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How can I "hard remove" or somehow disable the "Music" app from macOS Catalina+?

I assume I need to boot disable SIP or similar which I'm fine with, I'm not just sure how to find the location of this app as it doesn't appear as /Applications/Music in the terminal.

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    The Music app is located in /System/Applications/Music.app, but I would strongly recommend against removing it. You could hide it instead using sudo chflags hidden /System/Applications/Music.app. This command will only work if SIP is disabled.
    – jaume
    Commented May 8, 2020 at 14:10
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    @jaume Why do you recommend against removing it? I'm in agreement but am curious to what your provision is. Ultimately I was going to move it to a backup drive or similar, like I did in Mojave.
    – Jacksonkr
    Commented May 8, 2020 at 15:18
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    Well, generally speaking, I would recommend against removing anything within /System. You don't really know the consequences. For instance, updates may fail. Or Apple may refuse to provide support. I'm not saying it is going to happen, it may be safe to remove the Music app or Apple may be obliging, but SIP is for me synonymous with "no user serviceable". Are you willing to take the risk? I'm not, but of course, it's your choice.
    – jaume
    Commented May 9, 2020 at 16:40
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    This doesn't work for me, I get Operation not permitted even with su or as root.
    – jezmck
    Commented Feb 9, 2021 at 13:18

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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If you just need prevent Music app or iTunes to launch, you could use noTunes: https://github.com/tombonez/noTunes

I didn't manage to find any better to disable it.

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    Epic solution considering no-trace removal option. Thanks for the link!
    – Jacksonkr
    Commented Oct 11, 2021 at 21:35
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    Nice. Works as advertised, homebrew install, and minimal nuisance. Even its icon can be hidden. Great stuff, thank you.
    – Guillaume
    Commented Nov 15, 2021 at 19:42
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    Every single time I adjusted my earbuds or scratched my ear apple music used to fly open and ask me to buy a subscription. Now i can safely touch my ears in peace.
    – WhiteleyJ
    Commented Nov 15, 2022 at 18:38
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    Could some sue Apple for this for anti trust violation for monopoly and unfair competition? There is no way to disable/uninstall Apple Music to prevent it from opening annoyingly. Apple also rejects your App updates if it has the word "Android" in it.
    – coolcool1994
    Commented Sep 2, 2023 at 23:45
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    Kinda annoying that you need to install 3rd party software to prevent the non-removable apple software from opening. Reminds me of the days when windows PCs used to come pre-bundled with a bunch of bloatware.
    – Andrew K
    Commented Dec 13, 2023 at 16:32
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If you want to soft-disable it, you can also Sign out (account > sign out) which will prevent the app from playing music or using any functionality that exists in the music app. Without an apple music subscription or being signed in the app looks like this - it's still possible to browse songs but they cannot be played or downloaded.

enter image description here

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    It still opens sometimes if you're not signed in. Just happened to me: rebooted computer, hit play on my headphones (with Spotify running) and the Music app intercepted the action and opened up.
    – jcollum
    Commented Oct 10, 2023 at 16:01
  • @jcollum what version of osx are you on?
    – Origami
    Commented Oct 20, 2023 at 23:25
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    14, but it happened in 13 too
    – jcollum
    Commented Oct 23, 2023 at 19:27
  • Interesting, I'm still running 12.X.X / have been since posting this so that might be the difference.
    – Origami
    Commented Oct 24, 2023 at 20:08
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    It opens when I double-click a wav file. Despite me repeatedly picking QuickTime as the "Always Open With" app.
    – Eugene C
    Commented Dec 1, 2023 at 23:07

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