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Maybe you aren't playing a particular game as much, or you need to free up disk space. Games can take up a lot of room, especially when you’ve got several alongside apps, documents, videos and files. In this article, we cover how to uninstall Steam games on a Mac, which is a little more tricky than dragging it to the trash.

Uninstalling Steam games involves going through the application itself, which will delete the game on your Mac. However, you will still own the game (it will remain in your Steam account) but to play it again you will need to download it.

How to uninstall Steam games from your account Open the Steam app → go to your Library → select the game you want to remove. Click “Support” from the right section. Go to Library Application Support Steam SteamApps Common and open the folder of whichever game you want to delete the save files. Next, open the SAVE folder to reveal the saves of the game. Note: If the location specified above doesn’t land you to the save files, try the following locations but mind the placeholders. Step 1: Launch Steam. Step 2: Click Help, and then Steam Support. Step 3: Find the game that you want to remove from your library. If you have a lot of games, then this might take some time. Step 4: When you have found the game you want to get rid of, simply click I want to permanently remove this game from my account.

How to uninstall Steam?

Steam isn’t a very lightweight app. It usually takes a lot of space and may be responsible for your Mac running slower than it should. In case you want to quit Steam for good, we will help you to uninstall it.

1. Quit Steam.
2. Open Finder and go to Applications.
3. Locate Steam and drag it to the Bin.
4. In Finder, press Command + Shift + G.
5. Type ~/Library/Application Support/ and click Go.
6. Locate Steam and open it.
7. In the folder, remove everything except “steamapps” file to keep your Steam games.
8. Empty the Bin.

Although you removed the app and some of its files from your Mac, the leftover items may still be left. To search for the remaining data, press Command + Shift + G to open Finder’s Go to the folder menu. Type these paths in the form and look for files that have “steam” or “valve” in their names:

~/Library/Logs/…

~/Library/Caches/…

~/Library/Cookies/…

~/Library/Preferences/…

~/Library/LaunchAgents/…

How To Delete Games On Steam Mac Os

~/Library/Saved Application State/…

Once you find such files, move them to the Bin. All Steam-related files are now deleted.

There is another, quicker way to remove Steam. Using CleanMyMac X, an app cleaner notarized by Apple, you can delete the app and its associated files altogether. If you install CleanMyMac X, it will remind you to remove app leftovers when you drag the app to Bin. That’s how it looks:

You can then click Open CleanMyMac and remove remaining files using the Leftover tab in Uninstaller module. Move to the next step to find out how to delete Steam games on Mac.

How to uninstall Steam games manually

1. Open the Steam application — either in your Dock, Desktop or Applications folder.

2. Go to the Library tab in the app. Here you should see every game you've downloaded and bought through Steam.

3. Now, right-click (or press Control and Click) on the game you want to uninstall from your Mac. A drop-down of options should appear.

4. Click Uninstall.

How To Delete Games On Steam Mac Games

5. Steam will ask if you’re certain you want to delete it, confirming that it will uninstall the local game files from your Mac.

6. Click Delete and wait a few minutes for the game to be removed.

Larger Steam games will take a little longer to uninstall. It will show you an uninstalling message alongside the game title in your library until it’s complete. Once that is done, if you check disk space it should show you’ve got more than you had before. Repeat the process if you want to free up even more space, or simply remove a few more distractions from your Mac.

Or maybe you want to take this distraction purge one step further. Perhaps it’s time to remove Steam from your Mac entirely. There are two ways you can do this.

You might be wondering: can you uninstall Steam without losing games? Thankfully, no, all of your games will remain in your Steam account and on your Mac, so this method won’t free up much space. However, it does mean you can re-download the app again when you are ready.

Removing every Steam game, the local files and associated data, means going through steps 1 to 6 again, and then deleting the app from your Mac. Freeing up space you need and removing some enjoyable but time-consuming distractions.

Whichever option you chose, your games will stay in the Steam library, which is good for those worried that if I uninstall Steam what happens to my games? They’re all still in the library, so if you want to download any of them and play again, you’ve not lost anything.

How to uninstall Steam games on Mac without Steam

If you have already said goodbye to Steam, but have found some of Steam games on your Mac, you can delete those too. Removing Steam games is much easier, with a special Uninstaller module of CleanMyMac X. With its help you can uninstall Steam games in a few clicks, regardless you have Steam installed on your Mac or not. Just follow these steps:

1. Download CleanMyMac X for free and launch the app.
2. Go to the Uninstaller tab.
3. Choose the games you want to delete.
4. Click Uninstall.

You can as well delete Steam using CleanMyMac X's Uninstaller. Here's how it looks like:

Say you’ve deleted unneeded Steam games, or even cleared out your entire Steam library, and you still need more space. This storage issue could be a sign that your Mac needs a cleanup.

CleanMyMac X will help you with that. Just click the Scan button and the app will find all useless files you can safely remove. Most Mac users find over 74GB of junk when they run the program. Your Mac will run faster too, so you can enjoy an enhanced gaming experience.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Removing programs from a Macintosh can be very easy. In many cases, all you have to do is drag the application's icon to the Trash. Sometimes, though, applications store the files they need to run in other locations on your computer's hard drive, and finding them can take some detective work. If you are used to the uninstall option in Windows, you have a little culture shock — macOS does not have this feature built in.

Why would you want to uninstall a program? For the same reason you occasionally tidy your office or clean your garage. Clutter breeds inefficiency. Applications take up space on your hard disk and can slow your computer. Also, a new version of a program may not work correctly unless you get rid of the old one [source: Ritchie].

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How To Delete Games On Laptop

Most of the time, uninstalling is this simple:

1. Exit the program you want to delete.
2. Open the Applications folder, which you'll find by opening a new window in the Finder, or clicking on the hard disk icon.
3. Drag the icon of the program you want to uninstall to the Trash.
4. Empty the Trash.

When files for the application you want to delete are all stored in one location, dragging the icon to the Trash will take care of most of the work. In Mac talk, apps like this are 'bundled.' To see the files in an application's bundle, click on its icon while holding down the Control key. You should see an option that says, 'show package contents.' Uninstalling applications downloaded from the Mac App Store is even easier — just delete the application from the Applications Folder and its accompanying folder in UserLibraryContainers [source: Tanous].

For some other programs, removal is more complicated. When installed, these programs create files in several locations, often in the System Folder. The first step in removing them is to check the program's documentation to see if there is an uninstall utility. If your program has an uninstall utility associated with it, it may have been installed with the program or included on the disk that came with it. If you downloaded a disk image to install the software, sometimes you'll find an uninstaller there. Running an uninstall utility can make removing a program much easier.

You should be aware that removing an unbundled program by moving it into the Trash can leave behind orphan files on your computer. Preferencefiles are usually small and you might want to ignore them if you're just trying to free up disk space. Background files or support files can be larger, especially for multimedia programs like GarageBand [source: MacRumors]. These files are likely to reside in Library folders in your hard drive or Home folder. They will usually be labeled with the name of the program, like Office or Acrobat, or the developer, such as Microsoft or Adobe. You can search for the relevant names using Spotlight, which is included with the Mac OS. Drag the files you find to the trash to get rid of them [source: Tanous]. .

Check out the next page for tips to make your uninstallation go even more smoothly.

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If searching through obscure corners of your computer for what could be hundreds of files sounds like something a machine could do better than you, you're right. There are plenty of software programs that do just that. They're usually your best bet for really cleaning an app off your Mac, and some of them are free. Popular examples include AppTrap, Appcleaner, and AppZapper.

Some of the files that a program might create on your hard disk are invisible. It may be tempting, especially for neat freaks, to find and delete these files. But some files are deliberately hidden because they are essential to the computer's operating system. Deleting the wrong file could land you in deep trouble [source: Landau]. The best advice is not to go where even experienced techies fear to tread. Uninstall utilities can search out and destroy these files, but doing so on your own invites trouble.

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Another important thing to do is empty your Trash when you're finished uninstalling. Moving a program's icon to the Trash doesn't actually remove the files from your hard disk or clear up any space. Only when you empty the Trash is the application really gone.

Here are some other important tips:

• When you install a program, check to see how to uninstall it. Make a note if it has its own uninstall utility or instructions.
• Before you begin any uninstalling process, check to make sure your Trash is empty or contains nothing you might want to save.
• Log on as your computer's administrator whenever you uninstall. If you're uninstalling at work and don't have administrator privileges, you'll have to consult with your tech people [source: Ritchie].
• If you opt for a third-party uninstall utility, look at the features. Some developers charge for their software, but you may not need the bells and whistles. Free utilities may work fine.
• It often makes sense to leave preference files alone. If you ever reinstall the same software, you won't have to set the preferences.
• Suites of software from a developer, such as the Office suite from Microsoft, often share files. Removing the files of one component may affect the others, so it's good to be cautious with these [source: The X Lab].
• If, after you remove a program, the icon is still in your dock, you can get rid of it by simply dragging it off the dock and letting it go [source: Tech-FAQ].

Removing software from your Mac is a lot less of a hassle than cleaning your office or garage. But clearing away computer clutter and making space on your hard disk can be just as satisfying.

How To Uninstall Games On Steam

Originally Published: Aug 8, 2011

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Sources

How To Delete Games On Steam Mac

• Landau, Ted. 'Tutorial: Now you see 'em, now you don't: Invisible files in Mac OS X,' cnet.com, May 19, 2004. (Feb. 14, 2019) https://www.cnet.com/news/tutorial-now-you-see-em-now-you-dont-invisible-files-in-mac-os-x/
• FacRumors. 'Uninstalling Applications in Mac OS X,' MacRumors.com. (Feb. 16, 2019) https://web.archive.org/web/20170715163609/http://guides.macrumors.com/Uninstalling_Applications_in_Mac_OS_Xp
• Ritchie, David. 'How to Uninstall Mac Programs,' TheMacLawyer.com. October 13, 2010. (Feb. 16, 2019) http://www.themaclawyer.com/2010/10/articles/guest-posts/guest-post-how-to-uninstall-mac-programs/
• Tanous, Jim. 'How to Uninstall & Remove Mac OS X Programs and Applications,' The Mac Observer. Feb. 1, 2013. (Feb. 16, 2019) https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/answers/how-to-uninstall-remove-mac-os-x-programs-and-applications
• Tech-FAQ. 'How to Uninstall Programs on a Mac,' Tech-FAQ.com. (Feb. 16, 2019) http://www.tech-faq.com/how-to-uninstall-programs-on-a-mac.html
• The X Lab. 'Uninstalling applications,' TheXLab.com. (Feb. 16, 2019) http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/uninstallingapps.html