How to Disable or Remove McAfee on Windows 11 (2023)

When you purchase a new Windows device from a manufacturer other than Microsoft, it may come with McAfee antivirus already installed. While it's always a good idea to have antivirus software on your computer, you may prefer a different program to McAfee. In this case, it's important to know how to uninstall McAfee.

On the other hand, you may be happy with McAfee but need to temporarily disable it to install an app from an unknown publisher or test your own apps in development. Or, you may want to try out other antivirus software options.

If you need to disable or uninstall McAfee, don't worry – we've got you covered with this step-by-step guide. We'll first walk you through how to disable the antivirus program, and then we'll cover the uninstallation process. Whether you're a newbie or a more experienced user, this guide will help you complete the process quickly and easily. Let's get started!

How to Temporarily Disable McAfee Antivirus Protection on your PC

Disabling McAfee antivirus is actually quite simple. All you need to do is turn off the protection temporarily, and you can even set it to automatically enable itself after a certain amount of time.

To disable MacAfee, either right-click on the McAfee Antivirus icon from the tray icon section and click on the ‘Open McAfee’ option from the context menu to open the app, or search for the app from the Start Menu.

Next, on the ‘McAfee’ window, click on the ‘My Protection’ tab to reveal the sidebar. Then, locate and click on the ‘Real-Time Scanning’ option present on the left-sidebar to continue.

Then, from the ‘Real-Time Scanning’ screen, click on the ‘Turn Off’ button. This will bring a separate overlay window on your screen.

Now, click on the drop-down menu and select a preferred time duration if you wish to enable the protection automatically. If you wish to enable the protection manually, select the ‘Never’ option. Then, click on the ‘Turn Off’ button from the bottom right corner of the pane to disable the real-time scanning of McAfee.

After you have disabled real-time scanning, click on the ‘Scheduled scans’ option located on the left sidebar right below the ‘Real-Time Scanning’ option. This will open a separate window on your screen.

Now, click on the ‘Turn off’ button present on the ‘Scheduled Scan’ screen to disable the scheduled scan services completely.

After that, similar to previous steps click on the ‘Firewall’ tab situated on the left sidebar. This will take you to the ‘Firewall’ settings screen.

Now, click on the ‘Turn Off’ button from the ‘Firewall settings’ screen to continue. This will open a separate overlay window on your screen.

Next, click on the drop-down menu present in the ‘Turn of Firewall’ overlay pane and select the duration after which you wish to reactivate the protection. If you wish to reactivate it manually, click to select the ‘Never’ option and then click on the ‘Turn off’ button present on the pane to disable the firewall.

After that, click on the ‘Secure apps’ option from the sidebar to continue. This will take you to the ‘Vulnerability scanner’ settings page.

Then, on the ‘Vulnerability Scanner’ settings page, click on the ‘Scheduled scan settings’ tile to reveal the options.

After that, scroll down the revealed options till you locate the ‘Don’t set a scan schedule’ and click on the radio button preceding the option. Then, click on the ‘Apply’ button to save the changes.

Next, scroll down the revealed sidebar till you locate the ‘Protect yourself on the web’ section, then, click on the ‘Tracker remover’ tile.

Then, click on the ‘Schedule’ tile to reveal the scheduling settings of the feature.

Now, scroll down to locate the ‘Do not schdeule’ option and click on the radio button preceding the option to select. Then, click on the ‘Apply’ button to save the changes.

And that’s it, you have disabled all the McAfee services on your system. In case you are here to uninstall the app altogether from your system, head on to the next section.

How to Remove McAfee from your Windows 11 PC

Uninstalling an app is never a cumbersome process, and the statement holds true in this case as well. Interestingly, there is more than one way to uninstall the McAfee antivirus from your Windows 11 PC.

Uninstall McAfee from the Settings App

The most convenient way to uninstall the McAfee antivirus from your system is from the Settings app. It is fast, simple, and easy. Thus, being the first method on the list.

To uninstall McAfee using this method, open the Settings app either from the pinned apps on the Start Menu or by searching for it. Alternatively, you can also open the Settings app by pressing the Windows+I keys together on your keyboard.

Next, click on the ‘Apps’ tab present on the left sidebar of the Settings window.

After that, click on the ‘Apps & features’ tile present on the right section of the window.

Then, under the ‘App list’ section locate the ‘McAfee’ either by scrolling manually or by searching it using the ‘search’ bar present.

Once located, click on the kebab menu present on the far right edge of each tile and click on the ‘Uninstall’ button from the context menu to initiate the McAfee uninstaller in a separate window.

Then, again click on the ‘Uninstall’ button to commence the uninstallation process.

Once the uninstaller presents itself on the screen, click on the checkbox preceding each option under the ‘Select what you want to remove’ section to select all McAfee products installed on your system. Then, click on the ‘Remove’ button to proceed.

After that, on the next screen, if you have an active subscription on your account, McAfee will notify you of the same. Read the information carefully and click on the ‘Remove’ button.

Now, McAfee will uninstall the chosen products, wait patiently while the process runs in the background.

Once the products have been completely removed, you will be notified of the same on the uninstall window. To complete the uninstall, you will have to restart your Windows PC, click on the ‘Restart Now’ button to restart your PC, and complete the installation.

Uninstall McAfee using McAfee Product Removal Tool

If diving into the settings is too much work for you to remove the app or the normal uninstall isn’t working on your system for some reason, you can use the removal tool from McAfee itself to remove all traces of the software from your system.

First, download the McAfee Product Removal Tool (MCPR) on your Windows 11 PC. Once downloaded, head to your defaults downloads directory and double-click on the .EXE file you just downloaded to run the tool.

After that, a UAC screen might appear on your screen. If you are not logged in with an admin account, enter the credentials for one. Otherwise, click on the ‘Yes’ button to proceed.

Now, from the MCPR screen, click on the ‘Next’ button to proceed with the uninstallation process.

On the next screen, click on the radio button preceding the ‘Agree’ option and then click on the ‘Next’ button to continue.

After that, enter the CAPTCHA text in the text box present from the image displayed on the window and click on the ‘Next’ button to validate it and move forward.

Now, on the next screen, McAfee Product Removal Tool will detect all the installed products on your system and remove them completely from your system.

Once the process has been compelled, MCPR will notify of the same on the window. Now, click on the ‘Restart’ button situated on the bottom right corner of the window to restart your PC and complete the process.

Conclusion

Whether you want to temporarily disable McAfee or completely remove it from your Windows 11 PC, there are multiple ways to do so. Disabling the antivirus temporarily involves turning off real-time scanning, scheduled scans, firewall, and vulnerability scanner. On the other hand, the most convenient way to uninstall McAfee is through the Settings app by locating the antivirus in the 'Apps & features' section and clicking on 'Uninstall'. If this method doesn't work for you, then you can use the McAfee Product Removal Tool to remove all traces of the software from your system.

With these simple steps, you can easily disable or uninstall McAfee and opt for another antivirus software that better suits your needs.