# AppCleaner

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/appcleaner/

6 people recommended AppCleaner in Hacker News comments and none criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 12 months, in 4 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A free Mac app that removes an application along with its leftover preferences and files, and keeps working on newer macOS versions.

Summary written by Claude from 5 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Reliable and stays out of the way (3 comments in the sample): "AppCleaner still works fine for me in Sequoia." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47631403)) "It's so good I just forget it's there." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49219575)) "I've had success with AppCleaner" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48892451))
- Removes app and leftover preferences (2 comments in the sample): "does a good job of removing preferences as well as the application" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47629731)) "it should remove all traces of the app from computer" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45934095))

## What people recommend instead

- [Mole for Mac](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mole/): 9 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "AppCleaner", https://hackerapproved.com/p/appcleaner/ (6 recommend, 0 mixed, 0 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.