Unable to remove app remnants and empty trash on Mac

Conventional wisdom is to ignore them, just leave them on disc, they're probably small, unimportant and won't cause you any problems and certainly not the sort of problems you could get by deleting stuff you don't understand. Convetional wisdom is also not to use apps like App Cleaner - just drag apps to the waste bin.

If you still want to delete them then you have to hunt down the files using the search function in finder to see where they live on disc. You might also need a search app (I use easyfind) because the native searchers don't always find hidden files, config files, system files, etc. You find the files, use Finder to navigate to the folder they are in and delete them there - you might be asked for an admin password to do so. If you still can't delete them then you head off to Terminal and start using more powerful removal commands under sudo with the attendant risks that go with it.

However.....;

1 - the first way is OK if you're a bit OCD and if App Cleaner thinks they should be deleted then you're probably OK force deleting them if you can.

2 - using Terminal is fun, makes you feel a bit like a hacker and gives the opportunity to delete whole directories of important files before you know what's happened with no way to get them back so don't do this unless you are really OCD about having a couple of files knocking about that aren't hurting anything.

I'm a bit OCD and therefore I hunt down all an app's settings, config, and data files and nuke them. One day I'll mess up and it might teach me a lesson.

If you were able to move the files to the trash but not delete them then restart your Mac and try again. You must also be logged into an Admin level account to have the authority to delete. Is your account Standard or Admin?

Did you try using the UnInstaller that came with or is available from the developer for each of those apps? That is the appropriate way to remove apps that were installed with a package installer. Using the developer’s UnInstaller will not suffer from all of the, “I’m just guessing that this belongs to this program and will delete it because the name is close” nonsense associated with app uninstaller dreck.

@Toad.

If there's an uninstaller then I use that, otherwise I just delete the app from the Applications folder. Then I use easyfind to search for all the files that get left behind by either method. I open the containing directories in Finder and just delete them. For a given app about 80% of these files delete with a simple keypress and the rest need an admin password. Occasionally some files are a bit more stubborn and then it's Terminal. Very rarely it takes a boot into recovery mode and Terminal.

The hardest files that I ever had to get rid of was Google after downloading a Google app that I needed for work. It scattered files far and wide including a bunch of daemons that were very difficult to get rid of and required the installation of a firewall to prevent Google re-downloading and re-installing them every time I deleted them.

I very much agree with my colleague @ John Galt

CleanMyMac , aka “ BrickMyMac “

There are two schools of thought when dealing with CleanMyMac aka “ BrickMyMac “

The steps in #1 below is predicated on the Offending  Application has been Removed as per the Developers Specific Instruction 

# 1 Some Contributors suggest restarting in Recovery Mode and choosing to Reinstall the Operating System over the existing installation. 

Even if you are fortunate to remove all the bits and pieces of CMM

The computer will never work the same

#2 - Then there are Other Contributors ( like myself ) would suggest  from this link Use Disk Utility to erase a Mac with Apple silicon.

For Intel computer >> Use Disk Utility to erase an Intel-based Mac followed by How to reinstall macOS

Thereafter to start from scratch and install all Required Applications directly from the Apple Apps Store or Directly from the Developer.

If going this route - I suggest Not using Startup Assist to migrate everything back as this will probably Re-Introduce the existing  issue at the time TM Backup was made 

If you use CleanMyMac, then it won't be long before you will need to completely erase that Mac and reconfigure it from the ground up. In fact you should do that now. Yes it is that bad. The effects of having used it will become apparent... eventually.

Non-Apple "cleaning" apps are destructive in nature. It's what they do. They are scams that prey on unsophisticated users — and they exist for PCs as well as Macs.

Rule 1 of Macs is don't install junk.

True, but I've never used an installer that removed all the apps' files scattered across dozens of folders in both the user area and the HD. It might be true that they are (usually, but not always) tiny and don't matter but if you've got the slightest bit of OCD then they matter.

It's true that the uninstaller (if available) is the appropriate way to uninstall apps, but I've never used an installer that removed all the apps' files scattered across dozens of folders in both the user area and the HD. It might be true that they are (usually, but not always) tiny and don't matter but if you've got the slightest bit of OCD about them then they matter and can ruin your day if you don't get rid of them.

Zurarczurx wrote:

It's true that the uninstaller (if available) is the appropriate way to uninstall apps, but I've never used an installer that removed all the apps' files scattered across dozens of folders in both the user area and the HD.

All of that is completely minuscule and has no effect on your Mac. It is also your data.

And, they are not scattered all over the drive. They exist in at most a handful of defined locations. It’s really not hard to go to those places and remove those few items.

It might be true that they are (usually, but not always) tiny and don't matter but if you've got the slightest bit of OCD about them then they matter and can ruin your day if you don't get rid of them.

You asked for the best method to uninstall apps. We provided that. It is not possible for us to help with that.

What apps have you tried to remover an app and its supporting files?

That's what I do except I use  Find Any File . But essentially the same thing.