How To Disable Adobe Daemons Using launchctl on MacOS

Author: erics, Posted November 18th, 2018 at 9:14:28am

I installed an old version of Adobe software on my new Mac and as usual, it installed some daemons that are undesirable.

Here is how I got rid of them via the Terminal.

Note: Adobe installs daemons in the user context, so do this as your regular user login, not as root.

shell> launchctl list | grep -v apple
PID Status Label
513 0 com.yujitach.MenuMetersApp.1140
- 0 com.logmein.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate
- 0 com.rockysandstudio.Memory-Diag.LaunchHelper
19355 0 com.openssh.ssh-agent
509 0 com.fuekiin.NightOwl.1320
511 0 com.bartelsmedia.ShareMouse.4680
- 0 com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager
- 0 com.adobe.AAM.Scheduler-1.0
519 0 com.rockysandstudio.Memory-Diag.848
63060 0 com.adobe.PDApp.AAMUpdatesNotifier.8000.4C572D6C-E775-4656-B4CB-BD24142281FE


shell> launchctl dumpstate | grep adobe | grep plist
path = /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist
path = /Library/LaunchAgents/com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist
path = /Users/erics/Library/LaunchAgents/com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist


shell> sudo launchctl unload -w -S Aqua /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.adobe.SwitchBoard.plist: Could not find specified service
shell> launchctl unload -w -S Aqua /Library/LaunchAgents/com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist
shell> launchctl unload -w -S Aqua /Users/erics/Library/LaunchAgents/com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

shell> launchctl list | grep -v apple
PID Status Label
513 0 com.yujitach.MenuMetersApp.1140
- 0 com.logmein.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate
- 0 com.rockysandstudio.Memory-Diag.LaunchHelper
19355 0 com.openssh.ssh-agent
509 0 com.fuekiin.NightOwl.1320
511 0 com.bartelsmedia.ShareMouse.4680
519 0 com.rockysandstudio.Memory-Diag.848
63060 0 com.adobe.PDApp.AAMUpdatesNotifier.8000.4C572D6C-E775-4656-B4CB-BD24142281FE


shell> sudo launchctl stop com.adobe.PDApp.AAMUpdatesNotifier.8000.4C572D6C-E775-4656-B4CB-BD24142281FE

shell> launchctl list | grep -v apple
PID Status Label
513 0 com.yujitach.MenuMetersApp.1140
- 0 com.logmein.GoToMeeting.G2MUpdate
- 0 com.rockysandstudio.Memory-Diag.LaunchHelper
19355 0 com.openssh.ssh-agent
509 0 com.fuekiin.NightOwl.1320
511 0 com.bartelsmedia.ShareMouse.4680
519 0 com.rockysandstudio.Memory-Diag.848

Categories: How-To's, Technology Tags: Adobe, apple, daemon, Disable, howto, Kill, launchctl, MacOS, macosx, Shell, Stop, Terminal, tips, Unload