How to Uninstall McAfee Security Scan Plus

McAfee Security Scan Plus is a free diagnostic tool that checks your computer for up-to-date antivirus, firewall, and web security software. Many users cannot uninstall McAfee Security Scan Plus via Apps & Features. The Uninstall option may be grayed out or unresponsive.

mcafee-security-scan-plus uninstall grayed out

Also, the MCPR tool, the standalone McAfee products uninstaller tool from McAfee, doesn’t remove Security Scan Plus.

Let’s see how to uninstall McAfee Security Scan Plus.

Uninstall McAfee Security Scan Plus

Method 1: Using Control Panel

Open Control Panel, and click Programs and Features.

Select McAfee Security Scan Plus, and click Uninstall.

mcafee-security-scan-plus uninstall via control panel

Click Uninstall.

mcafee-security-scan-plus uninstall dialog

Uninstall button unclickable?

If the McAfee Security Scan Plus uninstall dialog opens in a wrong DPI setting and the Uninstall button is visible, please press the TAB key on your keyboard and then press SPACEBAR to press the “Uninstall” button.

mcafee-security-scan-plus uninstall dialog - wrong DPI
Img src: Reddit

Method 2: Run the Uninstaller directly

Open the C:\Program Files (x86)\McAfee Security Scan folder.

Double-click Uninstall.exe.

mcafee-security-scan-plus uninstall.exe

Note: If the above folder doesn’t exist, reinstall McAfee Security Scan Plus and then uninstall it again via Programs and Features, or try Method 3 below.

Method 3: Uninstall McAfee Security Scan Plus Manually

  1. Create a System Restore Point.
  2. Open an admin Command Prompt window and run the following commands: 
    sc.exe delete McComponentHostService
    schtasks /delete /tn "\McUpdaterModuleTask" /f
    schtasks /delete /tn "\SecurityScannerScheduler" /f

    The above commands delete the McAfee Security Scan Component Host Service and the two “McAfee Security Scanner Scheduler” scheduled tasks.

    RELATED: How to Delete a Service in Windows.

  3. Open the Registry Editor by running regedit.exe.
  4. Go to the following branches one by one and delete them:(Assuming you have a Windows 64-bit OS. On Windows 32-bit, the WOW6432Node node doesn’t exist.) 
    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID\{727B5BD4-FAE7-4EA7-98BD-20AC6BC25D89}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID\McComponentHostService.EXE
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\McComponentHostService.McCompHost.1
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{66F54008-1EE3-43A7-95FD-C0D821EE1EFF}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{D56C8C47-C525-462C-B66B-714A5FB378AB}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\WOW6432Node\CLSID\{cc6f4d12-8575-4cff-9455-cf5774aeb13b}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\WOW6432Node\Interface\{D56C8C47-C525-462C-B66B-714A5FB378AB}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\McAfee\MSSPlusAnalytics
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\McAfee\MSSPExitCode
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\McAfeeSecurityScanPlus
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\mcafeeupdater
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\McAfee Security Scan
  5. Exit the Registry Editor.
  6. Restart Windows and delete the following folders:
    • C:\Program Files (x86)\McAfee Security Scan
    • C:\ProgramData\McAfee Security Scan

That’s it. You’ve now uninstalled McAfee Security Scan Plus.

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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

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7 thoughts on “How to Uninstall McAfee Security Scan Plus”

  2. Thank you so much for this information! After much searching on how to uninstall this annoying unwanted product that secretly downloaded with an Abobe update and many unsuccessful attempts to remove, your information worked…the tab and space bar had to be pointed at the McAfee name and the uninstall button finally appeared!!! Gone!!!! Thank you!!!

    Reply

  4. In Windows 11 Edge can throw a “Cannot write to data store area” when trying to uninstall McAfee Security Scan Plus, which necessitated Method 3.
    Thank you for the steps!

    Reply

  5. In Windows 11, Edge can throw an error with title bar, “We couldn’t create the data directory” and the error body:
    “Microsoft Edge can’t read and write to the data directory:
    c:\Users\[PC name]~1\AppData\Local\Temp\MSSPWebEB\EBWebView”
    …which necessitates using Method 3. Thank you for that!

    Reply

  7. Thank You. Using the Tab to get to the Uninstall button worked. I would never think of that. A company that goes to that length to dissuade me from uninstalling their product just convinces me not to buy it.

    Reply

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