How to Disable Norton Antivirus?

Disable Norton Antivirus

The Norton and Time virus takes care of your computer security, but many times, it can restrict you from installing some programs or applications. The presence of Northern antivirus in your device will not allow you to proceed with installation setups.

In case you want to disable or temporarily turn off your Norton antivirus then you can do so in many ways. There are three methods to disable Northern antivirus presence in your computer. First is to directly disable the antivirus auto protection, second you can uninstall Norton antivirus from your PC and lastly, you can try uninstalling the Norton Internet Security.

How Should One Can Can Disable Norton Antivirus?

Method 1: Disabling Norton Antivirus ( Windows) 

Step 1. Locate the Norton icon in your System Tray. It is a set of icons placed in the bottom-right corner of your Windows desktop, next to the clock. These icons represent programs that are currently running. If you don't see the Norton icon, click on the button to show all the hidden icons.

Step 2. Right-click on the icon. This will open a small menu of options. Select ‘Disable Antivirus Auto-Protect’. This is the active part of Norton Antivirus. Disabling it will turn off active virus protection.

Step 3. Select the duration. You can select to disable your antivirus protection for a specific amount of time, until your computer restarts, or permanently. It is not suggested that you browse the internet without active protection enabled.

Step 4. Reenable protection. If you are completed performing the task which needs antivirus protection to be disabled, you can right-click on the Norton icon again and select ‘Enable Antivirus Auto-Protect’.

Method 2: Uninstalling Norton Antivirus ( Windows)

Open the Windows program manager. You can access this from the Control Panel, which can be found in your Start menu. Click on ‘Programs and Components’ or ‘Add or Delete Programs’.

Step 1. Windows 8 users can press ‘Win+X' and click on ‘Programs and Features’.

Step 2. Find the ‘Norton Antivirus’ entry. There may be a number of Norton entries but concentrate on the Antivirus one first. Select it and then click Uninstall or Change/Remove.

Step 3. Select whether or not to keep your preferences. You will be requested if you want to keep your preferences (in case you want to reinstall) or remove all your data. If you're escaping from Norton, select to delete all the settings, preferences, and files.

Step 4. Select either or not to keep Norton's Individuality Safe. It's called a password manager, that Norton would favor you keep using. If you don't want to keep it, click ‘No, thanks.

Step 5. Wait for the uninstallation to complete. The uninstallation process may take a few minutes.

Step 6. Restart your computer. You will have to reset your computer thus for the uninstallation to take effect. After restarting your computer, Windows will notify you that you no longer have an antivirus installed.

Step 7. Download the Norton Removal Tool. This is a program designed by Symantec which will remove all traces of Norton software from your system. This is particularly useful if Norton is not uninstalling correctly.

• Download the Norton Removal Tool with the help of searching for ‘Norton Removal Tool’ in your preferred search engine. It should be the first result.
• Run the removal tool. You will have to accept the license agreement and enter the Captcha to prove you're human.
• Restart your computer after the removal tool has finished.

Method 3: Uninstalling Norton Internet Security (OS X)

Step 1. Open Norton Internet Security. You can find this in the Applications folder.

Step 2. Launch the uninstaller. Select Norton Internet Security and Uninstall Norton Internet Security. Click Uninstall to confirm.

Step 3. Enter your administrator information. You will need to provide this in order to delete the program.

Step 4. Restart your computer. You will need to restart your Mac for the uninstallation to complete.

Step 5. Download the RemoveSymantecMacFiles utility. This is a program offered by Symantec (Norton's developer) that erases all traces of Norton software from your Mac. It is important because Norton prefers to leave a lot of things behind after it is uninstalled.

• Install the RemoveSymantecMacFiles utility by searching for ‘RemoveSymantecMacFiles’ in your favorite search engine. It should be the first result.
• Extract the ZIP file that is downloaded.
• Run the RemoveSymantecMacFiles.command file. Click Open to confirm.
• Enter your administrator password. No characters will appear as you type. You must have an administrator password; a blank administrator password will not work and is a bad security practice anyway.
• Press 1 and then Return to remove all Symantec files. Press 2 to exit.
• Reboot your computer by pressing Y and then Return

These are all possible methods to disable Norton Antivirus. So, I hope now you will be able to do it.