Don’t need the Google Drive desktop version anymore? Explore this article. We will share a detailed step-by-step guide on how to correctly and safely uninstall Google Drive or Backup and Sync on your Mac. You will learn two methods for Google Drive removal and you will understand how to uninstall apps on a Mac so that they don’t leave any leftovers on your hard drive.
Contents:
- How to manually remove Google Drive from your Mac.
- How to uninstall Google Drive with App Cleaner & Uninstaller.
How to manually remove Google Drive from your Mac
Before we dive into the steps on how to uninstall Google Drive, we should remind you that in March 2018, Google stopped supporting the Drive’s desktop app and replaced it with the Backup and Sync tool. If you need to uninstall the old app Google drive, see the guide below. We will also provide the uninstallation steps for the Backup and Sync application.
Steps on how to uninstall Google Drive on Mac:
- Disconnect your account. For this, go to the app’s Preferences → Account tab.
- Click the Disconnect account… button.
- Quit Google Drive.
- Go to the Applications folder and drag Google Drive into the Trash.
- Find and remove all support files of Google Drive. By default, applications store their support files in the system Library folder. Open Finder and press Command+Shift+G key combination.
- In the search field type ~/Library and hit Go.
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Find and remove all files related to Google Drive. Check the following locations:
- ~Library/Application Support/Google/Drive
- ~Library/Caches/com.google.GoogleDrive
- ~Library/Group Containers/google_drive
- ~Library/Preferences/com.google.GoogleDrive.plist
- ~Library/Cookies/com.google.GoogleDrive.binarycookies
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Delete the Google Drive folder with your files if you don’t need them anymore. By default, this folder is located in the following location:
Macintosh HD > Users > [current user]> Google Drive
- Finally, empty your Trash to get rid of Google Drive from your Mac.
Steps on how to uninstall the Backup and Sync app on Mac:
- Log out from your account on the desktop. For this, click on the application’s icon in the menu bar → click the “three dots” icon → select Preferences…
- Switch to the Setting section from the sidebar and click on Disconnect Account. Confirm the action. Now your files in Google Drive are no longer synced.
- Quit the Backup and Sync app. For this, again click on the app’s icon in the toolbar → click the “three dots” icon → select Quit Backup and Sync.
- Go to the Applications folder → find and drag Backup and Sync into the Trash bin.
- Go to the ~/Library folder (in Finder press Command+Shift+G keys shortcut, type ~/Library in the search field and hit Go).
- Find and remove all leftovers associated with Google Drive and Backup and Sync.
- Empty your Trash.
Searching for applications’ leftover files may be time-consuming. Also, you should be very careful when removing files from the system Library folder. Removing important system files may damage your system. That’s why we recommend that you safely uninstall applications on a Mac with App Cleaner & Uninstaller. Keep reading to learn more about it.
Uninstall Google Drive using App Cleaner & Uninstaller
App Cleaner & Uninstaller is a utility that completely and easily uninstalls apps on a Mac. It will help you to uninstall the Google Drive or the Backup and Sync apps with all their service files in a few clicks.
Steps on how to uninstall Google Drive on your Mac:
- Launch App Cleaner & Uninstaller.
- Select the Google Drive app.
- Click to remove Google Drive.
- Confirm the action.
Google Drive will be completely uninstalled with all its support files, such as caches, containers, preferences, and so on.
If you need to uninstall the Backup and Sync app from Google, do the following:
- Select Backup and Sync in App Cleaner & Uninstaller.
- Click to uninstall the app.
- Confirm the removal of Backup and Sync.
Easy and fast! The greatest news is that App Cleaner & Uninstaller is absolutely free to try. Download the trial and uninstall Google Drive on your Mac right now.
