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You have McAfee Total Protection, Site Advisor, Anti-Malware, WebAdvisor or VirusScan software. Or another of its many products.
It’s installed on your system and needs full removal. You’re tired of the poor speeds, slowing down of your computer, and its devouring of almost 1GB of disk space. It should be simple.
But for some reason, McAfee resists uninstalls (it almost acts like adware). While you’re being bugged to upgrade/renew. Well, you’re in luck. We’ve seen this before and know the fix.
Our uninstall McAfee guide for Windows works for versions 7, 8 and 10. Our process will get you there without leaving a trace.
Uninstall McAfee on Windows 7, 8 or 10 🧰
To completely remove McAfee from your Windows system, look no further.
The HostingData team has gathered two main methods. We recommend giving the first a go. If that doesn’t uninstall fully, or if the goal’s to totally delete all McAfee products at once - then use the second.
For just WebAdvisor installation, click here…
Else, you have two options. To uninstall as-fast-as-possible, jump to #2:
#1 Manual
As with any software on Windows PC, you can uninstall McAfee via the ‘control panel.’ This Microsoft component lets users view/modify system settings. Once again, this can be duplicated for Windows 7, 8, or 10.
- Open this panel from the start menu (type it into the start menu to find it - or scroll to ‘Settings’).
- Inside the control panel, search for ‘Programs and Features.’ if the option seems to be hiding, change the view to have bigger icons.
Alternatively, your screen may look like the below – with the uninstall option next to the Programs section.
- Clicking it will bring you to the section where programs can be uninstalled. Search for McAfee antivirus. Right-clicking it and select ‘uninstall.’ (Your program may be called something else, such as McAfee VirusScan, or McAfee Security Scan Plus.)
- Follow the track of checkboxes that leads to uninstallation. Depending on how your screen looks on your Windows OS version, this may say “remove all files for this program” or “uninstall/change.” Make sure you check for all McAfee products. If there are several, each will need to be uninstalled separately, one by one 🗹.
- You may get a warning that your subscription is still active. To completely remove McAfee, ignore this warning and click ‘Continue.’
- McAfee will now start to uninstall itself. Boil a cup of tea as this can take a good while to fully uninstall McAfee on Windows 10, which is up to a gigabyte of data.
- Select ‘No Thanks’ on the next screen.
- The next screen will ask you to restart your computer, to finish fully removing your McAfee software. Make sure that any other programs still running are closed. Then select ‘Restart Now.’
#1.1 WebAdvisor
How can I uninstall WebAdvisor properly? This additional program can be easily removed. There are a few extra things to keep in mind, however:
9. Return to ‘Control Panel > Programs and Features’... Repeat steps used to bring up the uninstall window.
10. McAfee may try to convince you to retain the installed application. It may warn that you’ll lose protection against identity fraud. There are many ways to protect your online identity, including with a good affordable VPN. So simply click on ‘No Thanks, Just Uninstall.’
Pro Tip ⚠️: for total removal, make sure NOT to press the blue button.
11. Once this is finished, restart your computer again but there are still more steps.
12. Even though you uninstall McAfee, there are some remnant files remaining in the Program Files folder. Therefore, after restarting, bring up the file explorer and head to C:\Program Files. Choose McAfee and remove it by right-clicking and deleting or by pressing delete on your keyboard.
Ignore any warning windows. Once the folder’s been successfully deleted, you’ve completely uninstalled McAfee on Windows 10. If there’s other issues getting in the way of the above process, use the second method below - ie. the McAfee removal tool.
#2 Removal Tool
McAfee can make it difficult for you to uninstall it cleanly. In tricky situations like this, you can force its removal. The official removal tool makes it straightforward to delete products from your Windows computer in one go. Let’s go through the process.
- First, head here, for the official McAfee removal tool. It’s called McAfee Consumer Product Removal Tool (MCPR). Once installed, find its installation folder and execute the application.
- You’ll see the screen below. Once again, if you haven’t tried the manual Add/Remove process using the Windows control panel, give that a go first. If you’ve already gone as far as that method allows, then proceed with the removal tool - select ‘Next.’
- You may be asked to enter security information before continuing. If so, type in the relevant captcha (whatever characters you see in your picture) and proceed again.
- We’ll need to borrow another cup of tea. McAfee removal tool will search your system for its installed products. Any detected McAfee products will be automatically uninstalled. While it can take some time, the whole process is non-manual.
- And that’s it. You’ll be given the option to restart Windows 10. Opt to restart, as this final process removes any remaining traces of McAfee files. (Residual files still located in the Program Files folder in the C drive will automatically be taken care of.)
In Summary
It’s disappointing when major IT companies make invasive products. McAfee’s a massive firm with a bad rep. Rather than saving us time, it’s eaten - in the name of a profit. The official removal tool is its saving grace 🙏🏻.
No surprise - they’re yet to make it onto any of HostingData’s esteemed recommendation lists. But if you’re looking for ways to tighten your security...without resorting to malware scanners or antivirus software - consider securing valuable logins such as crypto, via a strong password manager.
Your attention is much more valuable of a resource than any computer. Now that McAfee’s completely removed, your mind is free from McAfee’s distractions: product updates, adware behaviour, and alerts to restart your PC. And while you’re at it, why not give our antivirus hitlist a visit? We hope this guide was useful!
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