Does MacOS have anti virus software

Hi genius-i-am,

What a good question. MacOS doesn't need anti virus software, it's built right into the operating system. See MacOS Security.

You just need to be careful of what you download from the internet as Macs can still get adware and spyware. Malwarebytes is a good application for removing spyware and adware.

I hope this helps.

Mac OS does not need anti-virus softwares because there are no known viruses that affect Macs. This user tip describes what a user needs to do to protect their Mac: Effective defenses against malware and other threats - Apple Community   

There are, however, some malware and adware but those require the user to do something, i.e. click on a link or whatever, to allow them to be installed. They are not self replicating.

For those types of threats download and run the free version of Malwarebytes. It was developed by a long time contributor to these forums and a highly respected member of the computer security community. 

Also never run any "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up" or anti-virus apps. They are totally unnecessary for Macs and typically do more harm than good.

If you think you may have some malware, adware or other unneeded software installed to the following and post back with the results:

Download and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.

Copy the report

and use the Add Text button to include the report in your reply. How to use the Add Text Feature When Posting Large Amounts of Text, i.e. an Etrecheck Report

IMPORTANT:

Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck in the app's Privacy preference pane so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:

ALSO IMPORTANT:

Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine the root of the problem.

genius-i-am Said:

“Does MacOS have anti virus software

Hi! So I just bought MacBook Pro 2 weeks ago and since I've been Windows user for half of my life I'm suprised not to see any anti virus software. I just want to know is there any anti virus software or is MacOS really this safe?”

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Keep All Security Software off your Mac:

It just gets in the way.

If anything, here is what to use:

Malwarebytes for Mac: This is software that searches for malware/adware. So, you would scan with it and then remove what is found. Once removed, uninstall MalwareBytes for Mac, if desired.

Malwarebytes for Mac Downloads:

1. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac
2. Malwarebytes Uninstaller

It is created by long time users of these forums, making it the only trustworthy Security Software for a Mac. All other Security Software just gets in the way on a Mac.

It's built-in to the OS and updated, if needed, automatically, provided you have turned on Automatic Updates in Software Update preferences panel.

There are many third-party anti-malware products but typically they aren't needed unless you are prone to click on email links or website links that may not be trustworthy. If you like to take those risks, then you might need more help than macOS provides.