How to Completely Uninstall Mac Apps & Purge Hidden Leftover Files

When you drag an application bundle (e.g. Slack.app, Adobe Photoshop.app, or Spotify.app) into the macOS Trash, macOS deletes only the executable binary bundle.

Due to macOS app sandboxing and design architecture, applications write their persistent user state, cached offline assets, auto-updaters, and SQLite databases to separate directories in your User Library. These folders remain on your Mac forever unless specifically tracked down and removed.

1. The 7 Secret Storage Hiding Places for App Leftovers

1. Application Support (`~/Library/Application Support`)

This is the primary location where applications store offline downloads, local databases, plugins, and workspaces. Apps like Discord, Spotify, and Steam routinely store 10–30 GB here.

2. Sandboxed Containers (`~/Library/Containers`)

Every App Store app and sandboxed app gets its own isolated virtual home directory inside ~/Library/Containers/<bundle-identifier>. When you delete the app, macOS does not automatically remove its container.

3. Group Containers (`~/Library/Group Containers`)

Used by apps that share data between main binaries and widget extensions (e.g. Microsoft Office, 1Password, Adobe). These can be massive and are frequently missed by generic cleaners.

4. Caches & WebKit Data (`~/Library/Caches` & `~/Library/WebKit`)

Electron apps (Slack, Notion, VS Code, Figma) bundle full Chromium and WebKit rendering engines that cache hundreds of thousands of small HTML/JS assets.

5. Preferences (`~/Library/Preferences`)

Property list files (.plist) containing application settings and license keys.

6. LaunchAgents & Background Daemons (`~/Library/LaunchAgents`)

Background helper daemons that launch at login even after the main application is uninstalled.

2. Manual Leftover Cleanup via Terminal

If you recently uninstalled an app named ExampleApp (bundle id com.company.exampleapp), you can hunt down its orphaned folders with these commands:

rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/ExampleApp
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.company.exampleapp
rm -rf ~/Library/Group\ Containers/*.com.company.exampleapp
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.company.exampleapp
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.company.exampleapp.plist
rm -rf ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.company.exampleapp.helper.plist

3. 1-Click Leftover App Uninstaller with DiskAtlas

Instead of manually scouring 7 different hidden system folders for bundle identifiers, DiskAtlas includes a dedicated Leftover App Uninstaller.

DiskAtlas cross-references installed /Applications with all directories across ~/Library. When it detects orphaned containers belonging to apps that no longer exist, it highlights them in red and lets you purge them in 1 safe click.

App Leftover Locations Reference Table