What is Bonjour and how do you get rid of the service?

When you browse through the list of installed programs on your computer, you often come across a service called "Bonjour". But hardly anyone really knows what the service does and how to delete it properly. We clarify it.

Bonjour from Apple: what is it actually?

Bonjour is installed via Apple products such as QuickTime, but mostly via iTunes. The installation happens unnoticed and cannot be avoided.

• Bonjour is not an independent program that you can actively use, but a service. This service runs invisibly in the background.
• It is mainly used so that computers and devices that share their music can find themselves automatically. However, the service is not really helpful for Windows users.
• Unfortunately, the service is also considered a security hole and cause of the problem. Many users report unused internet connections, or even error messages regarding the connection. One more reason why you should uninstall the service.

How to get rid of the Apple service

First try to remove the service using Control Panel. Since this does not completely delete all files, further steps must be taken:

1. Open the Control Panel and click on "Uninstall a program".
2. Select "Bonjour" from the list of installed programs, right-click and click "Uninstall".
3. Now open the start menu at the bottom left and enter "cmd" in the search line. The program cmd.exe now appears in the list - the Windows command prompt.
4. Right-click on this and select "Run as administrator" in the context menu. If you then confirm the query, the black console opens.
5. The following step differs for 32- and 64-bit systems. Therefore, check beforehand which variant you are using or simply type in both of the following commands.
6. Now enter the following commands one after the other in the console and confirm each with "Enter" (see picture): 1. For 32-bit systems: "cd \ Program Files \ Bonjour"; For 64-bit systems: "cd \ Program Files (x86) \ Bonjour" 2. "mDNSResponder -remove" 3. "ren mdnsNSP.dll mdnsNSP.old"
7. The service should be deleted after a restart.
8. To remove the last remnants, open the following paths in Windows Explorer and delete the folder with the name "Bonjour". - C: \ Program Files \ - C: \ Program Files (x86) \
9. Bonjour should now be completely removed from your computer. However, updating or reinstalling iTunes or QuickTime can get the service back on your computer unnoticed.

If you would like to uninstall iTunes, our next article will tell you how to do it.

Video tip: Apple iPad - iTunes