McAfee Total Protection Antivirus Review 2024

What Is McAfee Total Protection?

The origins of McAfee trace back to 1987 when John McAfee founded the company to create antivirus software. Over the years, McAfee has evolved from focusing solely on antivirus protection to offering a broad range of security services, including identity theft protection and internet security.

McAfee Total Protection is its most recent packaged product, offering comprehensive protection against viruses, malware, and online threats. It includes features like antivirus protection, a firewall, web and email protection, and a file shredder for securely deleting sensitive data. It also has a Password Manager for secure password storage and management.

What does McAfee Total Protection protect against?

McAfee Total Protection is designed to protect you against:

• Viruses
• Malware, including ransomware and spyware
• Phishing attacks
• Identity theft
• Unsafe websites
• Email threats
• Online data breaches

Key Features in Detail

McAfee is a feature-rich antivirus with many tools to keep you safe.

Antivirus

McAfee antivirus uses both traditional and heuristic scanning to identify threats. It does this by checking files against its extensive virus database and observing file behaviors for anything suspicious.

I tested it by downloading a trojan onto my computer. After installing McAfee and running a full scan, it immediately caught and contained the malware. It worked so much faster than most of the other antiviruses that I have tested.

McAfee took about 55 minutes to complete a full scan of my device. This was quite impressive because it takes more than 1 hour when I use competitors like Norton and Bitdefender.

However, I should also mention that the virus that I had downloaded on my computer would automatically block the internet when I tried running the scan. I was a little disappointed that McAfee couldn’t bypass this block and kept asking me to connect to the internet.

I also noticed that when the scan started, my connection slowed down slightly. I could still load my Roblox game, but my character would randomly freeze mid-session. However, I don’t think this is a big issue since McAfee lets you schedule scans, so you can let the scan run when you know you won’t be using your device.

Overall, McAfee Antivirus is one of the most effective in the market today. It offers strong protection against both well-known and new threats thanks to its excellent malware detection and quick scans.

Secure VPN

McAfee VPN keeps your online activities private and secure by encrypting your internet connection and hiding what you do online. It uses AES 256-bit encryption, which is extremely secure, and it doesn’t record your browsing history. This means you can browse the web without being tracked and stay completely anonymous.

I had an easy using the McAfee VPN feature. To connect, simply select your preferred server and then click the connect button.

McAfee has servers in 45+ locations, so it’s easy to find a fast server that is not overcrowded. If you don’t have a preferred server, simply click the connect button, and you will be connected to the fastest available server. You can also select Fastest Location for similar results.

Speeds

When testing, I was impressed that my speed dropped by only about 13% from my base speed. This was impressive since even some of the best VPNs I have tested drop speeds by up to 25% on distances beyond 3,000 km.

Other servers also gave me pretty decent speed for lag-free browsing:

Considering that my base speeds are pretty low and I can still enjoy my online activities, you don’t have to worry about slowdowns with SecureVPN, especially if you have higher base speeds.

Unblocking Capabilities

I was very disappointed to find out that I couldn’t use Secure VPN to unblock some of my favorite streaming services, such as Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney +.  I tested it with Hulu and couldn’t even get past the login page.

McAfee also couldn’t unblock any Netflix libraries that are unavailable in my region. I tried it with Netflix UK and US and couldn’t access any restricted titles.

I reached out to customer support to ask whether the VPN works with any streaming service, and the agent confirmed that it doesn’t. They said this is because unblocking streaming sites goes against the platform’s terms of service.

Therefore, you will need to find another top VPN, like Surfshark, if you want to access any streaming services. Although McAfee Secure VPN will keep you safe online, it won’t allow you to access content that is not available in your country.

Gaming and Torrenting

Although I couldn’t use it for streaming, I was happy that I could use Secure VPN for secure gaming and torrenting. While connected to servers nearby, I tried it with Roblox and had no problems enjoying the game without lag.

However, servers far away have much higher ping, so I struggled to stabilize my character, and it kept freezing randomly. For reference, you need a ping that’s below 80ms to get quick responses to your inputs while gaming.

Similarly, I could download files without much delay with servers nearby, but servers far away always gave me long wait times.

Identity Theft Protection

McAfee offers one of the best Identity Theft Protection features that I have ever tried. It lets you monitor your Social Security Number (SSN), phone numbers, and other personal details to ensure they don’t fall into the wrong hands.

I was disappointed that this service is only available in about 30 countries — UK, the US, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Spain, and a few more. However, it does support a lot more countries compared to competitors like Total AV, which supports only the US.

McAfee also gives you tips for securing your personal information if it’s involved in a data breach. For instance, my friend in the UK tested this feature, and I found 9 breaches. McAfee directed them to the affected sites so they could change my passwords quickly. They told me that changing their passwords only took a few minutes​​ using McAfee True Key.

Tracker Remover

This tool is designed to clean up potentially unwanted cookies, cached files, and other items that could be lingering on your desktop or browser. When I tested it, I was able to free up more than 1.6 GB of data on my device.

Tracker Remover also allows you to customize your scans — to delete temporary files, empty the recycle bin, remove cookies, trackers, and clear your browser history. It’s a useful tool for cleaning up unwanted files from your computer.

However, it’s important to note that while it removes these elements to enhance privacy and potentially speed up your device, it doesn’t prevent applications or web pages from actively tracking your online activities or address telemetry technologies built into Windows.

Advanced Firewall

McAfee has its own firewall that’s easier to use than the one Windows provides. It controls how applications access the internet, letting you decide which ones can connect freely and which ones need your permission first.

McAfee focuses on stopping dangerous outgoing connections, while the Windows firewall mainly blocks unsafe incoming ones. Together, they work to keep your computer safe from online threats. This feature plays a crucial role in preventing unauthorized access and monitoring network traffic for suspicious activity.

Real-Time Protection

McAfee Real-Time Protection uses AI to automatically stop new threats, keeping your personal data safe when you bank, shop, or surf online. It keeps your computer secure from cyber threats while you use the internet. I tested it by trying to download malware from the EICAR website, and McAfee blocked every attempt.

I also liked that it allows you to skip certain files during its real-time scans. This feature is handy because sometimes, even safe files are mistakenly identified as dangerous by antivirus software. To use this feature, go to the real-time scanning settings and add the files you want to exclude. McAfee won’t scan those files anymore.

File Shredder

McAfee File Shredder is a tool designed to securely and permanently delete files from your computer, much like how a paper shredder destroys documents. When you delete files normally, they can often be recovered with special software. File Shredder ensures that deleted files cannot be recovered by overwriting them with random data.

You can use File Shredder to delete various data types, such as temporary files, items in your recycle bin, cookies, trackers, and browser history. This tool is handy for removing sensitive or private information from your system. It ensures that once it’s gone, it’s truly gone and cannot be accessed by others.

Password Manager

McAfee Password Manager, also known as True Key by McAfee, is a tool designed to enhance your online security by managing your passwords efficiently. It works by generating strong and unique passwords for each of your online accounts and securely storing them.

With this tool, you only need to remember one master password to access all your saved passwords. This master password is the key to unlocking your vault of stored passwords across different websites and applications.

The password manager also offers features like auto-filling your login information for faster access to your accounts and making your online experience more seamless across devices. Plus, it offers storage for passwords, addresses, cards, licenses, and other sensitive data.

Set Up and Ease of Use

Downloading and installing McAfee Total Protection was pretty straightforward for me. I also like that it’s compatible with various operating systems, including Windows (8.1 and above, both 32-bit and 64-bit), macOS (10.12 and above), iOS (14 and above), Android (8 and above), and iOS. This means you can easily protect all your devices without any issues.

Desktop Apps

It took me less than 3 minutes to download and start using the Windows app.

The Windows and macOS apps are pretty similar and feature user-friendly designs that are easy to navigate. They include a handy sidebar on the left, allowing you to quickly access all the app’s features with just a few clicks.

Mobile Apps

The Android and iOS apps are also pretty similar and have similar features. To start using your subscription on a mobile device, you can send yourself a link via email or text from the McAfee online dashboard or scan a QR code from the dashboard on your primary device. Alternatively, download the app from your device’s app store and log in with your information.

I found the Android app dashboard to be uncluttered and easy to navigate. When I tested it, it detected all the Android malware on my device in less than 10 minutes. I found the scan’s speed and precision impressive, especially since some competitors often miss rootkits, adware, and spyware apps designed to collect data.

The only difference between the Android and the iOS apps is that McAfee doesn’t have an antivirus scanning feature for iOS since iOS apps aren’t vulnerable to traditional malware. However, it provides strong anti-phishing protection to identify harmful websites.

Customer Support

I was really impressed with McAfee efficient customer support. You can contact support through a variety of support channels, including 24/7 live chat, 24/7 phone support, and more. When you first access the 24/7 chat support, you will chat with a bot. But if you want to chat with a human agent, just tell the bot to connect you to an agent.

I contacted support because I wanted help with resetting my Chrome browser, and was connected within a few seconds. The agent was quick to help me solve my issue. I should mention that I had to allow the agent to connect to my device remotely. If you’re uncomfortable with this, you can request the agent to give you step-by-step instructions so you can solve the issue yourself.

I didn’t like that you had to enter your email address and actual phone number before you could connect. The agent told me they need this information so they can contact you if the chat is disconnected. However, this can be quite troublesome if you want to keep your identity private.

You can also get help through the McAfee community forums. Creating a forum thread is a smart move if you’re dealing with a unique or specific problem. Someone who has experienced similar issues may reply with a quick solution. With a little research, you can also find solutions from pother previously posted threads.

I also found McAfee knowledge base very informative, with lots of useful information.

Wrapping Up