Once McAfee's uninstall wizard opens, complete it by doing the following: Check the 'McAfee® Total Protection' box. Check the 'Remove all files for this program' box. Click the blue Uninstall button. Click Uninstall again when prompted. McAfee has created an automatic removal program to remove the following software products when the normal removal methods fail. It does not work with Windows 98 or Windows ME. The removal tool deletes all traces of the following products in Windows 2000 Pro, Windows XP Home and Professional, and Windows Vista. McAfee solutions are designed to work together, integrating anti-malware, anti-spyware, and antivirus software with security management features that deliver unsurpassed real-time visibility and analytics, reduce risk, and improve overall internet security. The term Anti-virus is basically a set of programs that are designed in order to prevent, search for, detection and removal of all sort of software viruses, and other malicious software like worms, trojans, adware, and more. My laptop came with McAfee installed with a trial period. I have purchased a different security program. The trail has run out and an McAfee popup keeps advising my computer is at risk.
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McAfee Total Protection for Mac
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McAfee Total Protection is one of the best bargains among the options for antivirus and malware-protection software—but only for the first year. Its introductory rate of $45 includes a one-year subscription for up to 10 computers plus a password vault system for desktop and mobile called True Key.
But after those first twelve months, when the price rises to the regular annual rate of $100, Total Protection’s lack of features relative to other competitors makes it hard to recommend as a long-term option. Moreover, the software is the only package we’ve reviewed in early 2018 with no score from either AV-TEST or AV Comparables’s 2017 testing, so we can’t provide an apples-to-apples score on macOS and Windows malware and macOS unwanted/adware apps.
Note: This review is part of our best antivirus roundup. Go there for details about competing products and how we tested them.
Performance
That said, in our own hands-on spot-testing, Total Protection provided good basic protection. When I downloaded known macOS malware from Objective See’s repository, Total Protection identified every example I tried immediately on decompression from an encrypted ZIP archive. It also identified a mix of Mac and Windows malware from the WICAR archive.
To test its scanning ability, I left downloaded malware on a separate drive used to test other antivirus software packages, and then performed a full scan from McAfee’s app. Total Protection found that malware and quarantined it. Note that there’s no separate access to quarantine—you can only view the list through the “See Issue” button that appears in the app’s Home and Mac Security views after the discovery of malware. Quarantined files can be deleted or restored with the malicious part removed, but you can’t set files to be deleted automatically.
When it comes to ransomware protection, however, McAfee Total Protection leaves users vulnerable. That’s unfortunate, as active and previously unknown ransomware threats are currently seen by experts in Apple security as the most likely problem to affect macOS users. They’re also the most punishing threat afflicting Windows users. McAfee’s package lacks both active and passive ransomware monitoring; the latter typically involves locking specific folders against modification except from whitelisted or Apple-signed software.
Total Protection does block known ransomware samples, like Mabouia, before they can encrypt files. But our top picks for antivirus software actively work to block the mass encryption of user files—which is the hallmark of ransomware—and that should be the current standard to achieve a high mark.
McAfee’s friendly interface hides most of the complexity of virus scanning and malware interaction, and the program automates tasks like real-time scanning, regularly scheduled full-system scans, and update installations. Bits of awkwardness do exist though, such as with the app’s settings. Instead of a preferences dialog box, which is a mainstay of Mac software configuration, McAfee uses a settings dropdown that requires selecting a single category of protection, clicking a lock and entering an Mac administrator’s password, and configuring that subset of settings.
In testing, I found that attempting a manual scan resulted in an error: “Product Expired,” despite a review subscription that lasted until 2020. The company says it’s addressed this on its end, but dismissing the dialog should allow users to proceed. (This workaround did work for me.) I also found that an in-progress manual scan’s progress bar disappeared if Total Protection began another task, but the software’s log showed it as complete without an indication that it had finished. McAfee was unable to replicate this problem, but confirmed that the logging is accurate, and scans complete even if the progress dialog isn’t shown.
Other aspects and features
Total Protection includes native browser plug-ins. The browser plug-in works as one would hope: Any attempt to load a page with malware on it was blocked. However, the block message lacks detail and is poorly formatted—a minor point, but such presentation doesn’t match the polish of the rest of the system.
An included firewall is quite friendly at its top level, with just a switch to turn it on and off, but it also includes two levels of deeper complexity. First, within the Firewall settings, you can define Wi-Fi networks to which you connect as trusted or untrusted, which changes firewall rules automatically. The software package recognizes when you connect to new networks, too, and prompts you to classify the your level of trust of that network. Click Manage Rules, and you can create quite sophisticated instructions for blocking or allowing networking traffic from ports and addresses—features usually found only in standalone firewall software.
Total Protection also includes a subscription to True Key, which is password management software created by Intel and now developed by McAfee. True Key isn’t installed as part of Total Protection, though. Rather, you have to download it from your account page at McAfee after activating Total Protection, and use an activation code that you paste into the product separately after installing it. Confusingly, you’ll find this under Free Trials > Download Purchased Products after you log in to a Web account.
The True Key browser plug-in works well. It offers to remember passwords as you enter them, and has an attractively designed, easy-to-use interface for managing and adding passwords. However, it didn’t always capture logins for popular sites. For instance, I tried to use its automatic method to capture and store my Amazon login, and it failed. With other sites, like Dropbox, it worked as expected.
The main downside of True Key is that Mac users are limited to browser plug-ins for Chrome and Firefox—no Safari support exists. Users of Chrome and Firefox will find this a non-issue, of course, but many Mac owners will find True Key to be a non-starter.
The True Key system stores your information centrally, and relies on a browser extension that uses in-browser encryption and decryption. The central storage only stores encrypted entries. That’s also the case with popular password safes like LastPass, 1Password, and others, but some people avoid any system that relies on central storage.
The bottom line
McAfee Total Protection comes with a large number of computers in its license at a low price—but only for its first year. Those twelve months should provide good service, though: Total Protection was adept at identifying malware, while also coming with the extras of a robust firewall and a password manager. However, its high subsequent annual cost, the lack of Safari support for True Key, and lack of both active and passive ransomware monitoring pushes it down in the pack among peers.
Editor's note: Our original McAfee Total Protection review published in April 2018 was mistakenly based on McAfee's enterprise edition of antivirus software. This new review evaluates the proper consumer software and our verdict has been updated accordingly. We deeply regret the error.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details.
McAfee Total Protection for Mac
Learn moreThough McAfee Total Protection offers good protection, its subscription price and lack of ransomware monitoring allow competitors to surpass it.Pros
- Effective detection of malware
- Automatic setup of common tasks
- Simple interface
- Password-management software subscription included
- Sophisticated firewall controls
Cons
- No active ransomware monitoring
- No independent testing results
- Expensive relative to benefits after first year
Macs may be a far less tempting target for malware and viruses, but they’re not immune from attack. Even if you don’t care about adware or being used as a means to infect users on other platforms, it’s still possible to fall victim to ransomware, password theft, or stolen iPhone backups.
Accordingly, good antivirus software will protect your Mac on all of these fronts. It’ll catch malware that’s still spreading or in circulation; block ransomware; protect older systems with out-of-date software from security vulnerabilities; prevent your Mac from acting as a carrier for malware aimed at other operating systems; and keep infected files off of any virtual machines you’re running.
Antivirus for Mac cheat sheet
Removing Mcafee Vista
Our quick-hit recommendations:
- Best paid antivirus for Mac:Sophos Home Premium for Mac[sophos.com]
- Best free antivirus for Mac:Avast Free Mac Security[avast.com]
Many antivirus suites provide a decent level of protection, but a few rise above all others by providing the very best in performance. Our top contenders dominate by posting perfect (or virtually near perfect) scores from security research labs, passing our own malware detection tests with flying colors, offering well-designed interfaces, and even throwing in extra features like a firewall or password manager.
Updated 08/15/19: Added our review of Avira Free Antivirus, a worthy free option that’s easy to use and effective.
Looking for Windows antivirus recommendations? You can read about the best antivirus suites for PC on our sister site, PCWorld.
Best overall antivirus software
on Sophos
Sophos Home Premium has the most extensive and up-to-date approach to fighting malware at an unbeatable price.
Sophos Home Premium has it all: Effective malware protection, ransomware monitoring, protection against potentially-unwanted-apps, and additional features that often require separately licensed software. Its cloud-based configuration and generous licensing (up to 10 Macs and PCs) also make it easy to shield friends and family from threats, no matter where they live. (Full details available in our review.)
Best free antivirus software
Though Sophos does offer a good free version of its software, Avast Free Mac Security edges it out as the best free antivirus software for macOS. In security lab tests, Avast detected 99.9 percent of macOS malware, and 100 percent of Windows malware. However, if you want more advanced protection (like ransomware detection), you’ll need to upgrade to paid software.
What to look for in antivirus software
By our reckoning, antivirus software should be able to neutralize a threat before it can begin wreaking havoc. That means preventing the download, installation, or execution of malicious software.
Since you can encounter threats by visiting compromised or malicious websites, receiving virus-laden attachments, or accessing USB drives with malware, good AV software should scan on a continuous basis unless you configure it otherwise. And ideally, files identified as malicious should be quarantined into a special storage area managed by the AV software, with the option to automatically delete files known to be malware or repair normal documents that also carry devious payloads.
Great AV suites also will monitor the filesystem for certain kinds of changes. Ransomware—which is malware that will rapidly encrypt user files like documents and mailboxes and then delete the originals—has become a huge moneymaker on other platforms. As a prime opportunity for attackers, it’s the greatest danger Mac users likely face as a category.
Detecting this pattern and halting it before any files are unavailable should be possible without an anti-malware system knowing the specific innards of a ransomware virus. Sophos, our top pick, includes this feature in the Home Premium version of its 2018 update. Other vendors, like Avast and Trend Micro Antivirus, offer an alternative feature that allows you to whitelist programs allowed to manipulate files in specific directories. So if this particular type of attack becomes rapidly popular, you’ll be protected.
Good antivirus software should also use minimal computational resources. That’s especially the case these days—AV monitoring hasn’t become much more complicated than when it first became available, and faster, multi-core CPUs can easily handle the demands of running AV software in the background without disturbing your active work.
Beyond these primary features, an easy-to-navigate interface and extra features are worth factoring into your decision. Some AV software are full-fledged suites that offer additional options like backup service for essential files, a password manager, parental controls, anti-tracking and privacy modes or options, a more advanced firewall, and the blocking of Potentially Unwanted Applications (PUAs).
How we test
Each software package is evaluated creating a clean installation of macOS Mojave, cloning it for each AV product, and then booting separately into each one to install a different package. This was to ensure that previous app installations didn’t interfere with new ones—sometimes AV software treats other AV software as an infection.
In addition to visiting malicious websites, downloading known malicious software, and even running said malware, we also reference the most recent reports from two labs that regularly cover macOS malware: AV Comparatives and AV-TEST. These laboratories test AV software against sets of known malware as well as products that are grouped as potentially unwanted applications (like adware).
The latter doesn’t damage or expose your computer or its files but may consume power and CPU cycles. Because the testing effectively looks at a combination of virus databases and behavior, they remain good gauges even after many months. When an antivirus software package lacks a rating from a known security research lab, we do more extensive testing with real malware.
Finally, while we gave props for a lot of different features and behaviors, we marked products down if they lacked any or all of the following:
- A nearly perfect score on macOS malware detection
- Ransomware monitoring
- Native browser plug-in or system-level Web proxy
- A high score on Windows malware detection
Privacy concerns
Using an anti-virus product, especially any that includes tools to also improve your online privacy, may lull you into believing you’re safe from personal and private information leaking out. That’s not quite the case. While there’s no reason to panic, you should consider a few reasonable issues.
First, an antivirus product may upload the complete text of files flagged to the cloud, where it can be analyzed by separate tools hosted there. This practice is normal and sensible: Some malware can detect when a running process may examine it, and will then engage in subterfuge. Antivirus software makers also can access their massive databases to examine files with characteristics that trigger their algorithms—certain elements that match known malware. As a result, security researchers discover new viruses, worms, Trojans horses, and the like.
However, helping the greater good means you’ll have to be comfortable with trusting a third-party with your file contents. Where appropriate, we noted privacy policy issues in individual reviews.
Second, this software may also rely partly or entirely on cloud-based checks of URLs, malware, and the like. Accordingly, an AV package might upload every URL you visit, metadata about files, signatures of files, information about your computer’s hardware, a list of running or installed applications, and more. Companies vary on their disclosure of such policies, and may not let you opt out of this kind of sharing. We note issues in each review as available.
Third, anti-virus software makers also get a sense of what behavior is happening on your computer that’s being monitored or blocked, and may use that information for their own purposes. In some cases, you can opt out of this information gathering.
All of our antivirus for Mac reviews
If you have specific requirements or just wish to see other options, below is a list of all the antivirus software we’ve reviewed. We’ll keep evaluating new and refreshed software on a regular basis, so be sure to come back to see what else we’ve put through the ringer.