Unable to delete apps from my macbook pro retina 13 early 2015

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Level 1

4 points

Unable to delete apps from my macbook pro retina 13 early 2015

I have tried the 3 methods suggested in the apple support article

launchpad, get them to jiggle and then x out, no x es show on any of my apps
then went to finder, clicked on app and then go to File and Move to trash, Move to trash is greyed out
Tried clicking and dragging to trash bin, it moves, shows in trash, I then delete trash but the app is still in Finder and my storage does not free up

I also read an article to unlock the apps which I did and they still will not delete. Most of these are the ones that Apple has loaded. Chess, books.app, Dictionary, font, etc.

I am trying to upload Monterey 12.7 and need 4 more GB's. I purchased an external drive (recommended by the genius at the apple store)and can move apps to it but if I can't delete them from the Mac hard drive I am not creating the space I need to do the update.

this is all being caused by my computer that is copying files for some reason that the geniuses can not figure out, see system data on image

Help I have spent 6 hours on this today!!

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Oct 6, 2023 1:50 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

133,255 points

Oct 7, 2023 8:34 AM in response to BBgirl8

instead of pursuing Apps, which are generally relatively small in size and have very minimal payback if you manage to delete one or two, take a look at this article:

What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how… - Apple Community

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Answer 2

Oct 7, 2023 7:12 AM in response to BBgirl8

If you did not purchase, download and/or install them yourself, they are likely part of the OS.

One way to find out if an app is from Apple is to right-click the app and select "Get Info" from the drop down menu. Look for the copyright info. If it says Copyright Apple, Inc. then it's an app that was installed with the OS. Exceptions are, as ku4hx posted above, Garage Band, Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. These are Apple apps that can be deleted because they are purchased via the App Store and not installed with the macOS. There may be a small handful of others.

Please see: Apps included on your Mac - Apple Support

I have no idea why some of your files are being copied and filling the storage.

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Answer 3

ku4hx

Level 7

23,592 points

Oct 6, 2023 2:29 PM in response to BBgirl8

Only the three Apple Office-like apps and GarageBand can be deleted.

All others are part of the OS and removing them, if you can, will damage the OS.

For 3rd party apps, drag them from the Applications folder to the trash and empty the trash.

Or

Ask the developers how to uninstall their product.

For those Apple apps that just take up screen space and I don't use, I sequester them thusly on the Launchpad:

The only way to reclaim disk space is to remove user files. Those you created, copied or downloaded. If they are important, put them on an external drive before removal from your main internal drive.

It's best to not just barely meet the minimum space requirements. Give the OS breathing room and that means 15-20% totally unused at all times.

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Answer 4

Oct 7, 2023 8:16 AM in response to BBgirl8

A quick scan of the screenshot you provided shows 5 apps (see arrows above them) on your dock that are not from Apple. It appears you have Outlook, Quicken, and three others I'm not familiar with. Unless yours is a non-Admin user account, you should be able to delete these apps. Of course, if you look in your Applications folder in the Finder, you'll most likely see others that can be deleted there as well.

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