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10 Tech How-To

Remove Adobe Genuine Software Integrity Service

Guide 10-19998 · Updated · Step by step

Adobe Genuine Software Integrity Service (AGS) runs in the background on Windows and macOS to periodically check whether your Adobe apps are licensed. If you’re seeing pop-up warnings or high CPU usage, removing it stops those checks and notifications. This guide covers disabling and uninstalling the service on Windows (the most common case) and macOS. You’ll need administrator access to your computer.

What You’ll Need

  • Administrator (admin) account on your PC or Mac
  • About 10 minutes
  • For Windows: access to Services, Task Manager, and File Explorer
  • For macOS: access to Activity Monitor and the Applications folder

Step-by-Step (Windows)

  1. Close all Adobe applications — Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Creative Cloud, etc. Make sure the Creative Cloud desktop app is also closed (right-click its tray icon and choose Exit).
  2. Open Services — Press Win + R, type services.msc, and press Enter.
  3. Find the AGS service — Scroll down to Adobe Genuine Software Integrity Service. It may also appear as Adobe Genuine Monitor Service.
  4. Stop the service — Right-click it and select Stop. Wait for the status to change to Stopped.
  5. Disable it — Right-click again, choose Properties, set Startup type to Disabled, and click OK.
  6. Remove the scheduled task — Press Win + R, type taskschd.msc, and press Enter. In the left pane, navigate to Task Scheduler Library. Look for tasks named AdobeGenuineValidator, AdobeGCInvoker, or similar. Right-click each and choose Disable (or Delete if you’re sure).
  7. Delete the service via Command Prompt — Open Command Prompt as administrator (right-click Start → Windows Terminal (Admin)). Type sc delete AGSService and press Enter. If that fails, try sc delete AdobeGenuineService.
  8. Remove the program files — Open File Explorer and go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\AdobeGCClient (or C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\AdobeGCClient). If the folder exists, delete it. If you get a permission error, restart in Safe Mode and try again.
  9. Clean the registry (optional but recommended) — Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services and look for a key named AGSService. Right-click and delete it. Be careful: only delete this specific key.
  10. Restart your computer — This ensures the service doesn’t reload.

Step-by-Step (macOS)

  1. Quit all Adobe apps — Including Creative Cloud (right-click its menu bar icon → Quit).
  2. Open Activity Monitor — From Applications → Utilities. Search for AdobeGenuine or AGS. Select the process and click the X button to force quit.
  3. Delete the launch agent — Open Finder, press Cmd + Shift + G, and go to /Library/LaunchAgents. Look for files with AGS or AdobeGenuine in the name (e.g., com.adobe.AGSService.plist). Drag them to the Trash. Also check ~/Library/LaunchAgents (your user folder) for the same.
  4. Delete the app files — In Finder, go to /Library/Application Support/Adobe/AdobeGCClient and delete the folder. Also check ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/AdobeGCClient.
  5. Empty the Trash and restart your Mac.

Common Mistakes

  • Only stopping the service without disabling it — It will restart on reboot. You must set Startup type to Disabled or delete it.
  • Forgetting the scheduled tasks — Even if the service is gone, Task Scheduler can re-create it. Disable those tasks too.
  • Deleting the wrong registry key — Only delete the AGS key, not the entire Adobe folder under Services.
  • Not closing Creative Cloud — It may reinstall AGS while you’re working. Close it first and keep it closed until you finish.
  • Skipping the restart — Some files are locked while Windows runs; a restart is needed to fully clear them.

Tips

  • Use the official Adobe cleaner — If you’re removing AGS because you’re also uninstalling Adobe apps, run the Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool (available from Adobe’s help site) after following these steps. It removes leftover files and services safely.
  • Keep a restore point — Before editing the registry, create a system restore point (Windows) or a Time Machine backup (macOS).
  • Check for updates first — Sometimes the pop-ups are caused by a bug that Adobe already fixed. Updating your apps might solve the problem without removal.
  • Re-enable if needed — If you later want AGS back (e.g., to validate a legitimate license), reinstall the Creative Cloud app; it will reinstall the service.

Troubleshooting

“Access denied” when deleting files or registry keys. You need to take ownership of the folder. Right-click the folder → Properties → Security → Advanced → Change owner to your user account, then tick “Replace owner on subcontainers and objects” and try again.

The service keeps coming back after restart. Something is re-creating it — usually an Adobe updater or the Creative Cloud app. Make sure you disabled the scheduled tasks (step 6) and that Creative Cloud is not set to auto-start. Open Task Manager → Startup tab and disable any Adobe entries.

sc delete returns an error. The service name may be different on your version. Open Services, right-click the AGS service, choose Properties, and note the Service name field — use that exact name in the sc delete command.

Pop-ups still appear after removal. Your Adobe apps might still be checking on their own. Open each Adobe app’s preferences and look for a “Notifications” or “Updates” setting, and turn off automatic checks. If the app itself is unlicensed, the pop-up may come from the app, not AGS.

macOS: “Operation not permitted” in Terminal. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access and enable Terminal (or your file manager) there, then retry.

You accidentally deleted a needed Adobe file. Reinstall the affected Adobe app from the Creative Cloud desktop app. It will restore any missing components, including AGS if you want it back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it safe to remove Adobe Genuine Software Integrity Service? Yes, for most users. It only validates licenses; removing it stops the checks and notifications. Your Adobe apps will continue to work, though they may show a warning on launch if they detect the service is missing.

Will removing AGS make my pirated Adobe software work? No. This guide does not bypass licensing. If your software is not legitimately licensed, removing AGS may stop the pop-ups temporarily, but the apps themselves may stop working or show other warnings. This guide is for users with legitimate licenses who are tired of false-positive pop-ups.

Does AGS slow down my computer? It can. Some users report high CPU usage from the AGS process, especially during scans. Removing it can improve performance if you’re seeing that.

Can I just disable it instead of deleting it? Yes. Disabling the service (step 5) and the scheduled tasks (step 6) is enough to stop it from running. You don’t have to delete the files or registry keys unless you want a clean removal.

Will Adobe updates reinstall AGS? Yes. Any Creative Cloud update or app update may reinstall the service. You’ll need to repeat the steps after major updates.

Does this affect my Adobe account or cloud storage? No. AGS is a separate background service. Your account login, cloud sync, and app functionality remain unchanged.

Related

General steps for current mainstream versions; menus can differ by device and version. See the disclaimer or report an error.

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