McAfee or Windows Defender?

hi experts,
On my HP Windows 11 PRO laptop, I have Defender running along with McAfee. Will they conflict?

And I would prefer to have only Defender along with Malwarebytes. (i.e. I would like to uninstall McAfee.) Will Defender and Malwarebytes give me adequate protection?

Thanks for any tips.

If McAfee is providing real-time antivirus protection, Windows 11 normally handles Microsoft Defender accordingly rather than having both as the primary real-time antivirus.

If you decide to remove McAfee, I'd first make sure Windows Security shows Microsoft Defender Antivirus as the active provider after the uninstall and reboot.

For Malwarebytes, it also depends on whether you're using its real-time protection or just using it for occasional/on-demand scans. I wouldn't run two full real-time antivirus products together.

You can check the active provider under Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Who's protecting me? → Manage providers.

Use RevoUninstaller to remove McAfee, and don't forget the Advanced option to remove all leftover files, folders and registry entries.

Defender is free. You get to pay for McAfee when the trial period is done. Windows Defender is a good antivirus program. Stay with it and uninstall McAfee.

Antivirus products have malware definitions that are frequently updated.

The rankings often vary.


Other considerations for malware software:

Computer performance
Prevalence failed Windows upgrades
BSODs
etc.


This is for McAfee uninstallation: (uninstaller tool)



Other uninstalllers: