My iTerm2 had developed some bug where it no longer saved new profiles. After restarting the app, the new profile would be gone. Therefore I tried reinstalling the app. I deleted it from the Applicatiosn folder and downloaded and installed it again. Upon launch all settings were the same including the bug, so I uninstalled it again and began hunting for lingering files. I am now left with these:
$ sudo find / -iname iterm*
/opt/local/var/macports/sources/rsync.macports.org/macports/release/tarballs/ports/aqua/iTerm2
/private/var/tmp/iTerm2.socket.13957
/private/var/tmp/iTerm2.socket.14305
/private/var/tmp/iTerm2.socket.23050
/private/var/tmp/iTerm2.socket.23296
/private/var/tmp/iTerm2.socket.23348
/private/var/tmp/iTerm2.socket.24927
/private/var/tmp/iTerm2.socket.3537
/private/var/tmp/iTerm2.socket.76837
/private/var/tmp/iTerm2.socket.907
/Users/me/Library/Application Support/iTerm2
/usr/local/Homebrew/Library/Taps/caskroom/homebrew-cask/Casks/iterm2.rb
yet re-instaling the app still results in it looking and behaving like I had configured it before uninstalling. How can I properly purge this app? Are there files related to iTerm that my search is missing because they are named differently?
Best Answer
Some apps write small files in various directories that do not get removed when you delete the app. There are some utilities that will find these and delete them whenever you move an app to the trash. By the sound of your problem I think this is the case. App Cleaner is one such app. Some suggest not using these apps for various reasons. I've never had a problem with App Cleaner. You can also manually delete these files but they appear in several directories. You can try 'ls -lRt | grep iterm' to find these files and then delete them. Not all files listed should be deleted though so be cautious about the ones you do delete. A third option is to do an internet search on 'completely uninstall files Mac' and some sites list where these files are installed.