When your Mac starts running out of storage space, one of the easiest ways to free up gigabytes of data is by deleting applications you no longer use. While you can always dig through the Finder to locate the Applications folder and drag icons to the Trash, Apple built a much faster, iOS-style deletion method directly into the macOS Launchpad.
How to Open the Launchpad
The Launchpad provides a grid-based, visual overview of every single application installed on your Mac, identical to the home screen of an iPhone or iPad.
You can open the Launchpad using three different methods:
- Trackpad: Pinch your thumb and three fingers together on the glass trackpad.
- Keyboard: Press the dedicated Launchpad key (usually the F4 key, featuring an icon of six small squares).
- Dock: Click the Launchpad icon (a silver rocket ship or a grid of colorful squares) in your macOS Dock.
How to Delete Applications from Launchpad
Once you are looking at the grid of applications, the deletion process is remarkably simple.
- Locate the app you want to uninstall. You can swipe left or right with two fingers to move between different pages of apps, or use the search bar at the top of the screen to find it instantly.
- Click and hold your mouse pointer directly on the application’s icon. Do not release the button.
- After about two seconds, every icon on the screen will begin to “jiggle” or shake.
- Look for a small circle with an X inside it in the top-left corner of the app’s icon. Click that X.
- A confirmation dialog box will pop up asking, “Are you sure you want to delete the application?” Click Delete.
The application is instantly uninstalled and removed from your Mac permanently, freeing up space without forcing you to empty the Trash.
Why Does an App Not Have an ‘X’ Button?
If you put the Launchpad into “jiggle mode” and notice that a specific app does not have a small X in the corner, it means you cannot delete it using this method.
The Launchpad can only automatically uninstall apps that were originally downloaded directly from the official Mac App Store. If you downloaded a complex piece of software (like Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Office) directly from a developer’s website, macOS prevents Launchpad from deleting it to ensure no critical background files are left behind.
Furthermore, core system applications built into the operating system by Apple (such as Safari, Mail, Calendar, and System Settings) can never be deleted.
To exit the jiggling edit mode without deleting anything, simply click anywhere on the empty background or press the Escape key.