Deleting (intrusive?) Facebook files ok?

Platform(s): MacOS Catalina (10.15.2) and an iPad (13.3).

Disclaimer: I'm in no way experienced or knowledgeable in anything relating to computers.

Background: I'm keen to cut ties with Facebook completely and thought I'd investigate if there are any Facebook files lurking around on my Mac to do whatever Facebook files likes to do; spying, stealing info etc.

Found: I found the following files using Double Commander, scouring the entire drive.

/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/AccessibilityBundles/FacebookSettings.axbundle
/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/AccessibilityBundles/FacebookSettings.axbundle/Contents/MacOS/FacebookSettings
/System/Library/Accounts/Access/FacebookAccessPlugin.bundle
/System/Library/Accounts/Access/FacebookAccessPlugin.bundle/Contents/MacOS/FacebookAccessPlugin
/System/Library/Accounts/Authentication/FacebookAuthenticationPlugin.bundle
/System/Library/Accounts/Authentication/FacebookAuthenticationPlugin.bundle/Contents/MacOS/FacebookAuthenticationPlugin
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CalendarDraw.framework/Versions/A/Resources/FacebookIcon.tiff
/System/Library/Frameworks/Quartz.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/ImageKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/[email protected]
/System/Library/Frameworks/Quartz.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/ImageKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/[email protected]
/System/Library/Frameworks/Quartz.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/ImageKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/badge-facebook.png
/System/Library/Frameworks/Quartz.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/ImageKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/profile-photo-facebook.png
/System/Library/Frameworks/Social.framework/XPCServices/com.apple.facebook.xpc
/System/Library/Frameworks/Social.framework/XPCServices/com.apple.facebook.xpc/Contents/MacOS/com.apple.facebook
/System/Library/Frameworks/Social.framework/XPCServices/com.apple.facebook.xpc/Contents/Resources/FacebookContactUpdater
/System/Library/Frameworks/Social.framework/XPCServices/com.apple.facebook.xpc/Contents/Resources/FacebookIcon.icns
/System/Applications/News.app/Contents/Resources/facebook.js
/System/Volumes/Data/Users/idontthinkso/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/8joe3ovp.default-release/safebrowsing/social-tracking-protection-facebook-digest256.vlpset
/System/Volumes/Data/Users/idontthinkso/Library/Caches/Firefox/Profiles/8joe3ovp.default-release/safebrowsing/social-tracking-protection-facebook-digest256.sbstore

Question: Are these all safe to delete?

Bonus question!: Is there a Terminal command to delete files in this manner? As there is for xCode etc.


While I am not aware of the insides in detail, but I can comment(answer) on some.

/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/AccessibilityBundles/FacebookSettings.axbundle
/System/iOSSupport/System/Library/AccessibilityBundles/FacebookSettings.axbundle/Contents/MacOS/FacebookSettings
  • https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http://www.duozy.com/article/44379.html&prev=search

  • http://yesanotheriphoneblog.blogspot.com/p/apple-apps-removal-list-60.html

    indicate that these should be deleted from an iPhone after jailbreaking or otherwise to delete Facebook app from the iPhone. No comment on macOS there. However, I don't even have this(FacebookSettings.axbundle) on my Mac and never had FB on iPhone either.

/System/Library/Accounts/Access/FacebookAccessPlugin.bundle
/System/Library/Accounts/Access/FacebookAccessPlugin.bundle/Contents/MacOS/FacebookAccessPlugin
  • https://opensource.apple.com/source/kext_tools/kext_tools-326.1.12/systempaths.plist.auto.html

    lists them for some reason.

All the tiff, png, icns files are just images and icons and I wouldn't mind them sitting where they are.

For the news one, it's a JavaScript file and it can be worth reading, if it's readable, to see what it has.

For the last two of Firefox, I routinely delete the Profiles folder every time YouTube's suggestions become obsolete or one sided. So you can delete that folder using Finder (yay!) and see if it comes up again. It could be a good thing to save to protect you from tracking!


All the ones in /System are Apple system files that handle integrating MacOS with FaceBook, rather than 'software' written by FaceBook. They certainly aren't going to steal any info from your Mac.

If you don't have a FaceBook account, then they will be unused (like many other system components that you're probably not using).