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Need to free up disk space but can't delete some apps on Mac

I've used the three methods—dragging and dropping to the Trash, using the Finder's Applications folder, and using Launchpad—that are recommended in the Apple Support article, but none of them work. Additionally, I read an article on unlocking the applications, which I done, but they won't go away. Most app comes with macOS. I need 4 more GB in order to upload Monterey 12.7. I bought an external drive (which the genius at the Apple Store suggested), and I can transfer programs to it, but I'm not making the space necessary to update if I can't remove them from the Mac's hard disk.

Best Answered by

Amanda Wong

Answered on Tuesday, August 27, 2024

When you can't delete an app on a Mac, the possible reasons could be the app you want to delete is in use, it is a pre-installed app on your Mac and is protected by the system, the software is corrupted, etc.

Therefore, to delete apps that won't delete, you can try the following solutions:

1. Use a dedicated app uninstaller such as iBoysoft MagicMenu to completely uninstall the app and clean its leftovers.

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iBoysoft MagicMenu

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2. Disable SIP to delete system apps on Mac.

3. Force quit the app and then try to delete it again.

In addition to deleting unnecessary apps on Mac to release disk space, there are some other solutions to free up space on Macintosh HD such as deleting duplicate files, clearing browser data, moving large files to an external hard drive, emptying the Trash, cleaning junk files, etc.