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What to Do I Can't Delete Applications on MacBook Air?

Tonight I upgraded to an M1 MacBook Air (Ventura) from my older Intel MacBook Pro (Monterey), and I can't delete apps on the new Mac but I could delete them on my older Mac. What I've tried: I press and hold icons by Launchpad and the Applications folder. The icons jiggle, but there is no "x." And I also drag them to the Trash, but that does nothing. I even tried Terminal and submitted some simple code, but nothing. Finally, I viewed contents inside the application files and looked for uninstallation files, but there were none. Any fixes?

Best Answered by

iBoysoft author Sherry Song

Sherry Song

Answered on Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Hi, don't worry, this is easy to solve, you can try these fixes:

(1)Use a dedicated app uninstaller to completely uninstall apps on Mac. If you have permission, you can delete any apps on Mac with the useful tool iBoysoft MagicMenu. It also will clean the leftovers together.

 Download

iBoysoft MagicMenu

Rating:4.8

     

  1. Free download, install, and open it.
  2. Click Extension and find and download the Uninstall App.
  3. Right-click your unwanted app and choose Uninstall > Uninstall > Yes.

(2)Disable SIP to delete system apps on Mac in macOS Recovery Mode.

(3)Force quit the app that won't delete.

(4)Kill processes related to the app in Activity Monitor.

(5)Uninstall Steam games.

Hope you can fix it finally.

Also read: How to Delete Apps on Mac that Won't Delete from Launchpad/Finder?

 

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