So you recently installed an update provided by your laptop vendor or installed The Lord of the Rings Online, and may notice that some unknown application is running continuously in the background and using your internet bandwidth. Then, the probability of that software being “Akamai Netsession Interface” is very high. Akamai Net session usually runs in the background as “netsession_win.exe”.
What is Akamai Netsession Client?
Akamai Netsession Client is an application that helps to download games, applications, and media files like PDF files and documents faster. Akamai Netsession Interface is used by a lot of companies like ASUS, Adobe, and Airbnb to speed up downloading. When you download any software, media file, or game from these companies’ websites, chances are those downloading are powered by Akamai. It helps companies and their customers complete more downloads more easily.
Is Akamai Netsession Interface a Malware/Virus?
In short, no. It is not a virus or computer worm and it is installed with your permission. Do you think it is not installed with your permission? Okay, here’s the deal. When you start installing software whose downloads are powered by Akamai’s global server network, one of the installation steps asks you whether you want to install Akamai Netsession Interface. But, most of the users blindly click “I agree” when terms and conditions show up.
No one likes to read the terms and conditions of 10 pages but you should keep an eye on the title of these terms i.e whether these terms are of the software you are installing or of some unknown software getting slipped in without your notice. For example, when you install Autocad software, during installation, it asks you to accept the terms of Akamai Netsession Interface.
For a few software, you can decline these terms and continue installation without any issue. But, many applications, which rely on Akamai for providing downloading, will not be installed like The Lords of the Rings Online. You can install that software or game from another reliable source like Steam for games without installing Akamai Interface.
Should I Uninstall it?
You may suspect that Akamai Netsession Interface keeps running in the background and using the internet bandwidth. When your computer and network activity is idle, Netsession interface uses your upload bandwidth to send the software downloaded and installed on your computer to other users who are downloading that particular software. This is one of the techniques to speed up downloading.
But, one of the downsides is you may have limited upload bandwidth which can result in extra charges. If you have unlimited bandwidth then there is no need to uninstall it because it may be used in the future to install updates or install more applications powered by Akamai. Akamai Netsession Interface is very optimized and is designed to always run in the background with minimal impact on RAM, CPU, disk utilization, and battery performance. According to should block it, It uses less than 1 percent of CPU and 6-12 MB of RAM in its entire lifecycle
Uninstalling Akamai Netsession Client
If you are not comfortable with software that runs in the background continuously and uploads your installed software to unknown Joe then a better option is to just uninstall it. Before you uninstall the client, you should back up the applications and media files downloaded by Akamai Netsession Interface. You will find these files in C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Akamai on Windows and in /Users//Applications/Akamai on Mac OS. Following simple steps will help you get rid of Akamai Netsession Client.
On Windows:
- Click Start Button and search for “Control Panel”.
- Open the Windows Control Panel and Click “Uninstall a Program” Under the Programs heading.
- Select “Akamai NetSession Interface” from the list.
- Click Change/Remove, then click “Yes” to confirm.
Alternative Method:
If the above method does not work for some reason, try the following alternative.
- Press Windows+R key, and type “Cmd” in Run prompt and click ok.
- Type “cd C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\Akamai” in command prompt and press the Enter key.
- To uninstall type the following command: admintool.exe uninstall -force
- Replace “hamma” With your user name.
- Press the Enter key to finish the process.
On Macintosh
- Open the Finder app.
- Go to Akamai NetSession Interface installation folder which is “~/Applications/Akamai/”.
- Open the uninstaller app in Akamai folder by double-clicking it and follow the given procedure.
Alternative Method
- Open the terminal which resides in Application -> Utilities folder.
- Open the Netsession Interface folder by typing “cd /Applications/Akamai/.” command.
- Type the following commands one by one and press the Enter key after every command:
- launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.akamai.client.plist
- rm -rf ~/Applications/Akamai
- rm -rf ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.akamai.single-user-client.plist
- rm -rf ~/Library/PreferencePanes/AkamaiNetSession.prefPane
Sometimes Netsession Interface keeps running in the background even after completing the above steps, you should restart your Mac to completely remove Netsession Interface.
Conclusion
It is completely safe to have Netsession Client installed and running in the background. It will not harm your computer and will speed up future applications and media files download but will keep using a little amount of upload bandwidth. So, it is your choice to keep it and speed up your downloading or remove it to save some upload bandwidth. It’s a win-win situation.
