Question

I want to completely remove Python 2.7 from my Mac OS X 10.6.4. I managed to remove the entry from the PATH variable by reverting my .bash_profile. But I also want to remove all directories, files, symlinks, and entries that got installed by the Python 2.7 install package. I’ve got the install package from http://www.python.org/. What directories/files/configuration file entries do I need to remove? Is there a list somewhere?

Answer 1

Do not attempt to remove any Apple-supplied system Python which are in /System/Library and /usr/bin, as this may break your whole operating system.

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NOTE: The steps listed below do not affect the Apple-supplied Python 2.7; they only remove a third-party Python framework, like those installed by python.org installers.

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The complete list is documented here. Basically, all you need to do is the following:

1. Remove the third-party Python 2.7 framework

    sudo rm -rf /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7
   

2. Remove the Python 2.7 applications directory

    sudo rm -rf "/Applications/Python 2.7"
   

3. Remove the symbolic links, in /usr/local/bin, that point to this Python version. See them using

    ls -l /usr/local/bin | grep '../Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7' 
   

and then run the following command to remove all the links:

    cd /usr/local/bin/
    ls -l /usr/local/bin | grep '../Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7' | awk '{print $9}' | tr -d @ | xargs rm

4. If necessary, edit your shell profile file(s) to remove adding /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7 to your PATH environment file. Depending on which shell you use, any of the following files may have been modified:
   ~/.bash_login, ~/.bash_profile, ~/.cshrc, ~/.profile, ~/.tcshrc, ~/.zshrc, and/or ~/.zprofile.