Detect and clean residual background items after app uninstall

[Jathushanselvarajah]

It would be useful if Mole could detect and remove residual macOS background items left behind after an application has been uninstalled, for example when you run something like mo clean.

For example, some apps leave files such as:

/Library/LaunchDaemons/.plist
/Library/LaunchAgents/.plist
~/Library/LaunchAgents/.plist
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/

These leftovers can cause uninstalled applications or developer names to keep appearing in System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Allow in the Background.

I don’t know if this is already supported in Mole.

Thanks

[tw93]

@Jathushanselvarajah It is, partly, and the split is worth knowing since it explains what you will and will not see disappear.

mo clean has an App leftovers step that scans /Library/LaunchDaemons, /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools for services whose application is gone, and removes those. They sit outside your home directory, so that scan only runs if you take the admin prompt mo clean offers. Decline it and the step is skipped, which is probably why you were not sure whether it happens at all.

The ones under ~/Library/LaunchAgents are deliberately different: Mole reports them with the reason rather than deleting them. A plist there can belong to something you installed on purpose, and its target is not always resolvable, so that one stays your call.

If a specific leftover survives mo clean with the prompt taken, open an issue with the plist path and I will look at why it was not matched.