If you install and uninstall lots of apps, you’re going to need some way to get rid of the files they leave behind. Most apps create additional files outside of the Applications folder, and these are not normally removed when sending the app to the Trash.

Pearcleaner is an open-source tool that can help you with this. It searches for related files when an app is removed and gives you the option to delete them as well. It’s quite simple to use, but it does have some flaws at the moment.

Easily get rid of app leftovers
There are a few ways to use the app. First, you can just open the main window, browse through your app collection, and uninstall them from there. Second, you can drop apps onto the Pearcleaner Dock icon. Lastly, the Sentinel feature can monitor your Trash folder for software and automatically start up the leftover remover.

Whichever way you choose to go about it, the process is very straightforward. You can inspect the files the app has identified and deselect the ones you would like to keep. There’s also a mini UI mode with a smaller desktop footprint.

Prone to deleting the wrong files, and other issues
Pearcleaner uses a combination of an app’s bundle ID and app name to find associated files. Unfortunately, this leads to some cases of mistaken identity. When uninstalling Logitech G HUB, it also attempted to remove GarageBand’s Application Support/Logic folder, and when uninstalling Text Case, files from a bunch of other apps were also selected.

There are other problems as well. It’s not possible to remove multiple apps at once, like with AppCleaner, leftover files aren’t ranked by confidence level, and dropping apps onto the Dock icon with mini UI mode activated fails to display their details properly.

What's New:

Version 5.2.7:

• Refresh apps cache after homebrew cask modifications
• Add new details sidebar to Updater view to manage app update sources and hidden updates
• Differentiate between stable and pre-release updates in Updater view with the green pre-release icon
• More appcast.xml enhancements to capture more apps - #381
• Add new Options setting in FilesView sidebar to allow auto-opening sidebar when view loads - #383
• Development workspace cleaner adjustements to sizing/layout, include Zed
• Add Auto slim setting for Pearcleaner (Settings > General) to remove unneeded CPU architectures and translations, making bundle size
• 50% smaller for users who don't need those extras. When enabled, slimming function runs when Pearcleaner is in the closing process so it can alter the FAT files in the app bundle safely.
• Fix settings window and missing SF symbol not working right on macOS 13.0
• Fix secondaryText color for light/dark mode

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