How to remove MacKeeper virus from Mac
Find out why many users consider MacKeeper to be a potentially unwanted application and learn how to completely uninstall MacKeeper from Mac in a few steps.
Update: May 2024
When it comes to keeping one’s Mac computer safe and performing at its peak, there are quite a few effective solutions out there as well as impostor apps that pass themselves off as ultimate, all-in-one security and optimization suites. It’s might be difficult to state outright whether MacKeeper is the former or the latter type, but there is a great deal of user feedback that doesn’t play into its publisher’s hands. People have been complaining of shady promotion mechanisms, where they are redirected to what’s called landing pages that highly recommend them to download and install MacKeeper and have it clean up and secure their Macs instantly. This questionably ethical marketing also involves annoying popup ads that accompany users’ web surfing and report numerous issues. Such an atrocious malvertising literally coerces the targets into installing the program.
All in all, the distribution facet of MacKeeper is amongst the biggest issues accompanying this utility, but not the only one. Upon making its way into a Mac, often without even asking for user authorization in a clear way, the app continues to shell the admin with noxious error reports as well as popup dialogs about poor performance and security problems. The motivation for conducting this brainwashing campaign is to persuade the user to register the full licensed edition of the program. Note that some issues reported by MacKeeper may actually be there, but the way it presents this information does not fit in the paradigm of legit software activity.
To top it all off, MacKeeper runs system scans at random. The scan results are, predictably enough, disconcerting and have a flavor of pressure upon the victim. It purports to detect hundreds of megabytes of junk on the machine, spyware or other perpetrating code, and critical performance issues. Simply closing the graphical interface to get those scary results out of sight will be a short-lived relief, because popup alerts will continue to bombard the user with recommendations to apply a fix, a paid one of course. Yet another flip side of MacKeeper’s activity is that it may have a conspicuous system footprint. Therefore, the Mac will run slower than usual. Furthermore, this application may install rogue browser add-ons on its own, that is, without asking for admin’s consent.
To recap, this utility may create a delusively good impression of a handy tool accommodating useful functionality, such as Mac cleanup and protection modules. And yet, it isn’t the most unobtrusive app imaginable, to put it mildly. The myriads of irritating popup alerts are likely to make user experience go down the drain. If MacKeeper is on board your Mac and you are unwilling to endure its activity any longer, follow the steps below to uninstall it. Before getting down to removal, though, be sure to undo some changes that you may have made to your data using this program. These include file encryption and backup. An extra tip is to refrain from installing any apps pushed by fishy online ads.
MacKeeper popup virus manual removal for Mac
The steps listed below will walk you through the removal of this malicious application. Be sure to follow the instructions in the specified order.
- Expand the Go menu in your Mac’s Finder bar and select Utilities as shown below.
- Locate the Activity Monitor icon on the Utilities screen and double-click on it.
- In the Activity Monitor app, look for MacKeeper or another process that appears suspicious. To narrow down your search, focus on unfamiliar resource-intensive entries on the list. Keep in mind that its name isn’t necessarily related to the way the threat is manifesting itself, so you’ll need to trust your own judgement. If you pinpoint the culprit, select it and click on the Stop icon in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.
- When a follow-up dialog pops up asking if you are sure you want to quit the troublemaking process, select the Force Quit option.
- Click on the Go menu icon in the Finder again and select Go to Folder. You can as well use the Command-Shift-G keyboard shortcut.
- Type /Library/LaunchAgents in the folder search dialog and click on the Go button.
- Examine the contents of the LaunchAgents folder for dubious-looking items. Be advised that the names of files spawned by malware may give no clear clues that they are malicious, so you should look for recently added entities that appear to deviate from the norm.
As an illustration, here are several examples of LaunchAgents related to mainstream Mac infections: com.mackeeper.MacKeeper.Helper.plist, com.updater.mcy.plist, com.avickUpd.plist, and com.msp.agent.plist. If you spot files that don’t belong on the list, go ahead and drag them to the Trash.
- Use the Go to Folder lookup feature again to navigate to the folder named ~/Library/Application Support (note the tilde symbol prepended to the path).
- When the Application Support directory is opened, identify recently generated suspicious folders in it and send them to the Trash. A quick tip is to look for items whose names have nothing to do with Apple products or apps you knowingly installed. A few examples of known-malicious folder names are MacKeeper, ProgressSite, and IdeaShared.
- Enter ~/Library/LaunchAgents string (don’t forget to include the tilde character) in the Go to Folder search area.
- The system will display LaunchAgents residing in the current user’s Home directory. Look for dodgy items related to MacKeeper popup virus (see logic highlighted in subsections above) and drag the suspects to the Trash.
- Type /Library/LaunchDaemons in the Go to Folder search field.
- In the LaunchDaemons path, try to pinpoint the files the malware is using for persistence. Several examples of such items cropped by Mac infections are com.pplauncher.plist, com.startup.plist, and com.ExpertModuleSearchDaemon.plist. Delete the sketchy files immediately.
- Click on the Go menu icon in your Mac’s Finder and select Applications on the list.
- Find MacKeeper or another app that clearly doesn’t belong there and move it to the Trash. If this action requires your admin password for confirmation, go ahead and enter it.
- Expand the Apple menu and select System Preferences.
- Proceed to Users & Groups and click on the Login Items tab.
The system will display the list of items launched when the computer is starting up. Locate the potentially unwanted app there and click on the “-” (minus) button. - Now select Profiles under System Preferences. Look for a malicious item in the left-hand sidebar. Several examples of configuration profiles created by Mac adware include TechSignalSearch, MainSearchPlatform, AdminPrefs, and Chrome Settings. Select the offending entity and click on the minus sign at the bottom to eliminate it.
If your Mac has been infiltrated by adware, the infection will most likely continue to hold sway over your default web browser even after you remove the underlying application along with its components sprinkled around the system. Use the browser cleanup instructions below to address the remaining consequences of this attack.
Get rid of MacKeeper virus in web browser on Mac
To begin with, the web browser settings taken over by the MacKeeper virus should be restored to their default values. Although this will clear most of your customizations, web surfing history, and all temporary data stored by websites, the malicious interference should be terminated likewise. The overview of the steps for completing this procedure is as follows:
- Remove MacKeeper virus from Safari
- Open the browser and go to Safari menu. Select Preferences in the drop-down list.
- Once the Preferences screen appears, click on the Advanced tab and enable the option saying “Show Develop menu in menu bar”.
- Now that the Develop entry has been added to the Safari menu, expand it and click on Empty Caches.
- Now select History in the Safari menu and click on Clear History in the drop-down list.
- Safari will display a dialog asking you to specify the period of time this action will apply to. Select all history to ensure a maximum effect. Click on the Clear History button to confirm and exit.
- Go back to the Safari Preferences and hit the Privacy tab at the top. Find the option that says Manage Website Data and click on it.
- The browser will display a follow-up screen listing the websites that have stored data about your Internet activities. This dialog additionally includes a brief description of what the removal does: you may be logged out of some services and encounter other changes of website behavior after the procedure. If you’re okay with that, go ahead and click on the Remove All button.
- Restart Safari
- Open the browser and go to Safari menu. Select Preferences in the drop-down list.
- Remove MacKeeper in Google Chrome
- Open Chrome, click the Customize and control Google Chrome (⁝) icon in the top right-hand part of the window, and select Settings in the drop-down
- When on the Settings pane, select Advanced
- Scroll down to the Reset settings section.
- Confirm the Chrome reset on a dialog that will pop up. When the procedure is completed, relaunch the browser and check it for malware activity.
- Remove MacKeeper from Mozilla Firefox
- Open Firefox and go to Help – Troubleshooting Information (or type about:support in the URL bar and press Enter).
- When on the Troubleshooting Information screen, click on the Refresh Firefox button.
- Confirm the intended changes and restart Firefox.
- Open Firefox and go to Help – Troubleshooting Information (or type about:support in the URL bar and press Enter).
Get rid of MacKeeper virus using Combo Cleaner automatic removal tool
The Mac maintenance and security app called Combo Cleaner is a one-stop tool to detect and remove MacKeeper virus. This technique has substantial benefits over manual cleanup, because the utility gets hourly virus definition updates and can accurately spot even the newest Mac infections.
Furthermore, the automatic solution will find the core files of the malware deep down the system structure, which might otherwise be a challenge to locate. Here’s a walkthrough to sort out the MacKeeper issue using Combo Cleaner:
- Download Combo Cleaner installer. When done, double-click the combocleaner.dmg file and follow the prompts to install the tool onto your Mac.
By downloading any applications recommended on this website you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. The free scanner checks whether your Mac is infected. To get rid of malware, you need to purchase the Premium version of Combo Cleaner.
- Open the app from your Launchpad and let it run an update of the malware signature database to make sure it can identify the latest threats.
- Click the Start Combo Scan button to check your Mac for malicious activity as well as performance issues.
- Examine the scan results. If the report says “No Threats”, then you are on the right track with the manual cleaning and can safely proceed to tidy up the web browser that may continue to act up due to the after-effects of the malware attack (see instructions above).
- In case Combo Cleaner has detected malicious code, click the Remove Selected Items button and have the utility remove MacKeeper threat along with any other viruses, PUPs (potentially unwanted programs), or junk files that don’t belong on your Mac.
- Once you have made doubly sure that the malicious app is uninstalled, the browser-level troubleshooting might still be on your to-do list. If your preferred browser is affected, resort to the previous section of this tutorial to revert to hassle-free web surfing.
FAQ
Looking back on the distribution tactics of MacKeeper in the not-so-distant past, its track record is dubious. Most of the controversy is about the use of deceptive popup alerts on the Internet to persuade Mac users into installing the software. Such aggressive marketing is at odds with ethics because people don’t make informed decisions. Nowadays, this kind of feedback about MacKeeper isn’t as massive as it used to be, but it’s still the case to a certain extent.
Even if you disregard this quirk, the activity of this app may not fit the context of proper optimization and protection. When running, it displays exaggerated reports about Mac health and security issues so that the user is more likely to buy the licensed version. Although there are a handful of useful cleaning features in its toolkit, the above-mentioned inconsistencies make the general impression somewhat murky.
Not really. Apple has never made any endorsements regarding this product. On the other hand, it can be installed and launched on a Mac without any warnings from the operating system. This means that its authors have submitted their code to Apple’s servers for Notarization checks, and apparently, no critical security issues were found. In other words, although the Cupertino company doesn’t encourage its customers to use MacKeeper, its automatic protection mechanisms gave this software the green light to run on Macs without being blocked.
While being packed with regular performance improvement and security features that seem to do what they say, this application might give the user a skewed idea of how serious the detected problems are. This subtle foul play, though, is a trifle compared to the intrusive propagation techniques that often go beyond the benign area. For instance, misleading MacKeeper popups on websites that alert users to imaginary threats are signs of a classic online scam bolstered by adware activity.
It comes as no surprise that some of the trusted anti-malware apps across the security industry are flagging MacKeeper as a potentially unwanted program (PUP). Strictly speaking, it’s not a virus because it cannot self-replicate inside a host. But since the term “virus” has become synonymous with the broad concept of malicious software over the years, such classification makes some sense. And yet, categorizing it as scareware or PUP appears to be a more reasonable approach.