For example, Adobe offers a separate uninstaller app you need to download and run to uninstall Flash on a Mac. RELATED: How to Uninstall Java on Mac OS X. Oracle is even worse and doesn’t provide an easy app that will uninstall Java from Mac OS X for you.
- AppCleaner is a small application which allows you to thoroughly uninstall unwanted apps. Installing an application distributes many files throughout your System using space of your Hard Drive unnecessarily.
- On your Mac, click the Finder icon in the Dock, then click Applications in the Finder sidebar. Do one of the following: If an app is in a folder, open the app’s folder to check for an Uninstaller. If you see Uninstall App or App Uninstaller, double-click it, then follow the onscreen instructions.
- Uninstaller for Mac. But now you can leave all the trouble to Uninstaller. It helps you locate and delete the junk files once for all. What do you need to know about free software?
- Deleting apps on the Mac isn't as obvious as one would think. Even if it is a little more obscure than maybe you'd otherwise like, at least it's not easy to accidentally delete an app.
Apple unveils a new MacBook Air during an Apple launch event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Oct. 30, 2018 in New York City. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
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Removing programs from a Macintosh can be very easy. In many cases, all you have to do is drag the application's icon to the Trash. Sometimes, though, applications store the files they need to run in other locations on your computer's hard drive, and finding them can take some detective work. If you are used to the uninstall option in Windows, you have a little culture shock — macOS does not have this feature built in.
Why would you want to uninstall a program? For the same reason you occasionally tidy your office or clean your garage. Clutter breeds inefficiency. Applications take up space on your hard disk and can slow your computer. Also, a new version of a program may not work correctly unless you get rid of the old one [source: Ritchie].
Most of the time, uninstalling is this simple:
- Exit the program you want to delete.
- Open the Applications folder, which you'll find by opening a new window in the Finder, or clicking on the hard disk icon.
- Drag the icon of the program you want to uninstall to the Trash.
- Empty the Trash.
When files for the application you want to delete are all stored in one location, dragging the icon to the Trash will take care of most of the work. In Mac talk, apps like this are 'bundled.' To see the files in an application's bundle, click on its icon while holding down the Control key. You should see an option that says, 'show package contents.' Uninstalling applications downloaded from the Mac App Store is even easier — just delete the application from the Applications Folder and its accompanying folder in UserLibraryContainers [source: Tanous].
For some other programs, removal is more complicated. When installed, these programs create files in several locations, often in the System Folder. The first step in removing them is to check the program's documentation to see if there is an uninstall utility. If your program has an uninstall utility associated with it, it may have been installed with the program or included on the disk that came with it. If you downloaded a disk image to install the software, sometimes you'll find an uninstaller there. Running an uninstall utility can make removing a program much easier.
You should be aware that removing an unbundled program by moving it into the Trash can leave behind orphan files on your computer. Preferencefiles are usually small and you might want to ignore them if you're just trying to free up disk space. Background files or support files can be larger, especially for multimedia programs like GarageBand [source: MacRumors]. These files are likely to reside in Library folders in your hard drive or Home folder. They will usually be labeled with the name of the program, like Office or Acrobat, or the developer, such as Microsoft or Adobe. You can search for the relevant names using Spotlight, which is included with the Mac OS. Drag the files you find to the trash to get rid of them [source: Tanous]. .
Check out the next page for tips to make your uninstallation go even more smoothly.
These instructions are NOT applicable to Flash Player included with Google Chrome. Visit the Flash Player Help page for instructions on enabling (or disabling) Flash Player in various browsers.
If you use Windows, see Uninstall Flash Player | Windows.
If Flash Player is installed on your computer, the following box displays the version of Flash Player and your operating system. If Flash Player is not installed, an error message appears.
If your Flash Player installation was not successful, use the following solution to reinstall.
- Click the Apple icon and choose About This Mac.The Mac OS version appears in the About This Mac dialog.
2. Run the uninstaller applicable to your Mac OS version
- Run the uninstaller on Mac OS X 10.4 and later, including macOS
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Note:
Beginning with Flash Player 11.5, uninstalling the Flash Player resets the AutoUpdateDisable and SilentAutoUpdateEnable settings in mms.cfg to their default values:
- AutoUpdateDisable=0
- SilentAutoUpdateEnable=0
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If you are running the Flash Player uninstaller as part of your deployment process, redeploy any custom changes to either AutoUpdateDisable or SilentAutoUpdateEnable.
Run the uninstaller on Mac OS X 10.4 and later, including macOS
- Download the Adobe Flash Player uninstaller:
- Mac OS X, version 10.6 and later: uninstall_flash_player_osx.dmg
- Mac OS X, version 10.4 and 10.5: uninstall_flash_player_osx.dmg
The uninstaller is downloaded to the Downloads folder of your browser by default. - In Safari, choose Window > Downloads.If you are using Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion), click the Downloads icon displayed on the browser.
- To run the uninstaller, double-click the Uninstaller icon in the window. If you see a message asking if you want to open the uninstaller file, click Open.
- Bookmark or print this page so that you can use the rest of these instructions after you close your browser.
- To close all browsers, either click the browser name in the Uninstaller dialog, or close each browser manually and then click Retry.Note: Do not click Quit in the Uninstaller window. It stops the uninstallation process.
- After you close the browsers, the uninstaller continues automatically until the uninstallation is complete. When you see the message notifying you that the uninstallation succeeded, click Done.
- Delete the following directories:
- <home directory>/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player
- <home directory>/Library/Caches/Adobe/Flash Player
- Download the Adobe Flash Player uninstaller:
- Mac OS X, version 10.3 and earlier: uninstall_flash_player_osx_10.2.dmg (1.3 MB) (updated 05/27/08)
- Choose Window > Downloads to view the downloaded uninstaller.
- Save the uninstaller file in a convenient location.
- To open the uninstaller, double-click it in the Downloads window.
- To run the uninstaller, double-click the Uninstaller icon in the window. If requested, enter your computer user name and password and click OK.
- Bookmark or print this page so that you can use the rest of these instructions after you close your browser. Close all browsers and other applications that use Flash Player, including instant messaging applications, SWF files, and projectors (EXE files that play SWF files). Otherwise, the uninstaller cannot finish (even though it appears to finish).Once the uninstaller finishes, the window closes automatically.
You can verify that uninstallation is complete by following these steps:
- Open your browser and check the status of Flash Player.
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