VirtualBox is a software that allows you to run virtual machines on a computer without uninstalling the current operating system (OS). That comes in really handy. However, virtual machines take up a lot of disk space and memory. If you need to uninstall VirtualBox from your Mac, for example, you face some issues and want to reinstall it, or you just want to free up space on your Mac, this article is here to help you. You will learn how to remove VirtualBox from your Mac completely.
Contents:
Important notes about uninstalling VirtualBox from Mac
- Uninstalling VirtualBox is not as easy as you may think. You have to understand the difference between just removing the application into the Trash and uninstalling it entirely with all of its support files.
- The VirtualBox official website does not provide any removal guide on its help page. That’s why we decided to prepare a step-by-step guide on how to remove the software from Mac correctly. We are experts in all questions regarding cleaning a Mac from junk files, including the remaining files of already removed applications.
- We used App Cleaner & Uninstaller and Funter from Nektony to find VirtualBox’s support files.
- We will provide two methods on how to delete VirtualBox from Mac – the manual and automatic ways. It’s up to you which way to use. If you have any questions, you can directly contact Nektony’s support team. We will be happy to help you with correct uninstalling unneeded applications from your Mac.
How to uninstall VirtualBox from Mac using Terminal
By default, VirtualBox provides an uninstallation tool with a command line in Terminal. Learn where to find it and how to use it to uninstall VirtualBox.
- Quit VirtualBox.
- Find and open the VirtualBox installation file. Usually, the installation files are stored in the Download folder on Mac. If you can’t find it or you have already removed the installation file, you can download it again from the VirtualBox website.
- Double-click on VirtualBox_Uninstall.tool.
- It will open the Terminal app and automatically run the command to uninstall VirtualBox.
- Once it asks for confirmation, type Yes and press Enter.
- If it asks to delete additional VirtualBox extensions, also confirm by typing Yes.
- If prompted, enter your Mac user password to confirm the uninstallation.
After these steps, VirtualBox should be removed from your Mac. If you face any issue or you are not sure whether the software is completely removed from your Mac, use App Cleaner & uninstaller from Nektony to remove VirtualBox’s support files and uninstall the application entirely.
How to uninstall VirtualBox from Mac manually
Now we will provide a removal method that you can use to uninstall VirtualBox and any other application from Mac with all of its service files. In this method, you will need to manually search for remaining files of the already removed application.
Steps on how to manually uninstall VirtualBox from Mac:
- Quit VirtualBox.
- Go to the Applications folder and remove VirtualBox into the Trash. Also, you can drag and drop VirtualBox into the Trash right in the Launchpad.
- Go to the Library folder. For this open Finder and press the Command+Shift+G shortcut. Type ~/Library in the search field and press Enter.
Read also “How to show the Library folder on Mac”. -
From the Library, remove all files and folders related to the VirtualBox. We found the following files:
- ~/Library/VirtualBox
- ~/Library/Preferences/org.VirtualBox.app.VirtualBox.plist
- ~/Library/Saved Application State/org.VirtualBox.app.VirtualBox.SavedState
- ~/Library/LaunchAgents/org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist
- ~/Library/Saved Application State/org.VirtualBox.app.VirtualBox.SavedState
- Once you remove all VirtualBox’s support files, empty your Trash.
If you removed all of the VirtualBox’ service files, then you can be sure that you uninstalled the application entirely. If you are not sure, use App Cleaner & Uninstaller. With this tool, you can uninstall any application completely with just a few clicks.
You can also find VirtualBox support files with a free application Funter. Here is how to use it:
- Run Funter on your Mac.
- Click on the Funter’s icon in the toolbar.
- Type VirtualBox in the search field and press Enter.
- In a moment, Funter will show you the list of all files that contain “virtualbox” in their names. Funter finds and shows even the hidden files in packages.
- Select all unneeded VirtualBox’s support files and remove them.
Please, be careful when removing service files on Mac. Deleting important system files can damage your system. If searching for applications’ service files tends to be difficult for you, you should use App Cleaner & Uninstaller from Nektony. This uninstaller will automatically detect all support files of each application on your Mac and help you to remove them safely.
Uninstall VirtualBox with App Cleaner & Uninstaller Pro
App Cleaner & Uninstaller is designed to remove applications from Mac safely and entirely. In its Expert mode, you can see the list of all service files of each application on your Mac, as well as the number, types and total volume of service files.
Here are the steps for the quickest ways to uninstall VirtualBox from Mac:
- Open App Cleaner & Uninstaller.
- In the list of scanned apps select VirtualBox.
- Click the Remove button.
- Confirm the uninstallation.
Also, you can set up in App Cleaner & Uninstaller Preferences the option that when you drag and drop any application into the Trash, the uninstaller will automatically find its broken service files and remind you to remove them as well. Just click the Uninstall button and confirm your action.
If you have already removed VirtualBox using one of the methods above, you can find its remaining files. For this, in App Cleaner & Uninstaller, switch to the Remaining Files section. Select all unneeded leftover files and remove them.
