’s start by reviewing the following articles which may help:
Please let us know if you have follow up questions, so we can continue assisting. Take care!
Hi Chris_D13,
Thank you for all those suggestions. None of them worked, because none of the grayed out files shown in the screenshot above are shown on iCloud.com. These files only show on my MacBook, they do not show on iCloud.com, the files app on my iPhone or iPad. I like to keep things organized in finder, and these folders make things difficult to do that.
How to removed grayed out folders from iCloud Drive
