How-To

How to Stop McAfee Pop-Ups on Windows 11

By Adam Davidson

Updated March 18, 2024

Antivirus software can sometimes produce an annoying amount of pop-up windows. Here’s how to stop McAfee pop-ups on Windows 11.

Antivirus software can be useful for helping to keep your computer safe from malware, but sometimes it can almost feel like malware in its own right. You may find that you have a large number of popups from your antivirus app warning you about potential threats or informing you about updates. While some of these pop-ups may be useful, after a while they can begin to grate. You might find yourself wanting to stop pop-ups on Windows from applications like McAfee virus scan.

McAfee is one of the biggest names in antivirus software, and if you use one of the company’s antivirus products, you may find yourself getting a lot of pop-ups. There are a few things you can try to help cut down the number of pop-ups that you see from your antivirus software and take back your sanity. Here’s how to stop McAfee pop-ups on Windows 11.

Turn Off McAfee Notifications to Stop Its Pop-Ups in Windows

Windows allows you to block notifications from specific apps. This means that you can stop Windows notifications from McAfee, but still allow notifications from your other apps.

1. Right-click the Start button.
   
2. Select Settings.
   
3. In the left-hand menu, click System.
   
4. Select Notifications.
   
5. If you see McAfee in the app notifications, toggle it Off.
   
6. If you don’t see McAfee listed, you can turn off Notifications for all apps and senders.
   
7. Alternatively, turn on Do Not Disturb to have any notifications sent to the notification center without popping up.
   

Change the Settings and Alerts in McAfee

You can also change some of the settings within McAfee to reduce the number of alerts that you get. There are a couple of different types of alerts that you may need to disable.

1. Open the McAfee app.
2. Click the Settings icon at the bottom of the left-hand menu.
   
3. Select General Settings and Alerts.
   
4. Click Informational Alerts.
   
5. Uncheck the box for Show Informational Alerts When a Program is Allowed to Connect to the Internet.
   
6. Click Apply to apply the new setting.
7. Click Protection Alerts.
   
8. Check Don’t Show an Alert When Firewall is Off.
   
9. Click Apply.
10. You should no longer see any informational or protection alerts from McAfee.

Remove Any McAfee Extensions in Chrome

McAfee alerts may not be coming directly from Windows, or the McAfee app. Instead, they may be coming from your browser. That’s because when you install McAfee it may include a web extension for your browser. You can stop these alerts by managing your browser extensions. Here’s how it works in Chrome.

1. Open Chrome.
2. Click the Extensions icon in the toolbar.
   
3. Select Manage Extensions.
   
4. If there are any McAfee extensions listed, toggle them off.
   
5. Alternatively, click Remove to delete them completely.
   
6. Repeat for any other McAfee extensions.
7. You should no longer receive Chrome notifications from McAfee.

Remove Any McAfee Extensions in Edge

Microsoft Edge also allows you to use extensions. If you’re using Edge, you can turn off McAfee notifications in a similar manner. You have the option to disable the notifications or to remove the extension completely.

1. Open Microsoft Edge.
2. Click the Extensions icon.
   
3. Click Manage Extensions.
   
4. If you find any McAfee extensions, toggle them off to disable them.
   
5. Alternatively, click Remove to completely delete the extension from Edge.
   
6. Repeat for any other McAfee extensions.

Uninstall McAfee

If you no longer want to use McAfee or the pop-ups have just got too much to handle, you can uninstall the app. This should stop you from receiving any legitimate McAfee pop-ups. However, you may still see some pop-ups that appear to be from McAfee. We’ll take a look at why later in the article.

1. Right-click the Start button.
   
2. Select Settings.
   
3. In the left-hand menu, choose Apps.
   
4. Select Installed Apps.
   
5. Scroll down to McAfee and click the Three Dots icon.
   
6. Select Uninstall.
   
7. Follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall the app.

Turn Off McAfee Services

Even when McAfee is uninstalled, some McAfee services may remain and run on your computer. You can stop these Windows services which should stop them from creating any pop-ups. You’ll need to do this through the Services app.

1. Type Services in the search field in the taskbar.
2. Select the Services App from the results.
   
3. Scroll down to find any McAfee services.
   
4. Double-click on any running McAfee services.
5. Change Startup Type to Manual or Disabled to stop the service from running automatically.
   
6. Click the Stop button to stop the service.
   
7. Click Apply to apply your changes.
8. Repeat for any other McAfee services.
9. Restart your computer and no more McAfee services should run.

Turn Off Web Pop-Ups on Chrome

You may be receiving McAfee pop-ups even when you’ve completely uninstalled all of the apps and stopped all of the services, or even if you’ve never installed McAfee in the first place. That’s because fake McAfee pop-ups are often used to try to gain access to people’s information. These can appear when you’re using your browser and can look like they are genuine McAfee pop-ups. You can stop sites from being able to send notifications and pop-ups in Chrome.

1. Click the Three Dots icon in Chrome.
   
2. Select Settings.
   
3. In the left-hand menu, select Privacy and Security.
   
4. Click Site Settings.
   
5. Under Permissions click Notifications.
   
6. Select Don’t Allow Sites to Send Notifications.
   
7. Go back to the Privacy and Security settings page and under Content select Pop-ups and Redirects.
   
8. Select Don’t Allow Sites to Send Pop-Ups or Use Redirects.
   

Turn Off Web Pop-Ups on Edge

If you’re using Edge, you can also turn off pops-ups and website notifications to reduce the chance of getting malicious pop-ups pretending to be from McAfee. These settings are generally useful to use if you’re not a fan of website notifications.

1. Click the Three Dots icon in Edge.
   
2. Select Settings.
   
3. In the left-hand menu, select Cookies and Site Permissions.
   
4. Select Notifications.
   
5. Toggle Ask Before Sending off to stop all website notifications.
   
6. Go back to the Cookies and Site Permissions page and click Pop-ups and Redirects.
   
7. Ensure that Blocked is toggled On.
   

Stopping McAfee Notifications on Windows 11

Antivirus software can help to protect your computer from malware, but many antivirus apps have a lot of pop-ups that can become annoying. Learning how to stop McAfee pop-ups on Windows 11 can save you from a lot of frustration by reducing the barrage of pop-ups from appearing in the first place.

Remember that not all pop-ups that appear to be from McAfee are necessarily genuine. You should be very careful about clicking on pop-ups, and never enter any personal details if directed to by a pop-up window. If a pop-up asks for your login details, never supply them unless you’re sure that it is a genuine request from the McAfee app. If in doubt, don’t enter anything at all.