Fully uninstalling applications on a Mac can be a bit difficult, simply dragging the .app file into your Trash and then emptying it usually leaves behind many files and folders, and if you try to reinstall later (perhaps uninstalling and reinstalling for the application to behave as brand new) the .app may try to reconnect with the old data.

As such, users are normally recommended to install a program to remove all traces of applications when it comes time to uninstall. The most popular name I’ve seen is AppCleaner, a free application where you simply either drag and drop the .app file into to begin, or use the search feature to find it. Afterwards, a window pops out to the side listing the .app and any files or folders associated for you to approve for removal. It’s a simple application, and as you can’t go much wrong with it, I never saw a need to seek out alternatives - if it ain’t broke, why fix it? Or change it?

However, I recently came across this comment on Reddit instead recommending PearCleaner. Curious, I decided to install and see what could be built upon such a simple concept.

After installation, you need to go through approving a few security permissions, and then you’re presented with a clean two-pane window, with your applications listed to the left with an option to search. .app files can still be dropped into the right pane, otherwise it is where details of an .app appear listing the associated files and folders connected to the application you wish to remove.

In a comparison using the Allusion application as our test subject for uninstallation (because it was high up alphabetically on my list!):

I’m not sure why PearCleaner found more items to remove, but it makes me feel more confident that it is doing a better job at removing as much as possible associated with an application at removal.

PearCleaner also has additional features such as monitoring Trash for .app files moved in there, and basic theming, as well as optionally installing an extension for removal within Finder, and the ability to cleanup Homebrew installations too.

As such, I’ve decided to stick with PearCleaner over AppCleaner, and am glad someone suggested it as I would have ordinarily been stuck in my ways and just used what I always had used without seeing if something better was out there!