How to remove or uninstall an antivirus program

There are a number of different antivirus programs on the market. If an antivirus is already installed on your computer and you want to install a different antivirus on the computer, you must uninstall the current antivirus program first. Below are the steps on how to uninstall an antivirus program.

Caution: Having more than one antivirus program running on a computer at the same time often causes problems, including errors, slow computer performance, and possible failure of the antivirus protection.

Note: Keep in mind that if you have a subscription with the antivirus company, uninstalling the program may not cancel your subscription.

Tip: If you are uninstalling the antivirus because you believe it is causing problems you can also temporarily disable the antivirus before uninstalling.

Uninstall through the Start Menu

Uninstall antivirus through Windows Start Menu

The first way is to utilize the built-in uninstall feature of the program by finding the folder for the antivirus program in your Windows Start Menu. To do this, click Start, All Programs, and look for the antivirus program in the list of programs.

When you find the antivirus program in the list, locate the uninstall option, which should be in the same folder. If this is available, click the uninstall option and follow the prompts to complete the uninstallation of the antivirus.

Uninstall through Add or Remove programs

The second way is to utilize the Add or Remove Programs utility in Windows.

Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10 users
Windows XP users

Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 10 users

1. Open the Add or Remove Programs utility in Windows.
2. In the list of installed programs, find the antivirus program and select it by clicking it once with the left mouse button. Once the antivirus program has been selected, above the column headers, click the Uninstall option as shown in the picture below to initiate the uninstall process.

Note: Some antivirus programs may be listed several times in the list of programs. Make sure you've uninstalled all associated parts of the antivirus before rebooting the computer or installing another antivirus.

If you're unable to uninstall the antivirus through Add or Remove Programs because of an error, skip to uninstalling from Safe Mode. If the antivirus program is not listed in the Add or Remove programs, you may have a bad antivirus install or a rogue antivirus.

Windows XP users

1. Open the Add or Remove Programs utility in Windows.
2. In the list of installed programs, find the antivirus program and select it by clicking it once with the left mouse button. To the right of the program name, click the Change/Remove or Uninstall button to initiate the uninstall process.

Note: Some antivirus programs may be listed several times within the list of programs. Make sure you've uninstalled all associated parts of the antivirus before rebooting the computer or installing another antivirus.

Uninstalling from Safe Mode

In some cases, the uninstall process may not be able to proceed because the antivirus program is currently loaded and running in Windows. If the program cannot be disabled, uninstall the antivirus in Windows Safe Mode. In Safe Mode, the antivirus program will not be loaded and running, making it possible to uninstall using either method mentioned earlier.

Bad antivirus program

In some situations, a legitimate antivirus program cannot uninstall because it or the software used to uninstall it is corrupt, bad, or missing. In these situations, you must download an uninstaller program from the antivirus scanner company to remove all files associated with the antivirus. Below is a list of known uninstall links for many of the major antivirus scanner companies.

Antivirus	Uninstall Link
Avast	Avast uninstall link
AVG	AVG uninstall link
Avira	Avira uninstall link
BitDefender 2015	BitDefender 2015 uninstall link
BullGuard	BullGuard uninstall link
Comodo	Comodo uninstall link
Dr. Web	Dr. Web uninstall link
eScan	eScan uninstall link (direct download)
ESET	ESET uninstall link
FRISK F-PROT Antivirus for Windows	F-PROT uninstall link
F-Secure	F-Secure uninstall link
G Data	G Data uninstall link
Kaspersky	Kaspersky uninstall link
K7 Total Security	K7 uninstaller (direct download)
LavaSoft	LavaSoft uninstall link
McAfee	McAfee uninstaller (direct download)
Norman Virus Control/Norman Security Suite (now part of AVG)	Norman uninstall link
Norton antivirus	Norton Antivirus uninstall link
Norton Internet Security	Norton Internet Security uninstall link
Norton Security Scan	Norton Security uninstall link
Panda	Panda uninstaller (direct download)
Panda Cloud Internet Protection	Panda Cloud uninstall link
Sophos	Sophos uninstall link
Trend Micro	Trend Micro uninstall link
Vipre	Vipre uninstall link
Webroot	Webroot uninstall link
Windows Live OneCare	Windows Live uninstaller (direct download)
Windows Security Essentials	MSE uninstall link
Zone Alarm	Zone Alarm uninstall forum link

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