Removing Acrobat adds background items on Mac

[tlmurray23]

I don't need support, I only want to report this as a bug: I deleted Acrobat, and I got the same message one gets when installing: 

Again, everything is fine, but I don't think this should be happening! 

[Pariah Burke]

If you're uninstalled Acrobat and restarted your computer, it should be gone. Just to be sure--and for identifying if it's a bug--would you please post a screenshot of your Activity Monitor? Does it show any process starting with "acro" still running?

[tlmurray23]

I would, but Acrobat is back, as I deleted it just for temporary purposes. But asking whether any "acro~" processes are running avoids addressing the point: When you uninstall something, you should not get a message that background items were added. 

Now, if it were the case that "if you remove A, we had to add B to make C run properly," that's different, and the message should have said as much. 

[IceFloe · Accepted solution]

Totally get how you feel — it's super frustrating, I know.
But... this probably isn’t a bug (at least not technically 😅).

Even after uninstalling,
there are still leftover files in places like:

/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper
/Library/PDF Services/Save as Adobe PDF.app

/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.XXXUUIDXXX.plist

/Library/Application Support/Adobe/ARMDC
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/ARMNext
/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat

If those are still hanging around, you'll likely need to do a proper cleanup.
Have you tried running the Cleaner Tool yet?
https://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/Labs/AdobeAcroCleanerTool.dmg

Might be worth a shot.

Hope that helps!

[tlmurray23]

I sent a wee interface bug to Apple. In a dialog, three buttons are shown, but the verb that is actually useful isn't there. As it turns out, you have to press Option to see it. According to Apple, it's not a bug because "it works as designed."

[tlmurray23]

Needing to use the Cleaner Tool after an uninstall is like . . . like . . . umm, I'm trying to think of doing something after the plumber leaves the house or after the auto mechanic fixes the car, but I can't think of anything. I think you get what I mean.