How To Disable McAfee Antivirus: A Comprehensive Guide

You can disable McAfee Antivirus by navigating to the program on your device and turning off Real-Time Scanning and the Advanced Firewall. This will prevent it from actively monitoring your device and blocking other programs from working.

Just make sure you turn it back on when you’re done to keep your machine protected — or check out some of the best McAfee alternatives if you want to switch to something different.

This guide will show you how to disable McAfee on Windows, Mac, or your browser — whether temporarily or permanently. 

How to disable McAfee Antivirus on Windows

Below, we walk you through how to disable McAfee Total Protection, McAfee LiveSafe, and McAfee VirusScan Enterprise on a Windows computer.

How to disable Real-Time Scanning in McAfee Total Protection

1. From the notification area (formerly known as the system tray), right-click the McAfee icon.
2. On the menu, go to Change settings > Real-time scanning.
   

   

3. Select the Turn Off button in the Real-Time Scanning status window.
   

   

4. To prevent McAfee Real-Time Scanning from resuming automatically, click Never on the drop-down menu. Select the Turn Off button to confirm.
   

   

How to disable Advanced Firewall in McAfee Total Protection

1. Open your McAfee Total Protection program.
2. From the home tab, select Advanced Firewall.
   

   

3. Click the toggle at the top of the page to turn off the Advanced Firewall.
4. A pop-up will appear to confirm that you wish to turn off the Advanced Firewall. Click the red Turn off button.
   

   

How to disable McAfee LiveSafe

1. Open McAfee LiveSafe.
2. From the left menu, hit the My Protection tab.
3. Select Real-Time Scanning.
4. Hit Turn Off and specify when you want it to resume.
5. Under Protect your PC from the My Protection tab, click Firewall.
6. Select Turn Off and specify the resume time.

How to disable McAfee VirusScan Enterprise

1. From the system tray, right-click the McAfee icon, then select VirusScan Console.
2. In the VirusScan Console, right-click Access Protection, then select Disable.
3. Repeat the process for On-Delivery Email Scanner and On-Access Scanner.

How to disable McAfee Antivirus on a Mac

Here's how to disable McAfee Total Protection or McAfee LiveSafe on your Mac computer. 

1. Click the McAfee icon (the white and red shield) at the top-right side of your Mac's menu bar. If you don't see that icon, click on the magnifying glass icon at the top-right corner, type in McAfee, then click on McAfee Internet Security.
2. Click on Total Protection Console.
3. Next, click the Home tab.
4. Click the gear icon.
5. Click Real-Time Scanning. This opens a window for the Real-Time Scanning feature.
6. Disable Real-Time Scanning by clicking the lock icon, entering your administrator password and hitting OK, then clicking the Real-Time Scanning switch.
7. Click the gear icon again, then click Firewall. The Firewall tab is underneath the Real-Time Scanning option.
8. Disable the Firewall.
9. Click on the gear icon, then click Automatic Updates (it's beneath the Firewall option).
10. Disable Automatic Updates.
11. Click on the apparatus icon, then click Automatic Updates.
12. Open the Complete and Customized Scan Settings page. Click on the gear icon and put in your administrator account, then click OK.
13. Click the Weekly drop-down box on the far left side of the Scheduled Scans option. If this isn’t available, click the Scheduled Scans tab.
14. Click Never to prevent McAfee from reactivating itself.
15. Click the gear icon again, then click McAfee Site Advisor.
16. Disable Site Advisor.
17. Close the preferences window. Your Mac's McAfee app should be disabled.

How to disable McAfee WebAdvisor on your browser

And here's how to turn off McAfee WebAdvisor on your browser.

1. Open your preferred browser (e.g., Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, or Firefox).
2. On the upper right, hit the Menu icon.
3. Depending on your browser, click Extensions or Add-ons.
4. Disable the McAfee WebAdvisor or SiteAdvisor extension.

How to remove McAfee Antivirus entirely

Although disabling your McAfee product temporarily is a great option when you need to allow a clean download, you may find you want to delete the program entirely. If the program isn’t meeting your needs or you aren’t happy with the pricing, you can always remove the software from your device.

Don’t leave yourself completely unprotected. There are plenty of antivirus alternatives on the market, and we'll cover some of the best in just a minute.

How to remove McAfee Antivirus on macOS

Here's how to use app uninstall on macOS to remove McAfee:

1. Close McAfee.
2. Click on the M icon in the Menu Bar, then select Preferences > General tab.
3. In the Preferences window, click the Lock icon to make changes.
4. Disable the Firewall.
5. Open Activity Monitor and check if there are some processes related to McAfee that are still working in the background. If so, close them.
6. Restart your Mac.

Here's how to use Terminal to uninstall McAfee:

1. Open Terminal in Launchpad.
2. In the window, type one of the following commands (depending on which version of McAfee you use):
   For McAfee v. 4.8: sudo /Library/McAfee/cma/uninstall.sh
   For McAfee v. 5.x: sudo /Library/McAfee/cma/scripts/uninstall.sh
3. Hit Enter.
4. Once the removal process has finished, reboot your Mac.
5. Launch App Cleaner & Uninstaller.
6. Go to the Remaining Files tab.
7. Click any McAfee leftovers and remove them.

How to remove McAfee Antivirus on Windows

Here's how to remove McAfee from your Control Panel: 

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Select Add or Remove Programs.
3. Choose which McAfee product you want to remove.
4. Either click Add/Remove or Change/Remove.
5. Click Remove.

Here's how to remove McAfee from your settings:

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Apps.
3. Under Apps & Features, find the McAfee product you want to remove.
4. Select Uninstall.

Here's how to remove McAfee with the McAfee Consumer Product Removal tool:

1. Download the McAfee Consumer Product Removal (MCPR) tool.
2. Select your MCPR file.
3. Choose Next on the McAfee Software Removal screen.
4. Hit Agree on the End User License Agreement page.
5. Enter the characters shown on the Security Validation screen, then choose Next. This will start the uninstallation process.
6. Once it's complete, select Restart to finish the removal process.

3 best McAfee antivirus alternatives

If you're seeking a new antivirus after removing McAfee, then we recommend the following alternatives:

FAQs

Bottom line

Although protecting your devices is always important, there may be times when you need to disable your protection temporarily. By following the steps above, you should be able to safely disable your McAfee protection software.

Remember that your machine is unprotected while your software is disabled. Make sure to turn your protection back on as soon as you can. If you’re unhappy with your McAfee subscription, you can always check out the best antivirus software to find an alternative.