Managing macOS System Extensions From the Terminal
How to list and clean up system extensions on macOS from the Terminal
You can list installed system extensions on macOS from the Terminal.
To do that, you can use the following command:
systemextensionsctl listFor example, on macOS I have several system extensions including the camera extension from Open Broadcaster Software or the OBS app.
$ systemextensionsctl list
3 extension(s)
--- com.apple.system_extension.cmio (Go to 'System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Camera Extensions' to modify these system extension(s))
enabled active teamID bundleID (version) name [state]
* * TQ5W6RYNUV com.antonmeier.webcamplus.server.macOS-Camera-Extension (2.0.0/3) macOS-Camera-Extension [activated enabled]
* * 2MMRE5MTB8 com.obsproject.obs-studio.mac-camera-extension (32.0.2/18749313472) OBS Virtual Camera [activated enabled]
--- com.apple.system_extension.network_extension (Go to 'System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Network Extensions' to modify these system extension(s))
enabled active teamID bundleID (version) name [state]
* * VBG97UB4TA com.objective-see.lulu.extension (4.2.0/4.2.0) LuLu [activated enabled]Now, let’s say you want to uninstall OBS. After you uninstall it, the OBS Camera extension is still there. To remove it from your macOS, you can use the following command:
systemextensionsctl gcHere’s an example result when the cleanup was successful.
$ systemextensionsctl gc
2025-12-01 07:28:32.610 systemextensionsctl[92382:7294205] Successfully cleaned up (
"BundleID: com.obsproject.obs-studio.mac-camera-extension, teamID: 2MMRE5MTB8, version: 18749313472/32.0.2"
)If you list the system extensions again, it’ll show the terminated waiting to uninstall on reboot status.
$ systemextensionsctl list
3 extension(s)
--- com.apple.system_extension.cmio (Go to 'System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Camera Extensions' to modify these system extension(s))
enabled active teamID bundleID (version) name [state]
2MMRE5MTB8 com.obsproject.obs-studio.mac-camera-extension (32.0.2/18749313472) OBS Virtual Camera [terminated waiting to uninstall on reboot]
* * TQ5W6RYNUV com.antonmeier.webcamplus.server.macOS-Camera-Extension (2.0.0/3) macOS-Camera-Extension [activated enabled]
--- com.apple.system_extension.network_extension (Go to 'System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Network Extensions' to modify these system extension(s))
enabled active teamID bundleID (version) name [state]
* * VBG97UB4TA com.objective-see.lulu.extension (4.2.0/4.2.0) LuLu [activated enabled]This means that it’s deactivated and ready to be removed after a reboot. So just reboot your macOS and it’ll be gone for real.
Conclusion
As usual, if you have any questions or a better method, leave a comment below. Thanks for reading, and see you next time!
