How to Uninstall Steam on Mac (App + Game Data)

In short: Dragging Steam to the Trash leaves gigabytes of game data behind. Here is how to uninstall Steam on Mac the right way, including the steamapps folder where your downloaded games live. You will preview what you remove and keep every step reversible.

Steam is one of the biggest disk-space users on many Macs, and the reason is simple: the app itself is small, but the games you download can add up to tens or even hundreds of gigabytes. When you decide to remove it, dragging the app to the Trash only deletes the launcher. Your downloaded games, shader caches, and account data sit quietly in your Library folder, still taking up room. This guide walks you through how to uninstall Steam on Mac completely, including the steamapps game data, without touching anything you should leave alone.

Before You Start: Back Up Saves and Sign Out

Steam Cloud syncs many game saves automatically, but not every title uses it. If you might reinstall later or move to another machine, open Steam, let it finish syncing, and check each game's page for cloud-save support. For games without cloud sync, saves often live under ~/Library/Application Support in a folder named after the game or publisher, not inside Steam itself. Copy those somewhere safe first.

It also helps to sign out of Steam and quit it fully before you delete anything. A running app can recreate files or hold locks, which makes a clean removal harder. Quit Steam from its menu, then confirm it is gone from the Dock and from Activity Monitor.

Step 1: Remove the Steam App

Open Finder, go to your Applications folder, and find Steam. Drag it to the Trash, or right-click it and choose Move to Trash. This removes the launcher, but it deliberately leaves your game library and settings in place, which is why the next steps matter. Nothing is permanently gone yet, so if you change your mind you can pull Steam back out of the Trash before you empty it.

Step 2: Delete the steamapps Game Data

The bulk of your reclaimed space comes from here. Steam stores its files in your user Library, which is hidden by default. In Finder, click the Go menu, hold the Option key so Library appears, and choose it. Then open Application Support and look for the Steam folder. The full path is:

~/Library/Application Support/Steam

Inside, the steamapps folder is where your downloaded and installed games live, along with shader caches and depot files. Removing the whole Steam folder clears the app's configuration and every game you had installed. If you want to keep a specific installed game for later, you can move its folder out of steamapps/common first, but for a full uninstall you can send the entire Steam folder to the Trash.

Check for a Second Library Location

If you ever added a Steam library on an external drive or a separate volume to save space, that data is not under your home Library. Look for a SteamLibrary folder at the root of that drive and remove it there too. Games installed to a secondary location will not disappear just because you cleared the main folder.

Step 3: Clean Up the Leftover Bits

A few small support files remain in standard locations. These are safe to remove and can free a little more space plus tidy your system:

• ~/Library/Caches/ — look for folders that mention Steam or Valve.
• ~/Library/Preferences/ — a Valve or Steam preferences file may be present.
• ~/Library/Logs/ — any Steam log folder.

Everything here lives inside ~/Library, your own user Library. You never need to open the top-level /System or /Library folders for this, and you should not delete anything inside /System. Stick to your home Library and the paths listed above.

Reversible by Design: Empty the Trash Last

Notice that every step above moves files to the Trash rather than erasing them. That is intentional. The Trash is your safety net: if you realize you deleted a game you still wanted, or a save you missed, you can restore it with a right-click and Put Back. Only when you are confident everything is gone should you empty the Trash to actually reclaim the disk space. Preview first, delete to the Trash, verify, then empty.

Doing This Regularly? A Cleaner Can Help

If manually hunting through Library folders feels tedious, a good Mac cleaner can find app leftovers for you and show a preview before anything moves. The key is that a cleaner should let you review each item, only remove user-level junk by default, and send removals to the Trash so they stay reversible. A cleaner also has no reason to phone home about what you delete, and you can confirm that yourself with a firewall like Little Snitch.

On that note, our top free pick is CoreSweep — free forever, with an optional one-time Pro at $49, no telemetry, and reversible deletes. A strong best-value runner-up is SkoonMac, which is free with a one-time $39 Pro upgrade. Either one will surface the steamapps and Library leftovers this guide covers, so you can clear them with a preview and a single review step.

Whether you do it by hand or with a tool, the approach is the same: remove the app, clear the steamapps game data, tidy the small support files in your own Library, and empty the Trash only once you are sure. That is the complete, safe way to uninstall Steam on Mac and get your storage back.

Frequently asked questions

Does dragging Steam to the Trash delete my games too?

No. Dragging Steam to the Trash only removes the launcher app. Your downloaded games, shader caches, and account data stay in your user Library, mainly in the steamapps folder. To reclaim that space you also need to delete the Steam folder under ~/Library/Application Support.

Where are Steam games stored on a Mac?

Your installed games live in ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps, usually inside the common subfolder. If you ever added a Steam library on an external drive or separate volume, those games sit in a SteamLibrary folder at the root of that drive instead, and you have to remove them there separately.

Will I lose my game saves if I uninstall Steam?

Many titles sync saves through Steam Cloud, so let Steam finish syncing before you delete anything. Saves for games without cloud support often live under ~/Library/Application Support in a folder named after the game or publisher, not inside Steam, so copy those somewhere safe first. Because every step sends files to the Trash rather than erasing them, you can Put Back anything you removed by mistake until you empty it.

Is it safe to delete the Steam folder in Library?

Yes, as long as you stay inside your own home Library. The Steam folder and the small cache, preferences, and log files this guide lists are all safe to remove and go to the Trash, so they stay reversible. You never need to open the top-level /System or /Library folders for this, and you should not delete anything inside /System.

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