The Item “Grammarly Desktop” Can’t Be Moved to the Trash Because It’s Open

To delete Grammarly from your Mac when it says it's open, you need to find a way to stop it running. Try quitting the app as normal, but if that doesn’t work, start Activity Monitor and force close the Grammarly app from there.

What does it mean that the item "Grammarly Desktop" cannot be moved to the Trash because it is open?

When you see the error message “the item ‘Grammarly Desktop’ can’t be moved to the Trash because it’s open”, it means the Grammarly Desktop app is still running in the background. macOS prevents you from deleting apps if they’re currently running, so you need to quit the app first.

A note from our experts: 

 

Removing Grammarly from your Mac should be easy, but if you’re struggling with it, try MacKeeper’s Premium Services.

 

Here’s how to contact our team of tech support:

1. Download and run MacKeeper.
2. Select Premium Services from the side menu.
3. Click Chat Now, and explain your issue to the agent.

How to delete Grammarly from Mac when it says it's open?

If you find Grammarly cannot be deleted because it’s open, you need to close the app. Closing the Grammarly app window probably won’t be enough, because it will continue to run in the background. You may have to force quit Grammarly to uninstall the application on your Mac.

1. Restart your Mac and try again

In our experience, restarting your Mac can fix all kinds of issues, including not being able to uninstall Grammarly.

Simply do as follows:

1. Click the Apple icon in your menu bar.
2. Select Restart.
3. Make sure Reopen windows when logging back in isn’t selected.
4. Click Restart.
5. When your Mac has restarted, try deleting Grammarly.

When you delete apps on your Mac, they might leave data behind. Read our guide on how to delete leftover files from uninstalled program on Mac for more information.

2. Quit Grammarly from the menu bar

You might be able to delete Grammarly Desktop after you’ve quit the app from your menu bar.

This is what you need to do:

1. Click the Grammarly icon in your menu bar.
2. Select Quit Grammarly.
3. Try deleting the Grammarly app.

3. Force quit Grammarly using Activity Monitor

Still finding that Grammarly cannot be deleted because it’s open? Then move on to our next tip—forcing quitting the Grammarly app with Activity Monitor:

1. Open Activity Monitor from Applications > Utilities.
2. Select the CPU section, find the Grammarly app, and double-click it.
3. In the panel that opens up, click Quit, then Force Quit.
4. Now try deleting the Grammarly app from your Mac.

4. Use Terminal to locate and delete the app

You can also use the macOS command-line tool, Terminal, to delete apps. Here’s how to uninstall Grammarly on Mac using Terminal:

1. Open Applications > Utilities and start the Terminal app.
2. Type sudo rm -rf /Applications/Grammarly\ Desktop.app, and press Enter.
3. Type in your user password, then hit Enter, and Grammarly should be deleted.

5. Remove Grammarly from login items

By default, Grammarly will automatically start when you load up macOS. Follow our next tip to stop that happening:

1. Click the Grammarly icon in your menu bar and select Settings.
2. In the Customization tab, disable Launch at startup.
3. Restart your Mac and try to delete the Grammarly Desktop app.

6. Use safe mode for removal

Launching your Mac in safe mode makes it start up without third-party drivers and apps, including Grammarly.

If you have an Apple Silicon Mac, this is how to start it in safe mode:

1. Turn off your Mac.
2. Press and hold the power button until you see Loading Startup Options.
3. Select your main system disk.
4. Press Shift, and click Continue in Safe Mode.
5. Now try to erase the Grammarly app from your Mac.

If you have an Intel, here’s how to get it into safe mode:

1. Power down your Mac.
2. Turn your Mac on, then immediately press and hold the Shift key.
3. When you see your Mac’s login screen, let go of Shift.
4. Log into your Mac, and it should be in safe mode.
5. Try deleting Grammarly.

7. Use third-party uninstaller tools

A good third-party uninstaller tool will completely remove the Grammarly app from your Mac.

Here’s how to use MacKeeper’s Smart Uninstaller:

1. In MacKeeper, select Smart Uninstaller.
2. Click Start Scan.
3. When the scan is done, select Applications.
4. Select the Grammarly app, and click Remove Selected.
5. Click Accept and Uninstall, and MacKeeper will close and delete Grammarly.

Say goodbye to Grammarly

In most cases, to delete Grammarly from your Mac when it says it's open, you just need to quit or force quit the app, and then try deleting the app again. There are a few ways to do this, and we also suggest trying safe mode if the Grammarly app stubbornly refuses to go. Read how to delete apps on Mac that won't delete to learn more.

But if none of the above-mentioned tips here do the trick, reach out to the MacKeeper’s Premium Services team. They know macOS like the backs of their hands, and they can help you solve your Mac problems in no time.