how to uninstall malwarebytes anti-malware

There's a lot of needless bickering going on here, so let me clarify what the right way to remove the software is.

If you have Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac 1.1 through 1.3.1, open the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware application and choose the Uninstall option in the Help menu.

If you have Malwarebytes for Mac 3.1 or later, open the Malwarebytes application and choose the Uninstall option in the Help menu.

If you have deleted the application without properly uninstalling, download and reinstall it, so that you can open it and use the Uninstall option.

https://malwarebytes.com/mac-download

If you have Malwarebytes for Mac 3.0 through 3.0.3, download and run the uninstaller for those versions of the software from here:

https://downloads.malwarebytes.com/file/mac_uninstaller/

(That uninstaller was shipped with the installer for those versions of the software, but is still available for download for those who might have thrown it away.)

The uninstall procedure is described in the documentation, also available through the Help menu in all versions of Malwarebytes' Mac software, as well as in the following articles on our support site:

https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-1928

https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-1190

The core of the problem with this entire topic is that macOS has no centralized uninstall process. This means that, although every application that requires an installer - and many that don't - must be uninstalled properly, there is no place in the system where you can go to do that as there is on Windows. (This is one of the few things Windows has gotten right and macOS has gotten wrong.)

For all such applications, you should always search the program's documentation and/or website to find the proper uninstall procedure, then use that. The reasons I recommend doing this, and not trying to remove files manually are as follows:

1. I have personally seen people trash their systems trying to follow manual removal instructions for a variety of different programs. It's a dangerous thing to do if you don't know what you're doing.
2. The developer of the software knows what was installed and how to properly remove it.
3. Partial removal of some software can result in disastrous problems, as in the example of the Genieo malware variant which, if improperly removed, would prevent the computer from starting up at the next restart.
4. In some cases, software may self-heal what it perceives to be "damage," making manual removal difficult or impossible.

I hope that clarifies all the issues here. We have done our best to make uninstalling Malwarebytes software as simple as possible, and will be trying another strategy in the future, but as shown above, it cannot be said that the software doesn't come with an option to uninstall it.

Yes, without the helper tool, the old Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software can't remove itself. Of course, if you don't have the helper tool installed, you could also just drag the app to the trash. That is not the case with the newer software, though.

Uninstall was not an option under my HELP button.

I drug it out of my Apps folder into trash.

I emptied trash.

However, it still has an icon on the top menu bar that I cannot get rid of.

From the top menu bar, I held down the Command key and dragged it off the menu bar, but Malware would not allow this.

Any suggestions?

There was no Uninstall option from the Help menu. It didn't look like the screenshot. I downloaded an uninstall package from malwarebytes.com and that didn't work either. The instructions said to drag an icon for the software into a trash icon but you couldn't drag it! Got the circle/slash forbidden symbol.

tygb's instructions worked.

Tygb, I know this post is old but your solution helped me get rid of the free Malwarebytes software. I couldn't find the "uninstall Malewarebytes" option and going into Applications and choosing move to trash didn't completely remove the software, I could still see the Malwarebytes icon in the menu bar. Following your steps helped to completely uninstall. Thank you. Sometimes you have to go beyond what the manufacturer instructs you to do. Thank you,

Hi Thomas,

I have been following your threads since 2015 when I first downloaded Malwarebytes due to weird behavior and corruption of an entire exterior hard drive with all my work stuff. I am trying to uninstall the old version of the program and download the new one. The uninstall from the help menu isn't working. To put it in layman's terms - nothing happens. Please help.

You did right tygb. Everything thomas-R says is wrong here and on other sites re: Malwarebytes. Thank you tygb for helping us remove this disgustingly annoying software that doesn't come with uninstall.

Thank you Thomas, for updating and adding correction to this thread.

And for helping Mac users everywhere since before adwaremedic in

your site pages and earlier in Apple discussions.

Best regards & happy trails! 🙂

I hate to resurrect an answered question, but I have a slight wrinkle on this. I did use the Malwarebytes uninstaller, but one file remains:

.library/StagedExtensions/Library/Extensions/com.malwarebytes.mbam.rtprotection. kext

At least I don't have the persistent menu bar icon.

I'm not sure why, but one kext file isn't removed, and it cannot be deleted using the Finder.

Is there any reason why I could not use the terminal to delete this kext? Does it need to be unloaded first? I just don't like having remnants of unwanted software on my Mac... there could be a future system update that renders it incompatible. But I'm not really experienced with the Terminal, and worry about making my system unbootable.

Thanks for any insight you have into this.

That is a file put there by macOS. (Extensions are, apparently, copied to that location by macOS at some point during the installation process.)

Unfortunately, that location is protected by System Integrity Protection (SIP):

About System Integrity Protection on your Mac - Apple Support

This means that the file cannot be removed. In order to remove it, you would have to disable SIP. I don't recommend doing that. The file is not actively loaded, it's just taking up space on disk - and only a small amount of space, at that. Since it's unclear for what purpose Apple keeps those files in that location, and you'd have to disable an important security feature to remove it, you're better off just leaving it alone.

Thanks. I would have been more concerned if were placed there by the third party application. I'm content to leave SIP functioning and ignore the file. As you said, it isn't loaded. This whole problem started because when I installed Malwarebytes a few months ago, I couldn't turn off the trial active protection (which I don't want running). I performed the uninstall using the recommended uninstaller, and was only concerned if it had left a file that might still be active.

I appreciate the explanation - my Mac and I will both sleep better tonight. Thanks!

Artiste212 wrote:

I couldn't turn off the trial active protection (which I don't want running).

That's not hard to do, actually. Just choose Stop Real-Time Protection from the Malwarebytes menu icon menu:

Or click the "On" text next to Real-Time Protection in the app to toggle it to off:

You can get information on stuff like this by accessing the guide through the Malwarebytes Help item in the Help menu.

Click on finder > Applications > right click on Malwarebytes Anti - Malware.app & move to trash , if it is in download folder , remove it from there also .

Again click on go to go folder & type /Library

Find folders : Launch Daemons > com.malwarebytes.Helpertool.plist

PrivilegedHelperTools > com.malwarebytes.Helper.Tools

Again click on go to go folder & type ~/Library

Find folders : Application support > Malwarebytes

Caches > com.malwarebytes.antimalware

com.malwarebytes.Malwarebytes-xpc- service

Preferences > com.malwarebytes.antimalware.plist

Right click on these items inside the folders and move to trash .

Restart the computer & empty the trash .

No really...it's not an option...I had the trial version - maybe that's why I (and others) don't have the uninstall option? I followed tybg's directions and finally got rid of it - although some of the files weren't quite the same.

Thank you tygb! Your detailed posting helped me muddle through for a thorough delete. 🙂 I messed up on the easy way to delete that others have posted.