Sophos Mac Manual Uninstall



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Another option to uninstall Sophos is to use SophosZap. If the uninstall fails, gather the SDU logs from the affected endpoint and send a copy of it to Sophos Support. Sign up to the Sophos Support SMS Notification Service to get the latest product release information and critical issues. Previous article ID: 12360.

S​ophos is an antivirus program that protects against viruses, malware, trojans, worms, bots, potentially unwanted apps, and other security threats.

If you do not require Sophos any longer in your Macbook, this guide will provide step by step instructions on how to remove it safely and delete all its elements.

There are 3 methods you can follow to uninstall the application, beforehand, there are a couple of prerequisites to fulfill.

Step 1. Quit Sophos running on your Mac

For that you can follow the below steps:

  • Open Spotlight search by pressing Command + Space together.
  • Search for “Activity Monitor”
  • In Activity Monitor, Search for “Sophos”
  • Select all Sophos programs running on your Mac & click “Stop”
  • Then use “Force Quit”

Step 2. Disable Tamper Protection before doing any change

Open your terminal (​Applications​ -> ​Utilities​ -> ​Terminal​) and run the following commands:

cd ​/Library/Application/Support/Sophos/cloud/Installer.app/Contents/MacOS/tools/
sudo ./InstallationDeployer --remove --tamper_password < pw >

If you do not remember the Tamper Protection password you can run the command given below:

Step 3. Remove Sophos from Mac

Method One (traditional way)

1​: Removing directly from your ‘Applications’.

In the Finder on your Mac, click on ​Application​ -> right-click on ​Sophos​ Icon -> select “​Move to Bin​”.

If you haven’t quit the application, you will get an error message, since the application is open and running.

2​: Remove other applications related to Sophos.

  • Click on “Finder” Search for Remove Sophos. You will see the removal application and other files related to Sophos
  • Select all and Move to Bin

3​: Clear your Trash Bin (this method might not fully uninstall files).

Method Two. Complete removal of Sophos from Mac [recommended]

1​: Find and uninstall the application manually.

To find the Application:

  • Click on “Finder”
  • Search keywords “Remove Sophos”
  • You will see the removal application and the file under the “This Mac” tab.

Click on “Remove Sophos Home” application and Click ‘Continue’.

You will be asked to provide the password of your Mac to uninstall the application.

It will display the application is uninstalling.

After it was successfully removed, you will see the message like this

Sophos Uninstall Tool For Mac

2​: Removal of supporting files related to the Sophos application.

Now, the application is completely removed from your Macbook.

However, removing the application does not remove the supported files from your storage, unless you manually find those and delete them. Otherwise, those files will take significant storage capacity from your device.

In order to do that, you can follow the below steps:

Go to ‘Library’ and search the keyword “Sophos”. You can find the Library using the following steps​.

When you search for the keyword “Sophos” you will be listed all files as below.

Select all these files and move to your Trash Bin (Delete).

Go back to the library and search the folder “Saved Application State” and check if there are any files related to Sophos in there by the name. if there are files, Select and move to your Trash Bin.

Go back to the library and search the folder “Preferences” and do the same as the above step to remove files.

Finally, go back to your Trash Bin and empty the Bin. (Congratulations! You have completely uninstalled Sophos from your macOS)

Method Three. Remove Using Terminal

If you’re more familiar with the technical side of the MacBook, you can use the below quick steps.

1​: Just open the terminal

2​: Type the following command

3​: Drag and drop the application icon to the terminal. It will automatically get the path of the app.

sudo​ uninstall file://​/Applications/Sophos/Home.app

4​: Press Enter and input your password and the terminal will uninstall the application for you.

By following the methods explained above, you can uninstall Sophos application from your MacBook.

We recommend using ​Method Two ​as an easy and 100% guaranteed complete removal of the application.

Overestimating the importance of security is a task hardly accomplishable; even more so, when the safety of personal and, possibly, professional data is concerned. Despite the commonly known fact that Mac computers are far less susceptible to virus attacks than Windows ones, many still prefer adding an extra layer of protection by installing antivirus software.

Sophos, being one of many, is known to be a popular answer to the problem. It is well respected for reducing the likelihood of macOS being compromised by a virus. But how do you securely and entirely remove Sophos in case, say, you find it using to much of your Mac’s memory and CPU? Let’s figure it out.

How to Remove Sophos Mac Device

Sophos Home is a cloud-based antivirus application which comes in both free and paid-for premium versions. After registering an account, you can download a free client, which comes with a 30-day trial, and install it on your Mac. Sophos Home allows for multiple devices to be managed using the same account regardless of them being PC or Mac. With that in mind, it’s not uncommon for users to want to keep using Sophos on their PC, but to disable the protection on their Mac due to either little need in antivirus on a Mac, or assumed negative impact on performance. Whatever the reason, here is how you can remove your Mac device from your Sophos Home account.

  • On your Mac computer, hit the Sophos icon in the Menu bar
  • Click on the Ellipsis icon and select Preferences
  • In your Sophos Home account, click on Remove
  • Hit OK to confirm
Sophos mac uninstall tool

Thus, your Mac will no longer be connected to the Sophos Home account, yet, Sophos software will continue to protect your Mac until it is uninstalled.

How to Delete Sophos with Sophos Uninstall Tool

When an extra piece of software, even if it’s an antivirus, becomes a liability, completely uninstalling it from your computer is usually the way to go. There is no other way of going about it. Fortunately, in the case with Sophos, the developer provides an uninstaller which significantly simplifies the process of pulling the plug on the Sophos services. To get rid of Sophos Home application on your Mac, follow these steps after removing the device from your Sophos account:

  • Open Finder > Applications
  • Locate Remove Sophos Home.app and open it
  • Follow on-screen instructions to completely uninstall Sophos
  • Enter Mac user password when prompted

Sophos removal tool deals with the job perfectly well and erases all traces of the Sophos Home application from your Mac. It is reliable and safe to use, however, just for the sake of giving you another option, you can also perform the manual uninstall of Sophos software.

How To Uninstall Sophos

How to Uninstall Sophos Antivirus Manually

Sophos Mac Manual Uninstall Mac

As said above, Sophos antivirus software can be reliably removed from your Mac with the help of its removal tool. However, if you have your reasons not to trust the uninstaller you can force remove the application from OSX piece by piece. Check out these steps on how to do that:

  • Open Finder > Applications
  • Locate Sophos Home.app and Remove Sophos Home.app
  • Select and Move them to Trash
  • In Finder, hold Shift-Command-G to open Go to the folder window
  • Access the following directories and clear out Sophos-related items and folders:
    • /Library/LaunchAgents/
    • /Library/Preferences/
    • ~/Library/Application Scripts/
    • ~/Library/Containers/
  • Empty the Trash

Sophos Uninstall Script

This rounds out the basic options you have for uninstalling Sophos Home from your Mac computer. If, by chance, you have bigger cleaning plans in mind and looking to free up space by removing a list of rarely used apps, then keep MacFly Pro on your radar. MacFly Pro will not only help remove Sophos, but also reduce the time spent on uninstalling other applications. It enables you to select and delete multiple apps at once on top of providing a set of additional tools for maintaining your Mac at the top of its game.