Recently, I've shared how to uninstall any antivirus software from Windows. If you are using McAfee and cannot uninstall it properly, follow the instructions before to uninstall McAfee on Windows.
McAfee has a pretty trash reputation among the PC community and rightfully so. McAfee is slow, uses a lot of memory for simplest of things, consumes CPU like no other and for whatever reason, it takes up nearly 1GB of disk space. In addition to all this, what makes McAfee annoying is that it often behaves like adware and makes it hard to uninstall it from Windows 10.
Generally, you'll find McAfee on pre-built PCs where OEMs and PC manufacturers install either the trial version or a variant of the paid version. Once you reach the time limit, McAfee starts bugging you to upgrade or renew the product. In a world where Windows Defender is doing pretty good and there are a bunch of other good free antivirus software like Avast and AVG, there is no reason to use McAfee. Especially, Microsoft is actively improving Windows Defender with new features like Windows Defender Sandbox, Ransomware protection, etc., So, if you are looking to completely remove McAfee from your Windows system there is how to uninstall McAfee on Windows 10.
There are two ways to remove McAfee from Windows 10. The first method is to use the control panel and the second method uses the McAfee removal tool. First, try the first method. If you think McAfee has not been uninstalled properly or if you want to remove all McAfee products at once from your system then follow the second method.
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I'm showing this on Windows 10, but the below methods work on Windows 7 and Windows 8.
1. Uninstall McAfee on Windows 10 From Control Panel
McAfee uninstallation improved over the time. So, like any software installed on Windows, you can uninstall McAfee from the control panel. So, follow the below steps to uninstall McAfee on Windows 10 via the control panel.
1. Search for Control Panel in the start menu and open it.
2. In the control panel, click on the "Programs and Features" option. If you can't find the option, make sure that the view by is set to "Large Icons".
3. This is where you can uninstall programs. Find the McAfee antivirus, right-click on it and select the "Uninstall" option. In my case, McAfee antivirus is called as McAfee LiveSafe.
4. In the McAfee uninstall screen, select "McAfee LiveSafe" and "Remove all files for this program" checkboxes and click on the "Continue" button. If you look at the bottom of the screen you will see that McAfee is not uninstalling its Web Advisor application. We need to uninstall it separately.
5. In this warning window, simply click on the "Continue" button.
6. As soon as you click on the continue button, McAfee starts to uninstall itself. It can take some time to fully uninstall McAfee on Windows 10. So, sit back and wait.
7. Here, click on the "No thanks" button.
8. Click on the "Restart now" button to complete the McAfee uninstallation process.
9. Remember, we still need to remove McAfee Web Advisor application too. So, after restarting the system, go to "Control Panel -> Programs and Features", right-click on the McAfee Web Advisor and select "Uninstall".
10. McAfee shows false data to make you keep the application. In my case, it is telling me that it has protected me from identity theft and password theft. Which is false. Simply click on the "No thanks, just uninstall it" button on the left side. Not the big blue button.
11. As soon as you click on the button, the application will be uninstalled completely.
12. Just to make sure McAfee is completely uninstalled, restart your system.
13. Even after uninstalling McAfee, it keeps leftover files in the Program Files folder. So, after restarting, open File Explorer, go to C:\Program Files, select McAfee and press Delete key on your keyboard.
14. If you see a warning window, simply click on the "continue" button to delete McAfee folder on Windows 10.
That's it. You've successfully uninstalled McAfee on Windows 10. If you are unsure or if are unable to cleanly uninstall McAfee, follow the second method which uses McAfee removal tool.
2. Remove McAfee on Windows 10 Using McAfee Removal Tool
Like many antivirus software, it can be hard to remove McAfee on Windows 10 due to uninstallation problems or unclean uninstallation. In those situations, you can use McAfee removal tool to uninstall McAfee on Windows 10. In fact, McAfee removal tool makes it quite easy to remove all McAfee products from your computer at once. Let me show you how.
1. First, go here and download McAfee removal tool called as McAfee Consumer Product Removal Tool (MCPR). Once downloaded, double-click on the file to execute the application.
2. In this screen, click on the "Next" button.
3. For some reason (security?), you need to enter a captcha. So, enter the displayed captcha and click "Next".
4. Now, sit back and wait. The McAfee removal tool will scan your system for any McAfee products and uninstalls them automatically. It can take quite a bit of time to complete the procedure.
5. Once done, click on the "Restart" button to restart Windows 10 to remove any residual McAfee files.
That's all. The removal tool will also remove leftover files from Program Files folder in C drive. So, you don't have to bother to manually remove them.
Hope that helps. Follow the above two methods to uninstall McAfee on Windows 10 and share your experiences about using or removing McAfee on Windows 10.
If you are looking to uninstall preinstalled store app then follow the -- how to uninstall store apps on Windows 10.
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