Why is this "Kextunload" in the startup? Should I deactivate it?


I know this question was already made but that thread was closed and no real solution was given, just an explanation of what kextunload is.


Thanks in advance for your time.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 13.4

Posted on Jun 6, 2023 3:39 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 7, 2023 10:59 AM

Thanks for replying but my questions remain unanswered.

Yer-Man answered it. Don't disable it.


If you want to know why,

You installed some app which runs one of Apple's built-in utilities (kextunload) in the background to perform the functions you installed the app to do. Now, maybe you were tricked into downloading, installing, and entering your admin password to make all of that possible. We don't really have any way to know. Only you would know what you installed (though you could run EtreCheck and post the report which would tell us).


The app would be something that needed to install some sort of deep system modification (a kernel extension--"kext"). Most likely, when it is done using that extension, it unloads it using kextunload. That seems like a nice thing to do as any kernel extension can cause system instability and reduce security.


If you are unaware of installing such an app, then you should definitely investigate further as to what you did install (again, Etrecheck can help you with that).


I'm not sure how you can say that it wasn't answered. It certainly was. Perhaps you have more questions. If so, you should ask them.

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 7, 2023 10:59 AM in response to alejjjandro

Thanks for replying but my questions remain unanswered.

Yer-Man answered it. Don't disable it.


If you want to know why,

You installed some app which runs one of Apple's built-in utilities (kextunload) in the background to perform the functions you installed the app to do. Now, maybe you were tricked into downloading, installing, and entering your admin password to make all of that possible. We don't really have any way to know. Only you would know what you installed (though you could run EtreCheck and post the report which would tell us).


The app would be something that needed to install some sort of deep system modification (a kernel extension--"kext"). Most likely, when it is done using that extension, it unloads it using kextunload. That seems like a nice thing to do as any kernel extension can cause system instability and reduce security.


If you are unaware of installing such an app, then you should definitely investigate further as to what you did install (again, Etrecheck can help you with that).


I'm not sure how you can say that it wasn't answered. It certainly was. Perhaps you have more questions. If so, you should ask them.

Jun 7, 2023 1:26 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thank you, that was an excellent answer!


The first thing I replied to the other answers was "thanks", I really didn't mean to be rude but the answers felt too shy.


NOW I understand what is Kextunload, although I have no idea which app caused it to appear.


I ran a test using EtreCheck and I think it might have been a Logitech Mouse app that I already uninstalled.


So I don't know, I guess I'll just leave everything as it is.


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Why is this "Kextunload" in the startup? Should I deactivate it?

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