How to Completely Uninstall VirtualBox on Your Mac

Experiencing sluggish performance on your Mac? If you’ve previously used VirtualBox, even if you’re not actively using it now, it could be contributing to the problem. Virtualization software, while powerful, can consume system resources even when idle. If you’re looking to reclaim system resources and potentially improve your Mac’s speed, completely uninstalling VirtualBox is a great step.

This guide provides a comprehensive, step-by-step process to Uninstall Virtualbox Mac completely, ensuring all components are removed, freeing up your system and resolving potential performance bottlenecks.

Why Uninstall VirtualBox?

VirtualBox, like other virtualization applications, installs several components deep within your macOS system. These include not just the application itself, but also:

Kernel Extensions: These are system-level extensions that allow VirtualBox to interact directly with your Mac’s hardware. Even when VirtualBox isn’t running, these extensions can be loaded and consume resources.
Background Processes: VirtualBox may run background services and processes that continuously use memory and CPU cycles, impacting overall system performance.
Disk Space: While the application size might not be huge, virtual machines created within VirtualBox can take up significant disk space. Uninstalling completely helps recover this space.

For users who no longer need virtualization, or are troubleshooting performance issues, a clean uninstall of VirtualBox is often recommended. Let’s dive into how to do it properly.

Step-by-Step Guide to Thoroughly Uninstall VirtualBox on macOS

Follow these steps in order to ensure a complete removal of VirtualBox from your Mac.

1. Quit VirtualBox and All Virtual Machines

Before you begin the uninstallation process, it’s crucial to ensure that VirtualBox and any virtual machines you might be running are completely shut down.

Quit VirtualBox Application: If VirtualBox is running, go to the VirtualBox menu in the menu bar and select “Quit VirtualBox”. Alternatively, right-click on the VirtualBox icon in the Dock and choose “Quit”.
Ensure Virtual Machines are Off: Double-check that any virtual machines you have created are also powered off, not just paused or saved. Within the VirtualBox Manager, ensure all VMs are listed as “Powered Off”.

It’s important to completely quit VirtualBox to avoid file access conflicts during the uninstallation process.

2. Uninstall the VirtualBox Application

The first step is to remove the main VirtualBox application itself, similar to uninstalling any other macOS application.

Open Finder: Click on the Finder icon in your Dock.
Go to Applications Folder: In the Finder sidebar, click on “Applications”.
Locate VirtualBox: Find the VirtualBox application icon in the Applications folder.
Drag to Trash: Drag the VirtualBox icon to the Trash icon in your Dock. Alternatively, you can right-click on the VirtualBox icon and select “Move to Trash”.
Empty Trash: Right-click on the Trash icon in your Dock and select “Empty Trash” to permanently delete the application.

This step removes the main application, but several supporting files and kernel extensions still need to be removed for a complete uninstall.

3. Remove VirtualBox Files and Folders

VirtualBox stores additional files and folders in various Library directories on your Mac. These need to be manually removed.

Open Finder: Click on the Finder icon in your Dock.
Go to Folder: In the Finder menu bar, click on “Go” and then select “Go to Folder…”.
Enter Paths and Delete: In the “Go to Folder” dialog box, enter each of the following paths one by one and press “Go”. For each location, look for any folders or files related to “VirtualBox” or “Oracle VM VirtualBox” and drag them to the Trash.
- ~/Library/Application Support/VirtualBox
- ~/Library/Preferences/org.virtualbox.app.VirtualBox.plist
- /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.virtualbox.vboxd.plist
- /Library/StartupItems/VirtualBox

Note: The ~/Library refers to your user Library folder, while /Library refers to the system-level Library folder at the root of your hard drive. Be careful when deleting files in the /Library directory and only remove files specifically related to VirtualBox.

4. Remove VirtualBox Kernel Extensions

Kernel extensions are a core component of VirtualBox and must be unloaded and removed separately using the Terminal.

Open Terminal: Go to Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
Unload Kernel Extensions: In the Terminal window, type the following commands one by one, pressing Enter after each command. You’ll be prompted to enter your administrator password after the first command as sudo is used to execute commands with administrator privileges.
```
 sudo kextunload -b org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxDrv
 sudo kextunload -b org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetFlt
 sudo kextunload -b org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxNetAdp
 sudo kextunload -b org.virtualbox.kext.VBoxUSB
```
These commands use kextunload to unload each VirtualBox kernel extension. -b specifies the bundle identifier of the extension to unload.
Remove Kernel Extension Files: After unloading, use the following commands to remove the kernel extension files themselves:
```
 sudo rm -rf /Library/Extensions/VBoxDrv.kext
 sudo rm -rf /Library/Extensions/VBoxNetFlt.kext
 sudo rm -rf /Library/Extensions/VBoxNetAdp.kext
 sudo rm -rf /Library/Extensions/VBoxUSB.kext
```
These commands use rm -rf to forcefully remove the specified kernel extension directories. Be extremely careful when using rm -rf and ensure you are targeting the correct VirtualBox kernel extensions.

Using the Terminal to remove kernel extensions is crucial for a complete uninstall. Incorrect use of sudo rm -rf can be dangerous, so double-check the commands before executing them.

5. Empty Trash and Restart Your Mac

The final steps are to empty the Trash again to permanently delete all the files you’ve moved there and restart your Mac to ensure all changes are applied and kernel extensions are fully removed from memory.

Empty Trash: Right-click on the Trash icon in your Dock and select “Empty Trash”.
Restart Your Mac: Go to the Apple menu and select “Restart…”.

After your Mac restarts, VirtualBox should be completely uninstalled.

Conclusion

By following these detailed steps, you’ve successfully uninstalled VirtualBox on your Mac. This thorough removal process ensures that all application files, supporting data, and kernel extensions are eliminated, reclaiming system resources and potentially resolving performance issues.

If you continue to experience slowdowns, consider exploring other potential causes of Mac performance problems. However, removing VirtualBox is a significant step towards optimizing your system if you no longer require virtualization.