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Cannot remove McAfee from MacOS

I need to remove McAfee Endpoint Security from my iMac and am unable to do so. When moving the app to my Trash I see the error "The operation can't be completed because you don't have permission to access some of the items". The related McAfee article mentions using an uninstaller but there is no such item in my Applications folder. Norton provides a .command removal product but it isn't effective - running it results in the error: "Failed to delete that file" file: /usr/local/McAfee/AntiMalware/VShieldScanner it is also unable to delete /usr/local/McAfee directory.

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 15, 2020 5:53 PM

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Posted on Oct 18, 2020 8:30 PM

With no changes i.e. no McAfee processes running per Activity Monitor yet I cannot manually delete McAfee items nor can I move the McAfee app to my trash NOR can I install Norton as it still detects McAfee being installed....on the 9th or 10th time I tried it....I was able to move the app to my trash. Nothing else changed however heck I even installed a Mac Cleaner app and it couldn't detect McAfee as being installed and therefore able to be removed by the Cleaner app, yet the Norton Installer still detected McAfee as being present so....I called support. They had me 1) empty my trash and 2) reboot my Mac. Following those two steps I was able to install Norton. (Huge sigh of relief!) Oh and that Mac Cleaner app? Norton detected it as malware, and removed it;-)

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Oct 18, 2020 8:30 PM in response to Hammondo74

With no changes i.e. no McAfee processes running per Activity Monitor yet I cannot manually delete McAfee items nor can I move the McAfee app to my trash NOR can I install Norton as it still detects McAfee being installed....on the 9th or 10th time I tried it....I was able to move the app to my trash. Nothing else changed however heck I even installed a Mac Cleaner app and it couldn't detect McAfee as being installed and therefore able to be removed by the Cleaner app, yet the Norton Installer still detected McAfee as being present so....I called support. They had me 1) empty my trash and 2) reboot my Mac. Following those two steps I was able to install Norton. (Huge sigh of relief!) Oh and that Mac Cleaner app? Norton detected it as malware, and removed it;-)

Oct 16, 2020 11:23 AM in response to Hammondo74

Is this the command that you tried running? From what I can tell, there are different commands for the consumer and corporate versions of their software.


McAfee - How to uninstall and reinstall McAfee Agent on a Mac


Another option is to use an application like AppZapper, which should remove the application as well as all the associated files.

Oct 16, 2020 11:38 AM in response to Pierre Meystre

That is not the command I used. The command you mention involved removing the McAfee Agent which is a different product, than McAfee Endpoint Security. The KB article that I refer to is TS101226 https://service.mcafee.com/webcenter/portal/oracle/webcenter/page/scopedMD/s55728c97_466d_4ddb_952d_05484ea932c6/Page29.jspx;jsessionid=rvIyr036vqsvbeF54EpwtppwUSlhEZ9I8RQbPOFaQxl1-gk5IkES!-1541912335!1087347003?showFooter=false&articleId=TS101226&leftWidth=0%25&showHeader=false&wc.contextURL=%2Fspaces%2Fcp&rightWidth=0%25&centerWidth=100%25&_adf.ctrl-state=kb5przvp1_9&_afrLoop=555128130504385#!%40%40%3FshowFooter%3Dfalse%26_afrLoop%3D555128130504385%26articleId%3DTS101226%26leftWidth%3D0%2525%26showHeader%3Dfalse%26wc.contextURL%3D%252Fspaces%252Fcp%26rightWidth%3D0%2525%26centerWidth%3D100%2525%26_adf.ctrl-state%3Dbxfwhlpz_4


If you expand "Uninstall McAfee Security from your Mac" step 4 involves double clicking on something that isn't on my Mac - "McAfee Internet Security Uninstaller".


I should add I tried stopping all McAfee processes in Activity Monitor, before trying either the manual uninstall or the Norton tool. The McAfee product stopped updating itself after my upgrade to Catalina and I do see warnings that it will be incompatible with future MacOS versions - that is why I am attempting to replace it with Norton however Norton cannot install until McAfee is removed.

Oct 16, 2020 12:24 PM in response to Hammondo74

Update - with no further changes I was able to perform the manual removal successfully but following a restart the Norton Installer still finds installed McAfee products. I found multiple "vshield...." executables but am unable to remove them, even after adding myself to Sharing and Permissions with Read & Write, on these files. These are the same files the Norton removal tool attempts, and fails, to remove.

Oct 19, 2020 10:04 AM in response to Eau Rouge

Security through obscurity is your argument correct sir? In 2019 alone there were 119 security vulnerabilities in the MacOS:


https://www.cvedetails.com/product/156/Apple-Mac-Os-X.html?vendor_id=49


As stated previously I am a retired network security engineer. I would never recommend going without some anti-malware product and using it properly i.e. keeping it updated and performing full scans of all drives on a weekly basis.

Oct 19, 2020 10:24 AM in response to Hammondo74

You may have excellent security credentials, but with all respect I ask the following. How many Macs of recent vintage have you personally seen which have been infected with a virus? None of us here have ever heard of a single case to date. Given that the Catalina OS has a Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD Data, and that the HD where the OS resides is read only, how can it be infected?

Cannot remove McAfee from MacOS

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