How to Create a Mac Application Inventory
Generate a comprehensive, exportable list of all installed applications on your macOS system using Terminal or System Information.
- Open the Terminal application. Press Command + Space to open Spotlight search. Type Terminal and press Enter to launch the command line interface.
- Run the application list command. Copy and paste the command 'ls /Applications > ~/Desktop/AppInventory.txt' into the Terminal window. Press Enter to execute the command.
- Review the generated inventory. Navigate to your Desktop and locate the file named AppInventory.txt. Double-click the file to open it in TextEdit and confirm the list is populated.
- Capture deep system details. Hold the Option key and click the Apple Menu (). Select System Information. In the sidebar, navigate to Software and click Applications.
- Save the system report. With the Applications list selected in System Information, go to File > Save in the menu bar. Choose a destination on your desktop and select Plain Text format to save the full report.