I get an "app quit unexpectedly" message repeatedly for an old app that is no longer on my macbook

[farz3450]

Many years ago I downloaded some free version of antivirus software called "antivirus for mac". It was a bit rubbish, it didn't seem to do much, except pipe up with messsages every now and again that my computer was at risk and I should pay them a subscription for a better version of the software. Given my experience, I eventually decided to delete the app from my mac. However, since then, I repeatedly (every few minutes) get the message "the app antivirusfor mac unexpectedly quit". This app is no longer on my computer, it's not running. I can find no trace of it, either when I look through my apps or search for any reference to it in finder. I have no idea why this message keeps coming up, it is extremely annoying, as it will pop up when I am working, on a meeting or streaming something.

I have tried to find the original software, re-download it and then delete it again, but I can't even remember which company makes it, or find something similar on the app store or with a google search.

I have a 14-inch, 16G 2021 Macbook pro, currently using Sonoma 14.3.1 (the error message survived the update process).

Any help or suggestions with this would be much appreciated.

 

[TonyAguila]

Many years ago I downloaded some free version of antivirus software called "antivirus for mac". It was a bit rubbish, it didn't seem to do much, except pipe up with messsages every now and again that my computer was at risk and I should pay them a subscription for a better version of the software. Given my experience, I eventually decided to delete the app from my mac. However, since then, I repeatedly (every few minutes) get the message "the app antivirusfor mac unexpectedly quit". This app is no longer on my computer, it's not running. I can find no trace of it, either when I look through my apps or search for any reference to it in finder. I have no idea why this message keeps coming up, it is extremely annoying, as it will pop up when I am working, on a meeting or streaming something.

I have tried to find the original software, re-download it and then delete it again, but I can't even remember which company makes it, or find something similar on the app store or with a google search.

I have a 14-inch, 16G 2021 Macbook pro, currently using Sonoma 14.3.1 (the error message survived the update process).

Any help or suggestions with this would be much appreciated.

A common mistake when “deleting” an app is by just moving the app file itself into the trash. There are numerous other files associated with apps such as extensions, plug-ins, settings, etc. In order to purge a system of all traces of that app you need to use an app cleaner utility to gather all of those corrected files and delete them as well.

My personal preference for such an app is AppCleaner.app. It’s freeware. Even without the main app file, you can still clean the other files as long as you can locate any of the other files connected to it. Just launch AppCleaner and when the main window opens, drag one of those files into it and it should collect all the other associated files. Then you can simply remove (trash) them.

AppCleaner

 

[farz3450]

Thank you Tony. I wasn't able to use the appcleaner. But you did help me realise what was going on. I used the error message to find the remnants of the old app and get rid of them all. I'll use the app cleaner for future deletions.

Thank you!

 

[TonyAguila]

Thank you Tony. I wasn't able to use the appcleaner. But you did help me realise what was going on. I used the error message to find the remnants of the old app and get rid of them all. I'll use the app cleaner for future deletions.

Thank you!

Good work! I’m just puzzled that AppCleaner failed you. I have tested most of the similar apps out there and I concluded that this works best for me. I hope you find the one that suits you best.