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How to remove built-in apps and directories permanently?

Can somebody please tell me how to permanently remove the /Movies and /Music directories? I delete them with 'sudo rm -rf /M*' every time I open a terminal and they are gone after i run the command but they always come back after a restart. I would also like to delete some of the built-in apps like Safari, etc... but I havent figured out how to do it and I imagine if I did they would just return like the directories I mentioned. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 13.2

Posted on Feb 28, 2023 7:03 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 1, 2023 5:53 AM

Those folders and certain Apple apps are part of the core system and can not be removed. Even attempting to remove them is done at your peril. Leave them untouched.


Years ago there were people who wanted to remove QuickTime from their Macs despite continuous warnings not to do so because it was part of the core system. The ones who went ahead anyway found that they had corrupted their system and made it unusable.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 1, 2023 5:53 AM in response to ubjackfrost

Those folders and certain Apple apps are part of the core system and can not be removed. Even attempting to remove them is done at your peril. Leave them untouched.


Years ago there were people who wanted to remove QuickTime from their Macs despite continuous warnings not to do so because it was part of the core system. The ones who went ahead anyway found that they had corrupted their system and made it unusable.

Feb 28, 2023 7:25 PM in response to ubjackfrost

ubjackfrost Said:

"How to remove built-in apps and directories permanently?: [...]I would also like to delete some of the built-in apps like Safari, etc... but I havent figured out how to do it[...]"

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Limiting Usage:

These are builtin apps, and they cannot be deleted. If you wanted to, then you could make this a child's phone and decide not to grant access to these sites. Go Here: Use Screen Time on your Mac - Apple Support

How to remove built-in apps and directories permanently?

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