Cannot Uninstall Whatsapp for Mac? Get Help Here!

Encounter trouble when uninstall Whatsapp on Mac? Read this post to work it out.

Whatsapp is a free, popular, and encrypted instant messaging application, and it was introduced for macOS operating system in 2016. You may have installed this app to keep in touch with your friends, and now decided to uninstall it for personal reason.

Uninstalling apps on Mac is more straightforward than on Windows, but you still need to pay attention to some issues. When you move Whatsapp to the Trash and empty it afterward, the main app itself is gone instantly, but many associated file and folder are left behind. As days go by, your Mac will be more and more cluttered by app remnants. So, how to clear up invalid, junk leftovers from your system? This tutorial covers two different ways to fully uninstall Whatsapp. Just pick up the one you prefer.

Osx Uninstaller: Remove Whatsapp with Ease

Wanna uninstall Whatsapp painlessly? Looking for an all-in-one solution to tackle with any unwanted Mac app? If so, try using a reliable uninstaller to do the job.

Osx Uninstaller is a lightweight yet powerful utility designed for all level users to perfectly remove any problematic, stubborn or malicious apps. To fully get rid of Whatsapp, you just need to do 3 simple steps: launch > select > uninstall. First of all, watch this video to know how it works to uninstall Whatsapp hassle-free:

Here are the simple operations to fully uninstall Whatsapp using Osx Uninstaller:

1. Quit Whatsapp if it is running, and then run Osx Uninstaller from Launchpad.

2. Click Whatsapp that appears, and click Run Analysis to scan for its components.

  3. Review the items pertaining to Whatsapp, click Complete Uninstall button, and then click Yes in the pop-up dialog box to perform a thorough uninstall.

4. Once the removal is complete, click Back to Interface button to re-scan your Mac.

Now Whatsapp has gone from the Osx Uninstaller interface as well as your Mac system. If its icon still stays on the Dock, jut remove it by dragging to the Trash. See? Uninstalling Whatsapp via Osx Uninstaller can be so incredibly simple and swift.

Don’t hesitate to give Osx Uninstaller a try and you’ll love the convenience it brings.

Manual Approach to Uninstall Whatsapp from Mac

It is undoubtedly a shortcut to uninstall Whatsapp through 3rd party removal tool like Osx Uninstaller. But if you insist on uninstalling Whatsapp manually, here are the detailed steps that you can follow to get rid of Whatsapp and its associated items.

Step 1. quit Whatsapp

Before the uninstall, you should deactivate all the processes related to Whatsapp, otherwise you might fail to thoroughly get rid of all its components. You can right click on its icon on the Dock and choose Quit option. And here is the alternative:

• Open up the Activity Monitor from the Dock, Launchpad, or Spotlight.
• Type Whatsapp in the search box, click to select the process with the name of Whatsapp, and click the Quit Process icon in the left corner of the window.
• Click Quit in the pop-up dialog box, and if that doesn’t work, then try Force Quit.

Step 2. uninstall Whatsapp

Now make sure that you have logged into with an administrator account, and you might be asked for the password when you try to delete something in the Finder.

(1) Delete Whatsapp in the Launchpad

• Click the Launchpad icon on the Dock, and type Whatsapp in the search box.
• Hold on Whatsapp icon until the icon begins to wiggle and shows the “X” .
• Tap the “X” in the left top corner to remove Whatsapp from there.

This way works for the apps which are downloaded and installed via the App Store. Once you click the X icon, the app will be uninstalled instantly from your Mac.

(2) Move Whatsapp to the Trash

• Open the Finder and head to the Applications folder on the left panel.
• Drag Whatsapp to the Trash in the dock (or click it and press Cmd + Del).

 

• Right click the Trash icon on the dock, and choose Empty Trash option.

• Also, you can move an app to the Trash by right click on the app icon and choosing Move to Trash from the contextual menu.

• Or just select Whatsapp and click on File menu > Move to Trash.

Notice: the act of emptying the Trash is irrevocable, and everything in the Trash will be deleted immediately, so be cautious when you are emptying your Trash.

The drag-and-drop move is the most common method to uninstall apps in all versions of Mac OS X. In most cases it can smoothly remove the app you choose from sight, but to perform the uninstall you will need to empty the Trash. If you fail to move the app to the trash, try to reboot your Mac into Safe Mode and repeat the steps again.

Step 3. detect Whatsapp leftovers

After Whatsapp has been removed from the Applications folder/Launchpad, you will have to deal with its vestiges. Whatsapp creates many items (like preference, cache and support files) during the first setup and daily usage. If you decide not to use Whatsapp, you’d better clear up all its invalid components, to enable a clean uninstall and also reclaim the disk space. Here’s how to detect and remove app leftovers.

• Open the Finder, click the “Go” from the Menu Bar, and select Go to Folder…

• Type the path of the top level Library on hard disk: /Library, and hit Enter key.
• Search for the files or folders which contains the name of target app or the vendor in the following locations and delete the matched items: /Library, /Library/Caches, /Library/Preferences, /Library/Application Support, /Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/LaunchDaemons, /Library/PreferencePanes, /Library/StartupItems

Warming: deleting the wrong items from Library could potentially do harm to your other apps or even system, so make sure to be very careful what you try to delete. And it could be time-wasting going through each folder and searching for app leftovers. Luckily, you can make use of the Search in Finder to hunt down associated files.

• Go ahead to open up the user library inside home folder: ~/Library.

• Type the name of target app or its vendor in the Search Bar, and click on “Library”.
• Identify the matched items, right click on them and choose Move to Trash option.

If there are some hidden files you fail to locate or identify, do a web search about the app components. Besides, you can utilize the Terminal app (located in Utilities folder) to list the contents of the directory in question and then delete the offending items.

Step 4. empty the Trash (with caution)

After you moved all associated items to the Trash, the last thing is to empty the Trash. Again, make sure you haven’t mistakenly delete anything before emptying the Trash.

• Right click on the Trash icon in the dock.
• Choose Empty Trash and click OK in the pop-up dialog.

• Alternatively, you can empty the Trash by choosing the Empty Trash under the Finder menu. In case you cannot empty the Trash, reboot your Mac and do it again.

Finally you come to the end of manual removal process. As long as you manage to detect all components belonging to Whatsapp, you win the success. Yet, if you would rather not bother with the complicated steps, run Osx Uninstaller to uninstall Whatsapp instead.

Anytime you run into issues when uninstalling Whatsapp via Osx Uninstaller, please contact our support team, and our technical experts will reply you within 24 hours.