Uninstall Kaspersky on Mac

Before writing this guide, we uninstalled Kaspersky using the steps provided on its official uninstallation guide. However we discovered that this method does not remove Kaspersky completely.

From this article, you will learn how to get rid of Kaspersky Internet Security without leaving any trace of it.

Contents:

1. What is Kaspersky and why remove it?
2. How to uninstall Kaspersky through its menu
3. How to remove Kaspersky using its native uninstaller tool
4. How to uninstall Kaspersky using App Cleaner & Uninstaller

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What is Kaspersky and why remove it from your Mac?

Kaspersky Anti-Virus is a software tool that protects your computer from malicious programs. According to its developers, the anti-virus protects you from the main types of threats, without slowing down the system.

Most Mac users complain that the macOS performance slows down when antivirus is working on the background. That’s why you may wish to remove Kaspersky from your Mac.

Here are some additional reasons why you might want to remove Kaspersky:

• Accusations of cyber espionage. In 2015 the developers were accused of cyber espionage and today the antivirus software is banned in some countries like the USA and Great Britain.
• Intrusive popups. The app often generates frequent notifictaions, security warnings, and annoying reminders, which can be distracting.
• Compatibility issues. It may conflict with other tools like VPN services leading to crashes or connection errors.
• Redundant protection. macOS has built-in security features making third-party antivirus software unnecessary.

If for any reason you want to uninstall Kaspersky from your Mac, please follow our guide to do this safely and correctly.

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How to uninstall Kaspersky through its menu

To completely uninstall Kaspersky from your Mac, you will need first to remove it through its menu and then manually find and remove its remaining files. We will provide a step-by-step guide on how to do this.

1. Click on the antivirus icon in the toolbar to open the Kaspersky window.
2. Select Kaspersky Internet Security.
3. Go to the menu bar → click on Help → select Support.
4. In the appeared window click the Uninstall button.
5. Confirm your action by clicking again on Uninstall.
6. In the window that appers, enter your user password.
7. The uninstallation process will start.
8. Once it is finished, you will see a message, that uninstallation has completed successfully.
9. Click the Quit button.


Now we come to the most important step for complete Kaspersky removal – finding the remaining files left on your Mac. They should be stored in the Library folder.

10. Open Finder and press the Shift+Command+G shortcut.
11. In the search panel, type ~/Library and press Return.

12. Here in the Library, check subfolders containing temporary files and remove all items associated with Kaspersky. Check first of all the following list of subfolders:

    • ~/Library/Application Scripts
    • ~/Library/Caches
    • ~/Library/Saved Application State
    • ~/Library/Group Containers

    Also, we found Kaspersky’s support files in the following locations:

    • ~/private/var/folders/I8
    • ~/private/tmp
    • /Library/Launch Daemons
13. Once you removed all Kaspersky’s service files, got to the Trash and empty it.
14. Restart your Mac.

That’s all.

As you can see, there are dozens of files the Kaspersky uninstaller left on your Mac after. If you removed all of them, then you can be sure that you uninstalled the antivirus completely. However, manual searching and removing Kaspersky service files might be tricky.

The easier way to do this is to use a third-party removal tool like App Cleaner & Uninstaller, which automatically will find these service files and uninstall Kaspersky completely.

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How to remove Kaspersky from Mac using its native uninstaller

If for any reason, the uninstallation option from the menu does not work for you, Kaspersky developers provide a possibility to uninstall the antivirus using its uninstallation file. Please follow the provided steps and don’t miss any of them to delete Kaspersky completely.

Step 1: Launch the uninstaller

1. Quit Kaspersky. For this, click on the Kaspersky icon in the Toolbar and select Quit.
2. Download the Kaspersky uninstall tool from its official website.
3. Open the downloaded file.
4. Double-click the Trash icon.
5. The uninstallation window will open.
6. Click the Uninstall button .
7. Confirm the action by entering your user password.
8. The Kaspersky uninstallation process will start.
9. Once the removal is finished, click the Quit button.

Step 2: Remove leftover files

Now you need to check if the antivirus has left remaining files on your Mac. For this, you can follow steps 10-14 from the previous uninstallation method. Also, you can use a free application from Nektony called Funter, which allows you to find all hidden service files in the system folders by the file name.

1. Launch Funter.
2. Type the word Kaspersky in the search field and hit Return.
3. You’ll see the list of its leftovers.
4. Select and remove all files associated with Kaspersky.

5. Once you remove all Kapsersky’s leftovers, empty your Trash.
6. Restart your Mac.

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How to gt rid of Kaspersky with App Cleaner & Uninstaller

App Cleaner & Uninstaller is a program designed to uninstall applications from Mac completely and correctly. It automatically finds all of the service files of the apps and even the leftovers of already removed apps.

1. Launch App Cleaner & Uninstaller.
2. It will scan your applications and show them in the left side of the window.
3. Select Kaspersky from the list.
4. Click the Remove button.
5. Confirm the antivirus uninstallation.

If you have already removed Kaspersky, but want to check your Mac for its leftovers, do the following:

1. Switch to the Remaining Files tab.
2. Select Kaspersky leftover files.
3. Click Remove and confirm.

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FAQs

How do I disable Kaspersky on my MacBook?

How do I stop Kaspersky from running?

Where to find the Kaspersky uninstall tool?

Why is my VPN not connecting when using Kaspersky on macOS?