Situation
You need to uninstall a Symantec product for Macintosh that is installed under Mac OS X. You have tried several methods, including manually uninstalling or running the Symantec Uninstaller without success. Alternatively, you have been referred here by a technician or from another document because running the RemoveSymantecMacFiles utility is necessary to solve a problem with your Symantec program for Macintosh.
Solution
Warning: RemoveSymantecMacFiles removes all folders created by Symantec and Norton installers and all files within those folders. You will lose all files that reside in those folders, including any that you have created.
To download and run RemoveSymantecMacFiles:
- Download RemoveSymantecMacFiles.zip from the following address:
ftp://ftp.symantec.com/misc/tools/mactools/RemoveSymantecMacFiles.zip
Symantec updates this tool regularly to accommodate changes introduced in newer releases of Symantec Endpoint Protection for Macintosh, so if you have not downloaded it recently, we recommend that you do so now. - On the target computer, double-click the RemoveSymantecMacFiles.zip file that you downloaded so that the file expands. We recommend using the built-in Archive Utility to expand this file.
NOTE: To use this tool, you must be logged in to the Macintosh with an Administrator account with a non-blank password. - Open the RemoveSymantecMacFiles folder.
- Double-click RemoveSymantecMacFiles.command (if you do not display file extensions, it appears as RemoveSymantecMacFiles). This will launch a Terminal window. If OS security prompt appears ("... can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer") then use control-click to open and bypass security prompt (see https://support.apple.com/kb/ph14369).
- Type your Mac OS X password, and then press return. When you type your password, no characters appear.
- Do one of the following:
- To remove all Symantec files and folders, type 1
- To quit RemoveSymantecMacFiles without removing any files, type 2
- Press Return.
- The utility RemoveSymantecMacFiles removes all files within Symantec-installed folders, even those you may have created yourself.
- On the Terminal menu, click Quit Terminal.
SymantecRemovalTool (ftp://ftp.symantec.com/misc/tools/mactools/SymantecRemovalTool.zip), a modification of RemoveSymantecMacFiles, is a script that is designed to be pushed out using Apple Remote Desktop. It requires no user input when run as root. As with RemoveSymantecMacFiles, all files and folders that Symantec Mac products have created will be removed; therefore, you will lose all files that reside in those folders, including any that you have created manually. For more information, please see the readme file included with the SymantecRemovalTool download. Symantec provides support for SymantecRemovalTool/RemoveSymantecMacFiles only when running them locally; it is the customer's responsibility to integrate SymantecRemovalTool with Apple Remote Desktop or other remote deployment tools.
Legacy ID
Terms of use for this information are found in Legal Notices.
