Scrivener 2.5 fails to launch on a MacBook 10.6.8. I need to do a complete uninstall before a reinstall the program. How to do a manual uninstall? Which files must be permanently deleted in the system?
There is no formal uninstall procedure on a Mac, because everything is dynamic. If you remove the software from your computer, then all of the features and services it provides to the system are also removed instantly because that is the only place they existed (by and large, there are exceptions but Scrivener is not one of them, everything it does is done from within the .app file). In fact, you don’t even have to remove the malfunctioning copy. All you really need to do is download the latest version from the website, copy it into your Applications folder, and tell Finder to overwrite the old copy when asked.
I can recommend AppZapper (appzapper.com) to make sure absolutely everything is removed… but as AmberV said you can just remove the program file… the only thing i’ve found left behind by most well behaved Mac App’s is preference files and things… normally they cause no issues, but I have seen the odd corrupted .plist file…
Thanks AmberV for the info that Scriv doesn’t use the Library folder for anything - very helpful for me to bear in mind.
As to the original question, if you have purchased Scrivener directly from Lit n Lat, there is one other file installed when you activate the license. I can’t see that this would be causing problems, though - if the registration activation fails, launching Scriv should just give you the trialware message (30 days to use free, or activate now by entering your code).
HTH, asotir