How To Completely Remove Antivirus Software

An antivirus program is not something we tend to change very often but, when we do, it’s important to make sure the existing antivirus software is completely removed from the system. This is not always easy to achieve as antivirus programs tend to add components deep into the system in order to provide the sort of protection necessary.

Simply removing antivirus software viaControl Panel>Programs and Features is almost certain to leave remnants behind which can, and often do, interfere or conflict with installation and/or running of the replacement antivirus. Fortunately, antivirus vendors recognize this situation and most provide uninstallation tools that will remove all traces of their products from the system; including files, registry items, profiles and any other settings or options.

Here is a list of official removal tool downloads for a number of popular antivirus products:

Official Antivirus Removal Tools:

• Avira Registry Cleaner
• Avast Uninstall Utility
• AVG Remover
• Bitdefender Uninstallation Tools
• ESET Uninstaller
• F-Secure Uninstallation Tool
• G Data AVCleaner
• Kaspersky Removal Tool
• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Clean Uninstallation Tool
• McAfee Consumer Products Removal
• Norton Removal Tool
• Panda Anti Virus Uninstaller

Please be aware that many of these tools need to be run AFTER you’ve gone through a normal uninstall via Programs and Features, but not all. The Avast Uninstall Utility, for example, is a complete uninstaller which just needs to be run in Safe Mode to remove all traces. So, please read the vendor’s instructions.

If your antivirus software is not listed above, you can try performing an online search using the search term “antivirus name removal tool” – where “antivirus name” is actually the name of your antivirus product.

Alternatively, you could try one of several third-party universal removal tools that are available and support a wide range of different antivirus products. My suggestion here would be ESET AV Remover which, as the name suggests, is provided by the ESET security company. If anyone would want to make sure that your previous antivirus product was completely uninstalled from the system, I’d imagine it would be a security software vendor.