Applies to: Sophos Home Premium and Free (Windows)

• What is happening?
  
  Troubleshooting options: 
• Option 1 - Using the MS Program Install and Uninstall troubleshooter 
• Option 2 - Using the Windows File and Folder troubleshooter
• Option 3 - Running SophosZap (uninstaller tool)

Why can't I install/uninstall Sophos Home?:

You encounter any of the following issues with Sophos Home:

• Continuously getting a message to restart the computer to uninstall or reinstall Sophos Home.
• You receive uninstallation/installation failed errors.
• You are unable to reinstall Sophos Home due to error messages. 

These issues happen due to corrupted files or remnants from previous installations of Sophos Home or other Sophos versions, especially when using a third-party uninstaller that may delete components that are required to properly uninstall Sophos. 

What to do - 3 Options:

Option 1 - Using MS Program Install and Uninstall troubleshooter 

If you know the component that is failing to uninstall, follow these steps:

Microsoft has released a Program Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter to help fix problems that block programs from being installed or removed.

1. Click the Download button on this link to download the tool.
2. Double-click the downloaded tool to run it.
3. Follow the steps in the Program Install and Uninstall troubleshooter.

Option 2 - Using Windows File and Folder troubleshooter

This Windows file and folder repair tool from Microsoft automatically diagnose and repair problems with files and folders in Windows that may be preventing applications from installing. 

1. Click the Download button on this link to download the tool.
2. Double-click the downloaded tool to run it.
3. Follow the steps in the File and Folder troubleshooter. 

Option 3 - Running SophosZap (uninstaller tool)

SophosZap is a last resort command line clean up tool focused on uninstalling Sophos Endpoint products to revert a machine to a clean state.
To uninstall we strongly recommend that you use the standard product uninstaller first. Only use SophosZap when all other uninstall options have failed, as SophosZap uses heuristics trying to identify Sophos components on potentially partial information and that carries additional risks.

Prerequisites

• Microsoft Windows 7 and above
• Must be run from an Administrative Command Prompt
• Tamper Protection must be disabled
• Confirm that all appropriate backups have been performed
• Ensure you downloaded SophosZap recently

Steps to run SophosZap

Watch a video here! (Note: prior to watching the video, turn off Sophos Home tamper protection as per step 1 in this article - The video shows how to turn it off for business installations/password- ignore that part) .

1 - Disable Sophos Home Windows -How to disable Tamper protection 
2 - Download SophosZap by clicking here
3 - Confirm the version is 1.0.1853.0 
Right click SophosZap.exe > Properties > Details tab > File version
4 - Open an Administrative command prompt and navigate to the file location of SophosZap.exe by typing cd followed by the location where the file was downloaded. For example

cd C:\Users\yourUserName\Downloads

Tip to find the path:
Locate SophosZap.exe in your downloads folder, right-click --> Properties.
Copy the Location path (in this example:  C:\Users\ThisWouldbeYourUserName\Downloads)

Paste it to the command prompt after typing cd at the front, then hit Enter:

5 -Start the application with the following command:
SophosZap --confirm 
6 - The following screen will appear and remain for several minutes whilst working:

Note: An appendable log is saved to the current user account's %Temp% folder
7 - Once SophosZap has completed its first steps you will see a prompt to Reboot and re-execute, as below:8. Reboot the machine and initialize SophosZap again as you did above. (steps 4-5)
Once all the above tasks have completed reboot the computer and follow these steps How to re-install Sophos Home

Known Limitations of Sophos Zap:

Related information

• Uninstalling Sophos Home on Windows computers
• Uninstalling Sophos Home on Mac computers
• Removing a device