avast will not uninstall on macbook

Avast Mac Security
1

I have tried several times and keep getting and error message when uninstalling, anyone any ideas?

2

I’m having the same problem with Avast Cleanup. It will NOT successfully complete uninstall wizard. You cannot force delete the application or kill any of its processes. This is malware behavior.

Talking with avast support was a horrible experience, I ran out of time after quite a while of just turning down all the marketing “o you should buy Avast one instead of uninstalling” and offering me discounts when I stated clearly I WILL NOT BUY, I HAVE NO MONEY. Offered me an initial discount less than the active discount banner on the website to top it off LOL. I’m going to go back to their support again because this program needs to go, and I’ll update my post if I have any luck but really this whole situation feels absolutely disgusting.

3

Hi @chels, sorry about this! Can you please send us a screenshot showing the error message? Can you please also try uninstalling Avast Security via the “Finder” method? https://support.avast.com/en-us/article/uninstall-mac-security/?option=finder

Hi @HeidiN, I’m sorry to hear about your experience. I checked with my colleagues, but we could not find any support ticket registered under your email address. Do you perhaps know the ID of your support request?
As for the problem itself, could you please try following the steps below to uninstall Avast Cleanup?

  1. Open the Terminal app.
  2. Paste and run the following command:
    “sudo rm -rf /Applications/AvastCleanup.app/”
  3. Once that’s done, also run the following command to remove the remaining app files:
    “sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.avast.cleanup”

Please let me know if it worked.

4

Thank you for your reply. These steps worked for me.

FYI, before your reply I reached out to avast support again and they said they would elevate my issue and I would receive an email, but I never did even as of today. My case # was 20891367.

I’m glad I was able to get this resolved through the forum, but the official support system is very shady!!

5

Thank you for the confirmation @HeidiN, I agree we should’ve helped you in the support ticket. We will try to improve the process asap.

6

I am also having these problems.
I must have had avast installed sometime ago and then removed it (or so I thought) for whatever reason.
When I now try to install it it is telling me that I need to remove it, but I cannot find any trace of it on my MacBook.
I have tried the terminal commands but not getting anywhere with them.
Any thoughts?

7

Hi, I’m sorry to hear that. The steps above are for the app “Avast Cleanup”, not the security app. If you’re having trouble uninstalling the security app, please try following the steps from the section “UNINSTALL VIA FINDER” in this article: https://support.avast.com/en-ww/article/uninstall-mac-security/?option=finder

Alternatively, you can try following the step below to start the uninstaller via Terminal:

[ol]- Open the Terminal app.

  • Paste and run the following command:
    sudo /Applications/Avast.app/Contents/Backend/hub/uninstall.sh

  • Once the app uninstallation is finished, restart your Mac.[/ol]

Please let me know if it worked.

8

Thanks for getting back to me.
I have tried running that command but get the response ‘command not found’

9

OK, can you please send us a screenshot showing the error message you’re getting when you try to install the app?

10

Screenshot attached.

11

Sorry for the delayed response. Can you please ensure that the following two folders are not present anymore?

  • /Applications/Avast.app
  • /Library/Application Support/Avast

You can try to remove via the following Terminal commands:

  • sudo rm -rf “/Applications/Avast.app”
  • sudo rm -rf “/Library/Application Support/Avast”

If the installation still does not go through, you may need to reboot your Mac as the OS might not unload one of Avast system extensions.