How to remove an application from OS X Launchpad when it has no X, does not appear in the applications folder, and refuses to go into the trash?

0

I wish to remove this application from Launchpad - and preferably Spotlight as well. Screenshots are linked at the bottom of the post. I have an application (a game) called The Bridge that I initially installed through the Steam (game hub) client. I have already uninstalled it using the Steam's provided uninstaller.

The game continues to show up in the Launchpad when I search for a similarly named application despite it no longer launching appropriately, not having an X when I click-and-hold on it, and not seeming to do anything at all when I drag it to the trash.

No reference to this application exists within the Applications folder, so far as I can tell. Spotlight shows the location to be <me>/Applications/The Bridge. The screenshot is saying that the location doesn't exist.

How can I make this Launchpad entry go away, short of wiping the whole machine? I'm a techie that just doesn't know the Mac OS very well yet, so I don't mind going in to patch some deep files if that's what's needed.

Thanks much!

Reference Images:
* Spotlight finds the application at <me>/Applications/The Bridge...
* Application is present in Launchpad
* Steam showing the game as Not Installed.
* The application is not in the Applications directory when browsing.
* The application is not in the Applications directory when searching.
* (Edit 1:) Added this ~/Applications screenshot.

John Fisher

Posted 2018-08-24T21:21:52.050

Reputation: 3

Answers

1

On Mac OS there are basically two Applications folders. One is off root at /Applications and the other is located in you home directory which should be /Users/yourUser/Applications/. Based on your description is sounds like The Bridge is installed in the second.

Here is an article that describes the two Applications folders.

Look in your ${HOME}/ directory for a directory called Applications.

If you are using Finder you can Cmd-Shift-g to open a Go To Folder: dialog and enter ~/Applications to navigate there directly.

Remove any remnants from there.

Empty the trash to ensure all references to the file have been removed.

Hogstrom

Posted 2018-08-24T21:21:52.050

Reputation: 1 312

Thank you for the answer. Per your advice, I located and trashed the application from ~/Applications, and rebooted, though the application still appears in Launchpad and Spotlight. – John Fisher – 2018-08-25T02:20:16.923

Interesting ... went and got the game and installed it. It put the file into my ~/Applications. I was able to drag the application from there and put it in the Trash and it disappeared. Sounds like that is not your experience. Did you empty the Trash ? Also, Can you confirm the applciation is not in /Applications nor ~/Applications ? – Hogstrom – 2018-08-25T03:47:38.367

Do this: from Launchpad drag "The Bridge" into the dock. Then right click "The Bridge" in the dock and select via right-click Options->Show In Finder. This should be the directory where the file is located. From there, you should drag to the trash. – Hogstrom – 2018-08-25T03:57:56.617

2It's correct that I moved it to the trash and it still remained in Spotlight and Launchpad. The answer seemed to be to empty it from the trash followed by a reboot. I was unaware that the item will still show up until it's been fully deleted. Thanks for the help! – John Fisher – 2018-08-25T04:10:41.903

The reasoning behind that is why on Mac it's called 'Finder' not 'Explorer' - it always knows where the file is, even if it's in the trash. – Tetsujin – 2018-08-25T07:19:05.360

Asked: 2018-08-24T21:21:52.050

Viewed: 1 116 times

Active: 2018-08-25T04:16:34.727