How to Uninstall Yahoo Messenger 8.1
Yahoo! Messenger is an instant messaging client that allows users to communicate in real time and also to leave messages for one-another when the other user is offline. It is funded by advertising, has been used to distribute malware to unsuspecting users and is often subject to unsolicited bulk messaging. This can cause problems and offense for users, including Larry Dignan, editor in chief of ZDNet, who stated that "spam via Yahoo Messenger is becoming insufferable."
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Close Yahoo! Messenger 8.1. On many computers, the software will run automatically when a user logs into Windows and it cannot be uninstalled if it is running at the time. Right click on the Yahoo! Messenger icon in your system tray and select the "Sign out of Yahoo and exit" option to shut the program down.
-
2
Open the "Start" menu and go to "Programs." Find the folder containing Yahoo! Messenger 8.1 and click on the "Uninstall" icon. Follow the instructions. This will remove the main bulk of the software, but several files will be left behind. These need manual removal to completely clean the system.
-
-
3
Open "My Computer" and navigate to the "Program Files" folder to ensure all files associated with Yahoo! Messenger have been removed. It is common for software to leave folders behind if extra files have been saved into them since the program was installed. Find the "Yahoo!" folder and open it. Select the "Messenger" folder and either drag it to the Recycle Bin, or simply press delete.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
As an alternative to the "Start" menu for uninstall Yahoo! Messenger, the Add/Remove Programs utility in Control Panel can be used. Open Add/Remove Programs and find the Yahoo! Messenger 8.1 entry. Select it and click the Remove button. This is a useful alternative for when the Uninstall option is missing from the Yahoo! Messenger Start menu folder.
Sometimes there will be no Yahoo! folder to click on in Step 3. Do not worry. This can be due simply to you having no other Yahoo! Products installed, so the uninstall program was able to remove all traces of Yahoo! Messenger.
