Hello,

i can't find any reference to 'uninstall' on my Mac. Is there a different name? How do I go about removing something and re-installing it?

I'm sure it is staring me in the face - but I can't see it. The journey from PC to MAc can be a bit frustrating sometimes . .

What are you wanting to uninstall?

I am not aware of any system level uninstall utility in Mac OS X such as the one you are probably thinking of in Windows. The good news is that most of the time you don't need it.

If the program came with an installer, from an account with Administrator privileges, open the .dmg and look for an uninstall program. If you don't see one, launch the installer and look for an options button or press the Option key to see if that gives you an uninstall option. If that doesn't work, open the Applications folder and locate the program. Look in /Applications/Utilities if necessary. Most Mac applications are self-contained packages that can be dragged to the Trash. However, don't try this with invasive utilities such as anything Norton or Symantec or specialty blocking software. You should then be able to reinstall the application.

For most Mac apps, dragging to trash will leave behind some preference (.plist) files and possibly some caches. Much bad application behavior is due to corrupted preferences or cache files. If the application works for one user and not another, this is likely the case. While logged in as the user for which the app doesn't work go to Mac OS X/Users/theUserName/Library/Preferences and look for a .plist file with the program name or developer's name in it. Drag that to the desktop and try launching the program. The program will create a new .plist file. If it works now, set up the preferences from within the program and you're good to go. Otherwise, you can drag back the old .plist file from the Desktop. From an Administrator account, try emptying the user and application caches using a program such as OnyX (freeware) or Cocktail (shareware) from a reputable source such as versiontracker.com

Hope this helps.

Those are good general methods, but don't try them with essential System components. If you don't know what you are deleting, don't do it. Again, some applications are self-contained and can simply be dragged to the Trash. Others have various support files located in various places - those support files do not cause trouble if they are left after the app is removed, though.

My printer software isn't working and I think i loaded it while the printer was attached and I shouldn't have done - so I thought I'd uninstall, unplug the printer and start over again . .

I just presumed you could uninstall like on a PC (silly me!)

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

There are programs that you can use to delete an application.

One is called AppDelete and another is called AppZapper.

I have used AppZapper and it works just fine, but it does cost money. Not sure about the other one.

Hmm...I don't think it would have mattered that your printer was attached or not.

OK, you are probably talking about printer drivers, not regular applications. Mac OS X comes with very many printer drivers already installed (if you do a default installation). So your printer might be supported without installing anything. Since you were having trouble, maybe you need an updated driver. I don't think you have said which version of Mac OS X you are using. For Leopard (10.5) follow Apple's instructions -> here

Your printer needs to appear in the print dialog box when you attempt to print. Usually a directly connected printer with installed drivers will just appear. Otherwise you may have to add and set up the printer in the Print & FAX pref pane in System Preferences (in 10.5). There may be an alias called Printer Setup Utility in /Applications/Utilities that will bring up the same AddPrinter window. In previous 10.x look for Printer Setup Utility or Print Center in /Applications/Utilities. Info on older 10.x printer setup -> here

Thanks everybody - I got it working!