How can I remove unwanted apps, such as Chess or Address Book, from my Mac? [closed]

Solution 1:

Select the application you would like to remove and Get Info on it, either Command + i or from the Menu File>Get Info.

At the bottom of the resulting window, in the Sharing & Permissions section, change the "everyone" setting to "Read & Write". You will probably have to click the lock in the lower right corner first and authenticate as an administrator.

Once the setting is change, close the Get Info window. You should be able to move the application to the Trash without any trouble.

Solution 2:

Everyone knows the damage that comes with the use of sudo. However, it will help out for this situation.

• Open your terminal and go to the Applications directory.

  $ cd /Applications
  

• To view your currently installed apps

  $ ls
  

• Locate the application desired to be deleted

  >>>WITH CAUTION<<<

  $ sudo rm -rf application.name
  

This will force to recursively remove application.name directory and all sub directories. Again, this operation is permanent and cannot be undone. If you are unsure of the application that you are removing then you probably shouldn't.

Solution 3:

While experimenting a bit further, I think that I may have solved the problem without using Terminal, which I have no experience with.

I selected the unwanted application, got information on it, unlocked the Sharing and Permissions, and changed every listed user name to be able to read and write. I then closed the "Get Info" window and selected the application again and control-clicked it and chose the "Move to Trash" command.

This successfully moved the chosen application to the Trash where I was able to delete it without getting the window saying that the application was necessary to the operating system. I was not able to do this by only changing the permissions for my user account. It was necessary to change all of the user account permissions.