I am unable to completely uninstall the Zoom meeting app from my Mac running macOS Mojave.
I once installed the Zoom meeting app. Then I deleted it from Applications directory. Now, every-time I open a zoom meeting in Google Chrome, the Zoom app gets reinstalled automatically! Terrible…
So I investigated from where and how it has permission to reinstall and I found out they created a hidden folder .zoomus
containing ZoomOpener.app
and there is a ZoomUsPlugIn.plugin
in ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins
directory.
Question: I have deleted the following 4 files:
-
zoom.us.app
from/Applications
directory. -
zoomusInstaller.pkg
from~/Downloads
directory -
ZoomOpener.app
from hidden.zoomus
in home dir -
ZoomUsPlugIn.plugin
from~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins
directory. directory
But it still gets reinstalled. How can I completely uninstall it?
EDIT 2
the support now gave me this script to run: I ran it but it still gets installed again after opening a meeting… this is the worst app i have ever used…
official zoom support drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MP0cNLyJjzPLNrvNDCZv9hRuif091f0c
currently i run this script to uninstall, to no success
#! /bin/bash
echo Cleaning Zoom...
echo Cleaning Application Cached Files...
sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/zoom.us
echo Cleaning Application..
{
sudo rm -rf /Applications/zoom.us.app
sudo rm -rf ~/Applications/zoom.us.app
sudo kextunload -b zoom.us.ZoomAudioDevice
sudo rm -rf /System/Library/Extensions/ZoomAudioDevice.kext
} &> /dev/null
echo Removed Application...
{
sudo rm -rf ~/Downloads/zoomusInstaller.pkg
sudo rm -rf /Applications/zoom.us.app
sudo rm -rf ~/Desktop/Zoom
sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Application Support/zoom.us
sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/us.zoom.xos
sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ZoomUsPlugIn.plugin
sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/ZoomUsPlugIn.plugin
sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Logs/zoom.us
sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Logs/zoominstall.log
sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/ZoomChat.plist
sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/us.zoom.xos.plist
sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Saved Application State/us.zoom.xos.savedState
} &> /dev/null
echo Other stuff...
and i kill the process:
ps -eaf | grep -i [z]oom
EDIT 3
i ran all scripts and killed the process, now one day later, I open another meeting via chrome and… again the installer runs. I am furious
Best Answer
Apple will remove this for you if you have enabled keep system files updated.
To check your MRT Configuration Data updates, you can do that as well. Version 1.54 is the version that wrangles
~/.zoomus
The remainder of this article applies to double check Apple and/or force removal and understand a bit more on what is running under the hood.
An installer that clears out this program that used to be installed is available - so you can clean manually as before below if you don't want to have zoom (or uninstalled it already).
If you want to use the software, just update or install the version from 9 July 2019 - https://zoom.us/download#client_4meeting
Before 9 July, the zoom installer was indistinguishable from malware in that it installs files and folders not part of a system manifest before the installer is approved to run. Then this “hidden” process opens a network port for a command and control server to receive requests and not ask the user before installing software or start up the camera and microphone. This listener can also re-install the main zoom program. I know the company says it's goal is to help users, but why not document this and get opt in from the computer admin account before taking these actions?
Until the vendor has a proper uninstaller, you should also delete and put a file in place to prevent the Zoom app from re-installing this persistent agent.
The first command recursively removes the process that listens on port 19421 and the second prevents the current installer from re-installing this "agent" if you choose to not uninstall the app. Once the above steps are done, you should restart your Mac if you're not comfortable finding and killing the web server that listens on the port 19421.
We have tested this fairly rigorously, and removing this process - killing it and blocking it has no effect on the desirable function of the app, so if you need zoom or want to use it - cleaning this up to prevent A privacy breach or unintended reinstall is encouraged.