How to properly uninstall Disk Drill??

realistbyte

Hey folks, I used Disk Drill a while back to save some files, and now I don’t really need it anymore.
Thing is I never used this kind of recovery tool before, so I’m not sure how to properly uninstall Disk Drill.
I don’t want to mess anything up on my system.
What’s the right way to do it?
Sorry if it’s a dumb question, just want to make sure do it right.

7nationArnie

realistbyte Not sure what you want to hear.
First thing that popped up when I typed delete Disk Drill into Google was the official “how to” guide from the developer(https://www.cleverfiles.com/help/how-to-uninstall-disk-drill/)
That’s probably the most detaild step-by-step you’ll find.
Also you didn’t even mention what OS your on. Disk Drill exists for Windows AND Mac, and the way you remove Disk Drill is different depending on the system. Either way nothing complicated about it, just like uninstalling any other app.The fact that it’s a data recovery tool has absolutely nothing to do with the process.
Don’t overthink it. Don’t know what else to add, just Google it.

SocialImpactCoder

If you’re on Windows 11, uninstalling Disk Drill is really simple.

Hit Start and type Settings.
Find Apps then Installed
Scroll down until you find Disk Drill in the list.
Click on the three dots next to it and select Uninstall.
Follow the instrucxtions until it’s gone. That’s all there is to it.

realistbyte

@7nationArnie my bad, I should’ve included more details. I’m on macOS Sequoia (I think that’s the version I’m running.

Naheri

realistbyte On Mac uninstalling isa pain compared to Windows. Apple likes to pretend you just drag stuff to the Trash and you’re done but in reality there are always little support files caches, and preferences hanging around in hidden folders. Its not the end of the world but if you’re the type who wants something completely gone, macOS makes you jump through hoops.
I used to have a specific app that removed programs fully with all the leftover junk the whole lot. Super useful.You just select the app and it would show you everything tied to it before cleaning it out.
But since I switched MacBooks, I kinda forgot what it was called. Wish I still had it, would’ve saved me a ton of hassle.

SocialImpactCoder

Naheri before you do the drag-and-drop-to-Trash thing on macOS make sure the app is actually quit first, or it won’t delete properly.
What I recommend is right-click the app icon in the menu bar (if it’s still running) and choose Quit. Then open Finder go to your Applications folder. Find the app you want to remove and drag it to the Trash. That should take care of the app.

SocialImpactCoder

@realistbyte If you’re on macOS it’s a bit different but equally simple. Just open Disk Drill, go into its Settings, and there should be button that says Remove Disk Drill, click that and it’ll handle the rest for you.
That said, I personally don’t uninstall it even when I’m not planing recovering files. Two reasons:.
-You just never know when you’ll need it again. and Disk Drill comes with other small tools that I use pretty often.
-The app itself is only a couple hundred MB, which in this day and age is nothing. You can just leave it there without worrying about it.

realistbyte

@SocialImpactCoder Thanks for the detailed steps man .I appreciate you taking the time.
What other tools are you talking about? I only thought Disk Drill was for recovering files. What do you use it for besides that?

SocialImpactCoder

realistbyte DD actually has a ton of stuff tucked under Extra Tools on the left panel (especially in the mac version)
It’s not all about recovering files.

The ones I end up using the most::

S.M.A.R.T. Monitoring -shows live indicators for all connected drives (internal and external). It once caught a failing external HDD for me before it died. super useful. It’s kind of like having CrystalDiskInfo built in, but with a betterUI.
Byte-to-byte Backup (full sector-by-sector copy) of any drive or SD card. Handy if you think a disk is about to fail and you want to preserve everything exactly as is.
Find Duplicates surprisingly decent for clearing up space, finds duplicate docs, photos, so on. I run it every couple of months or so.
CleanUp gives a nice visuall breakdown of what’s hogging space, kinda like DaisyDisk but simpler.
Data Shredder/ Erase Free Space - lets you wipe files (or all the “empty” space on a disk) so they can’t be recovered later. Good for privacy.
macOS Installer / Boot Drive lets you make a bootable USB stick if you ever need to reinstall macOS. I’ve used only once when a friend’s Mac went sideways.

I don’t use everything in here all the time, but it’s why I don’t bother uninstalling it. Even when I’m not actively recovering stuff, those little utilities come in handy.

Also, one thing no one’s mentioned yet: keeping recovery app installed can actually help you if something gets deleted in the future. That way you’re not reinstalling it after the fact( which could risk overwriting the files you’re trying to recover).
You’ve probably seen it most recovery tools actually warn you not to install them on the same drive where your lost data might be. Having it already set up saves you from that headache later.

realistbyte

@Naheri Oh I’d love a link if you ever remember the name of that app. Sounds exactly like something I coud use.

Naheri

@SocialImpactCoder I know all that, quit the app, drag it to Trash, empty it, etc. But it still doesn’t remove ALL of it.
There’s always leftover stuff sitting in ‘~/Library or Library/Application Support’ or somewhere else hidden.
That’s the part that bugs me. If I delete something I want it gone.
My understanding is that properly designed Mac apps the ones that play nice with macOS should keep their data self-contained in the ‘/Applications/AppName.app’ folder. But a lot of apps still scatter stuff all over the system.

SocialImpactCoder

Naheri Nah man it actually has nothing to do with how well an app “plays” with macOS.
Apps can’t write into their own bundle inside /Applications. That folder is read-only from the app’s perspective.
That’s why macOS has designated spots inside the ~/Library folder like Application Support, Caches, Preferences…. where apps are supposed to store data, settings and temp files. So the fact that stuff ends up outside the .app bundle isn’t poor design it’s just how macOS handles app data. Even Apple’s own apps follow that rule.
If you want a truly clean uninstall, yea you’ll need to wipe those leftove files manually (or use something like AppCleaner)

realistbyte

@SocialImpactCoder Alright man, consider me convinced 😂 I never even bothered to look at the menu properly just used it once for recovery and bounced. But Find Duplicates and Clean Up definitely sound like something I’d use on the regular.
Thanks for the breakdown really. Appreciate you!!