Safari is the default browser for Mac OS and iOS devices which has been specially designed only for the Apple ecosystem. There is no direct option to move the Safari browser to the trash and uninstall it. However, you can remove Safari using the Terminal, manual deletion using files, or the CleanMyMac X app.
Nowadays, browsers are the most important thing that connects us to the Internet. Every operating system has an internet browser to explore the Internet. On MacBook and other Apple devices, the default browser is Safari Browser.
Safari has gone through many changes from its initial release. It ran on the WebKit engine and was specially designed for Mac Os and iOS devices. It’s known for maintaining user privacy and protecting against data theft. However, additional features and upgrades don’t make the browser any better.
You would like to use the fastest browser to surf the Web, and a few best safari alternatives are available. Safari is not the fastest, but its competitors like Chrome and Mozilla are. So, you may have installed Chrome or Mozilla on your MacBook and want to delete Safari from your Mac computer.
Before removing the Safari browser, download any preferred browser and set it as the default on the macOS.
There are several methods to uninstall or delete Safari from your Mac device. You can use the Terminal to remove the app, or you can use third-party services as well. All such methods are discussed down below.
On this page, you can find and jump to:
Uninstall with the Terminal
You can execute a one-line command to uninstall the Safari browser from your MacBook. However, you need to give administrative privileges to execute the task, and this method doesn’t delete the temporary files and the settings.
Follow the steps to remove the Safari.app using the command line terminal:
- To open the Terminal, open the Applications folder, go to Utilities, and double-click open the Terminal. OR you can press the + and type Terminal in the Search box.
- Open up the terminal application.
- You will have to go to the Applications directory in the Terminal. Therefore, type cd /Applications/ and execute the command.
- Type sudo rm -rf Safari.app/ and execute; it will ask for your password. Enter your Password, and the Safari browser will be Uninstalled shortly.
This is a go-to method to delete the Safari browser from the Mac computer.
Manually Delete the files
For those who are using OS X 10.11 EI Captain or later, this method won’t work due to Apple Security and File Protection. However, if you are using an earlier version of Mac OS, you can manually delete the Safari files, hence, uninstalling the browser.
Follow the steps to delete the Safari app and related files from your Mac Manually:
- Launch the Finder and locate the directory mentioned below.
- Select and delete Safari-related files from each folder. E.g.: com.apple. Safari.plist
- Go to the /Users/(yourName)/Library/Address Book Plugins/ and delete the Safari-related Plugins.
- Head over to the /Users/(yourName)/Library/Caches/ and delete all the Safari Cache files.
- Delete the Saved States of Safari from the /Users/(yourName)/Library/Saved Application State/ directory.
- Lastly, delete the Safari crashes report files from the /Users/(yourName)/Library/Application Support/Crash Report folder.
- Move Safari to the trash can or recycle bin, and it will disappear from your system.
As mentioned, this won’t work on the latest macOS upgraded system. Suggest trying out the other two methods, just in case.
Using CleanMyMac X Application
Plenty of third-party Mac applications will do the job of cleaning Safari out from your MacBook. Unless you use Mac OS Catalina 10.15 or earlier, you need a third-party application uninstaller on your Mac OS.
First, you must download the application, click the link below to download it, then install it.
Follow these steps for using the CleanMyMac X application:
- Launch the CleanMyMac X application and click on the Preferences option from the Menu bar.
- Select the Ignore List option; on the left, click Uninstaller.
- Now, uncheck the Ignore system applications option and return to the Uninstaller tab.
- Scroll and find the Safari Browser from the list.
- Click on the Application Reset option and
- Lastly, click on the command button.
The Safari browser will be permanently deleted from your MacBook. You can also delete other system apps pre-installed as a part of macOS.
Bottom Line
Since Safari is not the fastest browser available now, Mac users would probably want to uninstall or delete Safari from their Mac. There are quite a few ways to do it, but if you are using the latest version of Mac Os, using the CleanMyMac X application is recommended.
Before removing Safari, have an alternative browser on your Mac. This will help you to avoid any broken links and ease internet access.
Users using an earlier Mac OS can manually delete the Safari-related files from the directories. You can use administrative privileges to uninstall Safari using a one-line command in the Terminal.
For the latest version of Mac OS, Apple has introduced a new System integrity protection feature, which prevents you from manually deleting the System files. Unless you use a third-party application or the command in the Terminal, you won’t be able to uninstall Safari.
Let us know what method has worked in your case and which version of the macOS operating system you’re currently running.
Lastly, if you've any thoughts or feedback, then feel free to drop in below comment box. You can also report the outdated information.
