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.

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.

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.

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.

tygb wrote:

Click on finder > Applications > right click on Malwarebytes Anti - Malware.app & move to trash [...]

This is wrong. There's no reason to manually hunt down files and remove them. The correct answer has already been posted here several times - once with a screenshot - in the year since the question was originally asked: choose the Uninstall option from the Help menu within Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac.

Why the method that I have posted is wrong , whats the use of plist to be kept in system library & user library .

Give me some technical reason , I use adobe flash player , sometimes used etrecheck and we have to find out the related plist for that App and move to trash , restart the computer & emptying the trash removes traces of the app .

An aside - wondering how many will seek help to be rid any after-effects from this service:

Setapp offers all-you-can-use downloads of more than 60 Mac apps

...a subscription-based alternative to Mac App Store (from macpaw) for monthly fee... (?)

Could it be another real-life exhibit of what not to install in your Mac? 😝

j_lazer wrote:

The version available on their site today has no in-app uninstall. The uninstall program the trash can icon in the install volume.

That in-app uninstall feature will be coming back later, but for now, you're right, the new Malwarebytes 3.0 for Mac must be removed using the uninstaller on the disk image file that also contains the installer.

Ricky Riccardi wrote:

I have the same problem. there is no uninstall menu item in version 3. i had to manually delete also.

Please see my response a couple posts above. You're responding to a thread that is not relevant to Malwarebytes 3. The uninstall procedure has changed.

Note that it is still inadvisable to manually delete legitimate software whose developer provides an uninstaller. This is not specific to Malwarebytes, it applies to all software. If it didn't come from the Mac App Store, it may nee uninstallation beyond simply dragging the app to the trash, and you should follow the developer's instructions for removal. Manual methods are likely to overlook things and leave something running in a halfway-operational state.

This is not currently correct. The current version of Malwarebytes for Mac does NOT have an Uninstall option under the Help menu...or anywhere else for that matter.

Thank you to tygb for an answer that works.

It was a very general method to remove any app we have to find manually in system library and user library , the director Mr Thomas is fortunately is in community and will guide you .

Me have installed the Malware Bytes Anti - Malware ( the latest version released few days back ) for Mac and using it from so many years and is a fantastic software to remove malware / adwares .

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?

I had the same issue with the persistent menu bar icon and no uninstall option. The answer posted above by tygb worked for me to resolve this issue. See post #9 (give or take) on the first page of this discussion.

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.