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xenuz2016-10-02 19:35:36
macOS
xenuz, 2016-10-02 19:35:36

How to remove a program from OS X without leaving traces and not polluting the system?

For example, in Windows, applications that are installed through installers usually write their data to all places in the system:
the registry, system files, system folders, user's personal folders, and so on.
If the installer and uninstaller of Windows applications are implemented with high quality, then after uninstalling the application through the installer, everything in the system is deleted, including from the registry and all garbage, everything related to the application used (unless, of course, the user has allowed deletion of personal data, in the case of such options in the uninstaller).
If the uninstaller is not of high quality, then the system is often "littered" with various unnecessary data, registry entries, extra files, and all this portion of the leftovers from the applications used grows like a snow comp. Which ultimately has a very detrimental effect on the performance of both the operating system and the file system (hard disk fragmentation). Yes, there are special cleaner utilities, but this is again resorting to additional tools. Very often, a simple manual search by keywords for the name of the application, both in the file system and in the branches of the registry, helps - I found it, immediately deleted it (if this application no longer exists). But of course, not always everything can be found by the method of analytical search and user intuition.
This is all in the famous Windows systems.
Question about OS X. How can I properly remove the application so as not to "clutter up" the operating system?
Of course, if the application is developed with high quality, then both installing it in the system and uninstalling it will give an exceptionally "clean" result.
But if the application is not very high quality, how to remove it and, most importantly, its traces. So I understand in OS X the concept of the system registry does not exist.
What free and high-quality cleaning applications would you recommend using to clean the system from debris?
How can I manually remove suitable garbage from an uninstalled application in OS X (for example, from an administrator account)? I also suspect that you can search and analytically search for the remains of files of the same name and traces of an uninstalled application, but which folders and which files to check, what to look for?
The main goal is to keep the operating system running fast, productive, efficient, and comfortable for as long as possible after installing and removing applications.

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2 answer(s)
I
ipswitch, 2016-10-02
@ipswitch

Many people use CleanMyMac -
https://macpaw.com/ru/cleanmymac
Of the free counterparts, there is MacClean -
https://lifehacker.ru/2015/07/22/macclean-besplatn...
But you can also rustle with your hands, especially in Libraries .

V
Vespertilio, 2016-10-11
@Vespertilio

At first, I used the free Dr.Cleaner , which itself offered to clean up the garbage when you uninstall the program. Now I don't use cleaners.
In general, in macos, software usually stores all data inside itself in ~/Applications/AppName.app/, which is both an application folder and its shortcut, therefore, deleting the application's "icon" in "Programs" essentially deletes the program. However, for extended resources, there is a directory ~/Library/Application Support/that performs the same function as ~\AppDatain Windows. For example, Steam stores all installed games there. There is also a folder ~/Library/Application\ Scripts/. And there are also folders ~/Library/LaunchAgents/, /Library/LaunchAgents/and /Library/LaunchDaemons/, which contain plist configuration files for autorun "daemons"launchd .
There is also a folder ~/Library/Caches/( /Library/Caches/) in which the application cache is obviously stored, as I understand it, something like %windir%\TEMP in Windows and which, in theory, is cleared by the Mac itself.
Actually, that's all. As correctly noted above "rustle in the Library"'s. Apart from the obvious Applications.
Well, on a note: programs installed via pkg , usually requiring a password from root'a, can leave traces everywhere, leave their binaries and scripts in /usr , something in /etc , /var, slip drivers into kexts and other kernel modules, etc. Therefore, I personally try to avoid such software, unless I'm sure exactly what it does, because. usually such programs modify the system itself.

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