How to Remove Pesky MacOS Apps
I have never shown much interest in chess, but since macOS seems to think that the game is very important to my operating system, I am forbidden to uninstall it. You cannot drag it to the trash can; you cannot use the command-Delete it. You’re forever stuck with this in the Finder, unless you get a little creative.
I was pondering how to uninstall such applications, including you, DVD Player, when I reinstalled macOS the other day . It’s easy to do if you don’t mind some scary factor. That and the possibility that these apps will simply come back the next time you install a major system update.
First, just try uninstalling the app (or dragging and dropping it to the trash) as usual. In my case, this completely solved my DVD player problems – not much for Chess. To do this, I had to show a little more creativity.
Before we get started, now is the time to warn you that you probably shouldn’t go crazy with uninstallation, as uninstalling some apps could potentially affect macOS. Even if, for example, you never plan to use Maps or FaceTime, it’s best to keep them on your system anyway (just create a new folder in the Finder called Apps I Hate and put them and their friends there).
There isn’t a handy list of “apps you can uninstall that won’t mess up your system later,” so just use some common sense: uninstalling the App Store is probably a bad thing. Removing the calculator? You are probably clean.
Disable System Integrity Protection
To get rid of Chess permanently, I first had to disable macOS’s built-in System Integrity Protection. Normally I would not recommend doing this as it is a great defense that protects system-critical files (like Chess, of course) from being tampered with by other applications. Plus, you’ll turn this back on in a minute, so don’t worry.
This step is simple. Restart your computer and hold Command + R, which will boot you into macOS recovery mode. Click on “Utilities” then “Terminal” and type “csrutil disable”, press “Enter”, enter your password and press “Enter” again. Reboot your Mac.
Returning chess to the box
Once you’re back in macOS, grab the useful little app to uninstall AppCleaner , which does a great job of removing all traces of a program from your system whenever you want it to disappear. Download it and run it – no installation required – click its name in the menu bar and select Preferences. Uncheck “Protect OS X applications by default” and close the window. Drag any app you don’t need to the main AppCleaner window, click Uninstall, and hope you don’t just mess up your Mac by deleting Calendar. (Spoiler alert: You probably did.)
Re-enabling System Integrity Protection
When you are finished uninstalling, repeat the steps to Disable System Integrity Protection. Only this time, type “csrutil enable” into Terminal and press Enter.