FAQs for McAfee consumer security products and Apple macOS 10.15 (Catalina)

• Upgraded your computer to macOS Catalina.
• Are thinking about upgrading your computer to macOS Catalina.
• Just bought a new Mac running macOS Catalina.

What is macOS Catalina?
macOS 10.15, released on October 7 2019, is also known as macOS Catalina. It is the 16th major release of macOS, and is the successor to macOS Mojave. You can find out more about macOS Catalina on the Apple Support page.

Do the McAfee security products for Mac support macOS Catalina?
macOS Catalina introduces a new security feature called notarization. Only apps that are fully notarized can be installed on macOS Catalina. Currently, the following McAfee security products are notarized and so are compatible with macOS Catalina:

NOTE: Earlier versions of these products are not compatible with macOS Catalina, and must be updated before you upgrade your Mac to macOS Catalina.

Installing McAfee security software on macOS Catalina
This video shows how to install your McAfee software on macOS Catalina or later:

• ​Starting with macOS High Sierra and extending to macOS Catalina, when an application tries to enable a system extension during installation, you are prompted to allow the system extension to be enabled. (A system extension is also known as a kernel extension or kext.) Until the system extension is authorized, some McAfee products for macOS will not provide you with complete protection. See TS102735 – McAfee installation error on macOS: System Extension Blocked for more details about authorizing the system extension, or view the video above.
• Starting with macOS Catalina, you must grant our security products Full Disk Access for them to provide complete protection. Full Disk Access is a security feature in macOS Catalina that requires apps to be given permission before they can access all files on your Mac. See TS102979 for more details about enabling Full Disk Access, or view the video above.

I have LiveSafe for Mac currently installed on macOS Mojave. Do I need to do anything before upgrading to macOS Catalina?
Yes. You must first update LiveSafe to version 4.7 or later, as shown above. After you have updated LiveSafe to version 4.7 or later, you can then upgrade macOS from Mojave to Catalina.

IMPORTANT: Do not upgrade macOS to Catalina without first updating your McAfee security products to version 4.7 or later. If you upgrade to macOS Catalina while an older version of McAfee software is installed, essential files needed for your McAfee software to run correctly are removed. When these files are removed, your McAfee software is in an unsupported state, and does not provide you with full protection. To avoid this issue, we recommend that you first upgrade your McAfee software, then upgrade macOS.

Are there any other benefits to updating my McAfee software?
Yes. The newer versions of McAfee security software for Mac (starting from version 4.5.5) are 64-bit compatible. This compatibility means that the software has been optimized to run on modern Macs with 64-bit processors. See TS102783 – How to fix macOS alerts when you run the McAfee 32-bit software first for more details.

How do I know which version of McAfee software I have installed?
To see your version:

1. Click the McAfee menulet on your Mac’s status bar.
2. Select About LiveSafe, or your particular product. The version number is displayed at the top of the window.

Which versions of macOS are supported by version 4.7 of McAfee security products?
Supported macOS versions are:

• macOS 10.12 (Sierra)
• macOS 10.13 (High Sierra)
• macOS 10.14 (Mojave)
• macOS 10.15 (Catalina)

  NOTE: Mac OS X 10.11 (El-Capitan) and earlier are not supported

How do I upgrade to the latest version of my Mac security product?
Our Mac security products periodically check to see if an update is available. Make sure that your Mac is connected to the internet and open your McAfee software. When a new update is found, it is downloaded automatically. You can also uninstall an older product, and reinstall the latest by following the steps shown below.

NOTE: If your Mac has an unsupported operating system, for example Mac OS 10.11, the latest version of your McAfee product is not downloaded and installed.

​Are older versions of LiveSafe or Internet Security for Mac upgraded automatically?
No. ​Versions 3.8 and 4.0 are not upgraded automatically if your Mac is running macOS Catalina. To get the latest version, follow these steps:

• ​Step 1: Uninstall (remove) the older version of LiveSafe or Internet Security for Mac:
  1. In the Dock, find and open the Applications folder.
  2. Double-click the McAfee Internet Security or LiveSafe Uninstaller.
  3. Click Continue.
  4. Type in your administrator password and click OK.
  5. Click Finish.

     ​IMPORTANT: After an uninstall, your Mac will no longer be protected from viruses and malware. Make sure that you reinstall your security software as soon as possible to restore protection.

• ​Step 2: Download and install the latest version of LiveSafe or Internet Security for Mac:
  Follow the steps in the video above, or use the following steps:
  1. Open this article: TS101226 – How to install or uninstall McAfee software on macOS.
  2. In the Summary of article TS101226, click to expand the Install McAfee Internet Security on your Mac section.
  3. Follow the steps to install your McAfee software.

​Who can I contact if I have more questions?
If you have questions that are not answered in this article, contact Customer Service for more help.

Source : Official McAfee Brand
Editor by : BEST Antivirus KBS Team