Cannot remove McAfee from MacOS

With no changes i.e. no McAfee processes running per Activity Monitor yet I cannot manually delete McAfee items nor can I move the McAfee app to my trash NOR can I install Norton as it still detects McAfee being installed....on the 9th or 10th time I tried it....I was able to move the app to my trash. Nothing else changed however heck I even installed a Mac Cleaner app and it couldn't detect McAfee as being installed and therefore able to be removed by the Cleaner app, yet the Norton Installer still detected McAfee as being present so....I called support. They had me 1) empty my trash and 2) reboot my Mac. Following those two steps I was able to install Norton. (Huge sigh of relief!) Oh and that Mac Cleaner app? Norton detected it as malware, and removed it;-)

That is not the command I used. The command you mention involved removing the McAfee Agent which is a different product, than McAfee Endpoint Security. The KB article that I refer to is TS101226 https://service.mcafee.com/webcenter/portal/oracle/webcenter/page/scopedMD/s55728c97_466d_4ddb_952d_05484ea932c6/Page29.jspx;jsessionid=rvIyr036vqsvbeF54EpwtppwUSlhEZ9I8RQbPOFaQxl1-gk5IkES!-1541912335!1087347003?showFooter=false&articleId=TS101226&leftWidth=0%25&showHeader=false&wc.contextURL=%2Fspaces%2Fcp&rightWidth=0%25&centerWidth=100%25&_adf.ctrl-state=kb5przvp1_9&_afrLoop=555128130504385#!%40%40%3FshowFooter%3Dfalse%26_afrLoop%3D555128130504385%26articleId%3DTS101226%26leftWidth%3D0%2525%26showHeader%3Dfalse%26wc.contextURL%3D%252Fspaces%252Fcp%26rightWidth%3D0%2525%26centerWidth%3D100%2525%26_adf.ctrl-state%3Dbxfwhlpz_4

If you expand "Uninstall McAfee Security from your Mac" step 4 involves double clicking on something that isn't on my Mac - "McAfee Internet Security Uninstaller".

I should add I tried stopping all McAfee processes in Activity Monitor, before trying either the manual uninstall or the Norton tool. The McAfee product stopped updating itself after my upgrade to Catalina and I do see warnings that it will be incompatible with future MacOS versions - that is why I am attempting to replace it with Norton however Norton cannot install until McAfee is removed.

Update - with no further changes I was able to perform the manual removal successfully but following a restart the Norton Installer still finds installed McAfee products. I found multiple "vshield...." executables but am unable to remove them, even after adding myself to Sharing and Permissions with Read & Write, on these files. These are the same files the Norton removal tool attempts, and fails, to remove.

Security through obscurity is your argument correct sir? In 2019 alone there were 119 security vulnerabilities in the MacOS:

https://www.cvedetails.com/product/156/Apple-Mac-Os-X.html?vendor_id=49

As stated previously I am a retired network security engineer. I would never recommend going without some anti-malware product and using it properly i.e. keeping it updated and performing full scans of all drives on a weekly basis.

I own this Mac. I purchased it while employed as a network security engineer and installed the product while using it at work. I have since retired. I would be that person to contact i.e.

It is a good product and actually the one that Apple support had me download and run while troubleshooting.