How do I stop macafee pop ups on MacBook air 2023 M2

Are these messages popping up in the upper-right-hand corner of the screen?

If so, see Stop unwanted Notifications - Apple Community. That will show you how to settle the hash of these Web notifications for Safari.

If you use any other browsers, block Web notifications in them, too. The user interface controls might be a little bit different, but the general idea as to what you want to block is the same.

It sounds like you may have encountered a deceptive website that triggered unwanted popups. Since you already have Sophos installed, running a full system scan is a good first step. I did the same with a similar tool when I had popups. You should also check your browser extensions and remove any suspicious ones, then clear your cache and cookies. Usually, this helps.

If the popups persist, there are also more advanced steps to try, such as resetting your browser settings and checking your Library folder. Specifically the following:

• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ – Look for unfamiliar .plist files that could trigger popups.
• /Library/LaunchAgents/ – Similar to the user-level folder, but affects all users on the Mac.
• /Library/LaunchDaemons/ – Check for unwanted services running in the background.
• ~/Library/Application Support/ – Some adware installs itself here under misleading names.