AppRemover 한국어
AppRemover app icon

Remove Mac apps
and everything they leave behind

Dragging an app to the Trash leaves its settings, caches and launch items in place. AppRemover finds those files too and moves them to the Trash along with the app.

Download for macOS

macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple silicon and Intel · Notarized by Apple

Install with Homebrew: brew install --cask manoit-DanielJung/tap/appremover

Features

Every scan runs on your Mac. Nothing is deleted outright — items are moved to the Trash, so you can restore them until you empty it.

Uninstall apps with their leftovers

Lists the apps in /Applications, Utilities and your own ~/Applications, together with the files each one left behind.

  • Looks in Application Support, Caches, Preferences, Containers, Group Containers, Saved Application State, Logs, cookies and web data, and more.
  • Only exact bundle ID matches are selected by default. Items that merely share a developer or a name are listed separately as “needs review” for you to decide.
  • Running apps are skipped, and built-in macOS apps such as Safari are left out.

Find leftovers of deleted apps

Finds settings and data folders still on your Mac from apps you already threw away.

  • Groups items by app when their owner is no longer installed anywhere.
  • Items another app from the same developer may still use are marked “needs review”, and a switch shows only apps that are definitely gone.
  • Reveal any item in Finder before you choose it.

Clean up launch items

Also finds the background items apps install: LaunchAgents, LaunchDaemons and PrivilegedHelperTools.

  • Stops them with launchctl bootout before moving them, so they don’t keep running from the Trash.
  • Items in the system /Library folder are handled with your administrator password.

Memory overview

Shows memory use the same way Activity Monitor does.

  • App, wired, compressed, cached and free memory, swap usage and memory pressure (normal, warning, critical) at a glance.
  • Lists the apps using the most memory, with helper processes added in, and lets you ask an app to quit normally (it will prompt you about unsaved documents).
  • Clear the disk cache with purge (administrator access) when you really need to.

Launch item and signature check

Checks the launch items where malware usually hides, and the code signatures of your installed apps.

  • Tells Apple components, App Store apps, notarized apps and Developer ID apps apart, and flags unsigned or broken signatures as critical.
  • Finds launch items whose program no longer exists — debris from deleted apps.

ClamAV malware scan

Scans files with the free, open-source ClamAV engine. It is optional and installed only if you ask.

  • One button installs ClamAV through Homebrew and downloads the virus database (about 110 MB).
  • Scan Downloads, Desktop, Applications, your whole home folder or any folder you pick, and move detected files to the Trash.
  • A second opinion only — macOS’s built-in XProtect keeps running alongside it.

System requirements

Operating system
macOS 14 Sonoma or later
Mac
Universal — Apple silicon (M-series) and Intel
Distribution
Developer ID signed, Apple-notarized DMG
Optional
Homebrew, for the ClamAV scan
Language
The app’s interface is in Korean

How to install

AppRemover cleans system folders with administrator access, which the Mac App Store sandbox doesn’t allow. That’s why it is distributed here as an Apple-notarized DMG.

  1. Download the DMG

    Click “Download for macOS” above to get AppRemover-latest.dmg.

  2. Move it to Applications

    Open the DMG and drag AppRemover onto the Applications folder next to it.

  3. Open the app

    Open AppRemover from your Applications folder. If macOS asks whether to open an app downloaded from the internet, click Open.

  4. Grant permissions

    In System Settings › Privacy & Security, turn on Full Disk Access and App Management for AppRemover, then use “Reopen app” in AppRemover. These let it reach other apps’ data containers and remove other apps. The lock button in the app opens the right settings pages for you.

Install with Homebrew

If you use the Terminal, you can also install it with Homebrew. Afterwards, grant the permissions in step 4 above as usual.

brew install --cask manoit-DanielJung/tap/appremover

Update with brew upgrade --cask appremover and remove with brew uninstall --cask appremover.

Why does it ask for an administrator password?

Most cleanup runs with your own account’s permissions. AppRemover asks for an administrator password only when it has to move files owned by root:

  • Apps owned by root — apps installed from the App Store or with an installer (.pkg) can’t be moved with normal permissions.
  • Items in system folders — places like /Library/Application Support, /Library/LaunchDaemons and /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools can only be changed by an administrator. The app labels these items as needing an administrator password.
  • Clearing the disk cache — the macOS purge command requires administrator access.
  • Files found by the malware scan — only when they can’t be moved to the Trash with normal permissions.

You type the password into the standard macOS authentication dialog. AppRemover never sees or stores it. Selected items are handled together, so you are usually asked only once.

Items moved with administrator access still go to your Trash, not straight to deletion. Finder’s “Put Back” doesn’t work for them, though — to restore one, drag it from the Trash back to where it was.

Privacy

AppRemover does not collect any personal data.

  • There is no account or sign-in, and no analytics, advertising or tracking.
  • App, file, memory and signature checks all run on your Mac, and the results are never sent anywhere.
  • The app itself does not connect to the internet. If you choose to use the ClamAV feature, Homebrew and ClamAV download the program and virus database from their own servers, under their own policies.

This website doesn’t use cookies or analytics either. If you switch languages, only that choice is remembered in your browser (localStorage). Delivering the page means basic connection data such as your IP address may be processed by our hosting provider (AWS), but we don’t collect or analyze it.

Frequently asked questions

What is AppRemover?

AppRemover is an app uninstaller for Mac (macOS). When you remove an app, it also finds the settings (Preferences), caches (Caches), data (Application Support, Containers) and launch items (LaunchAgents, LaunchDaemons) the app left behind and moves them to the Trash together with the app. It also finds leftovers of apps you already deleted, shows memory usage, checks launch items and app signatures, and scans for malware with ClamAV.

Isn't dragging an app to the Trash enough on a Mac?

That removes only the app bundle (.app). The settings, caches and background items the app created in your Library (~/Library) and the system Library (/Library) stay behind, and leftover launch items can keep trying to run without the app. AppRemover finds these items by the app's bundle ID and cleans them up together.

Can I undo a removal?

Yes. AppRemover never deletes files outright; it moves them to the Trash, so you can restore them until you empty it. Finder's “Put Back” doesn't work for items moved with administrator access, so drag those from the Trash back to where they were.

Why isn't AppRemover on the Mac App Store?

Mac App Store apps must run in a sandbox, which cannot clean up other apps or the /Library system folders. So AppRemover is signed with an Apple Developer ID, notarized by Apple, and distributed as a DMG from this site and through Homebrew.

Can I install it with Homebrew?

Yes. Run brew install --cask manoit-DanielJung/tap/appremover in the Terminal to install it, and brew upgrade --cask appremover to update it.

Does it run on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs?

Yes. It is a Universal app that runs on M-series Apple silicon Macs and Intel Macs. It requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later.

Does AppRemover collect personal data?

No. There is no account, analytics, advertising or tracking, and every check runs on your Mac. The app does not connect to the internet itself; only if you choose the ClamAV feature do Homebrew and ClamAV download the program and virus database.

Why does it need my administrator password?

Only to move root-owned apps installed from the App Store or with an installer, to move items in the /Library system folders, or to clear the disk cache. You type the password into the standard macOS authentication dialog; AppRemover never sees or stores it.

Contact

Bug reports, feature ideas or any other questions — please send us an email.

contact@intentcode.co.kr