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 time. Like any software installed on Windows, you can uninstall McAfee from the control panel. 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 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.
1.1 Uninstall McAfee WebAdvisor
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 can show 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 the 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 the 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 the McAfee removal tool called 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.
I can’t get anywhere with this evil McAfee (Intel). Their tool did nothing. It hung for a long time. The progress bar didn’t move. Unless it takes a long, long, long time to move, there’s something wrong there. So I just moved on. Most of the ‘help’ isn’t.
I get his when I used BCuninstaller: https://app.box.com/s/nlp9dmobg49o5iqm93knlmi6i7odgrte
I followed the steps to remove McAfee from the control panel. The process worked perfectly.
Thanks
I’m glad it helped you. Have a nice day.
Brilliant. Took me 5 hours conventionally to try and remove. 10/10
thank you nice and easy instruction to follow remove completely from windows 10
Oh, how I dislike McAfee!
Your instructions worked perfectly and removed all traces of this useless program from my computer.
The whole procedure only took about 10 minutes.
Many thanks!
A couple of decades after first encountering this pestiferous virus it remains as toxic as ever. Right now I’m trying to remove it from a friend’s PC using the McCrappy exe. Each time it gets stuck at the Removing Product MFP stage. Uninstalling via the Settings app tool does nothing.
I’ve spent too much time on this bl00dy thing already. Anyone got a NUKE option that doesn’t involve rebuilding the whole laptop?
Help.
Roy
Removing it went OK sort of BUT
1. It left a ghost McAfee on my START MENU – Windows 10 1903
2. There is tons of Mcafee crap on C drive in “Infused apps” and in Several other folders.
McAfee was NOT removed com[lately by MCPR
now what?
Oh, how I also dislike McAfee!
I had several frustrating attempts at removal using Windows uninstall. Your instructions using the McAfee Removal Tool worked perfectly and removed all traces of McAfee programming from my computer.
The whole procedure only took about 15 minutes.
Many thanks!
thank you for taking time to advise people how to remove macfee I tried everything but your advise got rid of it in minutes thank you and good health
After uninstalling McAfee LiveSafe on a Windows 10 PC using Control Panel I searched for orphaned McAfee files. In Program Files I found the following:
Program Files > Common Files > mcafee > SystemCore folder
Program Files (x86) > Common Files > McAfee > System Core folder
I decided to use the MCPR tool but ClamXAV reported a virus – Win.Dropper.Johnnie-6567749-0 — on the mcpr.exe file after downloading from McAfee. That being the case, it is safe to manually delete the two SystemCore folders?
More often than not, they are just false positives. Just make sure that you download the MCPR tool from the official site.
Yes, you can safely remove those folders after uninstalling McAfee.
It was a false positive. Downloaded the MCPR tool again on a different PC without problems. Ran the tool and it removed the McAfee files in the SystemCore/System Core folders.
Thank you for your help. It is nice to be free from McAfee.
Regards,
Rich
Hurrah!!!!!! Thank you :o)
Thanks for addressing this issue. Mcafee and Norton have been more annoying than actual viruses over many years. I uninstalled Mcafee through, and Norton using their removal tool. I still get frequent popup notifications wanting me to subscribe. The Mcafee removal tool doesn’t let me go beyond the Captcha “security.” After a dozen tries, it has not accepted any of my attempts. Is there another removal tool, or any suggestions?
If you cannot use both methods shown in the article, do give third-party uninstallers like Revo Uninstaller or Geek Uninstaller. These software are NOT specifically designed for antivirus software but they are good at uninstalling software in general. These software will try and remove all traces of any software you uninstall with them.
Thanks for the easy and clear step by step process!
I was sick of that thing…
The false data thing they didn’t try in me though.
They just said “we analysed 41 downloads”. I know they did, but here’s the thing: I only download pdf’s from my uni’s website (or almost only) so all it did was watse my time
Thanks again, and sorry for the rant 😉
Process using MCPR worked well. Using this, be prepared to WAIT a long time while the files are removed. Some take an age, but it did finished after coffee, a chat and some thumb twiddling. Thanks for the tips.
How long can I expect it to take the Mcafee tool to work? It just sits there with no progress on the bar. Task manager shows no CPU resources being used? windows methods did not work. I let it sit overnight with no progress.
Head’s up, the captcha for the McAfee remover is case sensitive.
The tool worked excellent for now, thanks. Unless it comes in a back door somewhere again….
Yes I am thrilled went to control panel and went to programmes and features and removed Mcafee life safe in a few minutes. Windows defender on now. Also reclaimed nearly 2gb of storage
The regular route to uninstall didn’t work. The screen came up but the lower part where you do the checkmarks in the box was blank so therefore the “continue” button did not function. Tried blindly clicking where I thought the boxes were, no luck, my cursor was a straight up stick…no arrow. Arrrrgghhhhh.
The removal tool worked perfectly, (I hope, I haven’t restarted yet lol ) but I’ll be back if it doesn’t finish
After using both methods, there are still remnants of Mcafee when I do a keyword search of Mcafee on my drive. Is this normal?
Sometimes, it happens. Even after you use the official uninstaller, there might be some files/folder. Generally, you can just ignore them as long as you’ve confirmed that the McAfee software is uninstalled.
Thank you so much for this information…it worked like a charm!! WOW!! Didn’t take long at all using this was a life saver.
I’m glad it helped you. Have a nice day.