WARNING: macOS comes with a system Python installation in /usr/bin/python3 that should NOT be removed as it's required for system functionality. Only remove Python versions you've manually installed.

Please read the end of 5.1.1 for official insight: https://docs.python.org/3/using/mac.html#installation-steps

Legacy Python

The previous edit for this question suggested removing /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.x/bin/python as a way of completely removing Python. This flexibility has since changed with newer macOS updates.

Identify Your Python Installations

Before removing anything, determine which Python installations exist and where they're located:

# List all Python installations
which -a python python3

# Check Python versions
python3 --version

# Find installation locations
ls -l /opt/homebrew/bin/python*
ls -l /usr/local/bin/python*
ls -l /usr/bin/python*

For Homebrew Python

# Uninstall Python
brew uninstall [email protected]
# Remove orphaned files
brew cleanup
# List any broken symlinks, etc.
brew doctor

For Python.org installer

# Remove the application
sudo rm -rf /Applications/Python\ 3.x

# Check for framework files
ls -la /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/
# If found, remove the specific version
sudo rm -rf /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.x

# Check for and remove symbolic links
# For Intel Macs:
cd /usr/local/bin
ls -l | grep '../Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.x' | awk '{print $9}' | xargs rm -f
# For Apple Silicon:
cd /usr/local/bin
ls -l | grep '../Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.x' | awk '{print $9}' | xargs rm -f

# Check for user-specific packages
ls -l ~/Library/Python/
# Remove if needed
rm -rf ~/Library/Python/3.x/

For pyenv-managed Python

# List all installed Python versions
pyenv versions

# Show the current active version
pyenv version

# Uninstall a specific version
pyenv uninstall 3.x.y

# Check pyenv installation location
ls -la ~/.pyenv/versions/

# Remove pyenv shims and rehash
pyenv rehash

# If you want to completely remove pyenv itself
# For Homebrew installation:
brew uninstall pyenv
# For manual installation:
rm -rf ~/.pyenv
# Don't forget to remove pyenv initialization from your shell profile
# (.bash_profile, .zshrc, etc.)

Clean Up Remaining Files

# Remove Python cache files
find ~/ -name "__pycache__" -type d -exec rm -rf {} +
find ~/ -name "*.pyc" -delete

# Check for any remaining Python-related directories
ls -la ~/Library/Application\ Support/ | grep -i python
ls -la ~/Library/Caches/ | grep -i python

So, I ended up removing all python installations, and reinstalling things via Homebrew.

1. which python ---> /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python Delete the entire Python.framework directory from /Library/Frameworks.
2. which python3 ---> /usr/local/bin/python3 Delete the entire python3 directory.

3. I was a bit nervous about the symlinks. I initially renamed the ones that were obviously going to cause me trouble. It turns out that was unnecessary. Instead, just use:

   $ brew doctor
   Warning: Broken symlinks were found. Remove them with 'brew prune':
     /usr/local/bin/python-32
     /usr/local/bin/python2-32
     /usr/local/bin/python2.7-32
     /usr/local/bin/python2_DNU
     /usr/local/bin/python_DNU
     /usr/local/bin/pythonw-32
     /usr/local/bin/pythonw2-32
     /usr/local/bin/pythonw2.7-32
   

   So, brew prune (or brew cleanup --prune in newer versions of Homebrew) worked perfectly. It removed all of the above symlinks.

4. Reinstall python and python3 via homebrew. All done.

At no time did I touch the python installation located within the /System folder.

Oh, and to be clear. The answer to the original question is

Yes, you can trust the old references, as written! That guidance is still valid.

There’s no need to uninstall python3 if you remove the executable from your path. Just keep calling the older version or use a tool like pyenv to juggle which is preferred if you don’t like or care to control your path.

You may have multiple versions of Python 3.x installed on your Mac. To uninstall all of them, first check which are installed:

brew list | grep python

Let's say you have 3.9 and 3.7 installed. To remove 3.9, run this command:

brew uninstall [email protected]

To remove 3.7, just replace 3.9 with 3.7 above.

• brew uninstall python
• https://docs.brew.sh/Installation#uninstallation