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Removing Sophos from UW-Owned and Personal Devices

Last updated: July 28, 2025

Sophos antivirus services at UW are ending August 30, 2025.

This page explains how to uninstall Sophos Central and Sophos Home, install CrowdStrike Falcon on UW-owned devices, and ensure your personal device (non-UW-owned) has antivirus protection.

Sophos Central, which protects UW-owned computers issued by your department, will end on August 30, 2025. It will be replaced on UW-owned devices by CrowdStrike Falcon.

Remove Sophos Central from UW-Owned Devices

  1. Contact your department’s IT support team to uninstall Sophos Central and install CrowdStrike Falcon.
  2. If your department does not have IT support, you can uninstall Sophos Central yourself:

Uninstall on Windows

  1. Go to C:\Program Files\Sophos\Sophos Endpoint Agent
  2. Double-click SophosUninstall.exe
  3. Alternatively, go to Settings > Apps (Windows 10) and uninstall Sophos Endpoint

For additional assistance with the uninstall process, review the documentation about uninstalling Sophos on Windows.

Uninstall on macOSX

  1. Press Command + Spacebar, type “Remove Sophos”, and run the tool if available

For additional assistance with the uninstall process, review the documentation about uninstalling Sophos on macOSX.

Install CrowdStrike Falcon on UW-Owned Devices

  1. After uninstalling Sophos Central, install CrowdStrike Falcon:

Install on Windows

    1. Follow the instructions in the Windows Quick Start Guide

Install on macOSX

    1. Follow the instructions in the macOSX Quick Start Guide

Sophos Home, which may be installed on your personal (non-UW-owned) devices, will not be supported after August 30, 2025. Ensure your laptop has a built-in or free antivirus software to stay protected. 

Uninstall Sophos Home

Check Your Antivirus Coverage

Since Sophos is no longer protecting your personal device, make sure your system has antivirus protection. Most devices include built-in tools:

  • Windows: Windows Defender (built into Windows, no action needed)
  • Mac: XProtect (built into macOS, no action needed)
  • Linux: ClamAV (available for download)

Why This Change Is Happening

UW is standardizing endpoint protection by replacing Sophos Central on UW-owned devices with CrowdStrike Falcon. CrowdStrike provides modern, advanced threat detection to protect university systems and data. You can learn more about CrowdStrike Falcon at UW here.

Sophos Home support will end on personal devices, so users should ensure their devices have built-in antivirus protection or download another trusted antivirus software to maintain security.

Need Help?

  • If you need assistance with Sophos or CrowdStrike Falcon on a UW-owned device, contact your department’s IT support team or email help@uw.edu with “CrowdStrike Falcon” in the subject line.
  • If you have questions about uninstalling Sophos from a personal (non-UW-owned) device, email help@uw.edu with “Sophos Home” in the subject line.