MacShiny removal is likely to end up on many Mac users’ to-do list, because it infiltrates systems without permission and its scan reports list fake issues.
MacShiny is a controversial app that makes an ambiguous impression. On the one hand, it looks professionally tailored and seems to accommodate plenty of handy functions spanning security, disk cleanup, and memory optimization. With that said, numerous Mac users are seeking assistance in removing this utility, which suggests that there’s probably something wrong with it. What is it that makes people want to get rid of an ostensibly useful program? First of all, it often sneaks into computers without proper authorization and the users don’t get the chance to make an informed decision whether or not to let it inside. This is a major concern that’s commonly inherent to malicious software, such as adware and various rogue applications. Moreover, MacShiny turns out to be stubborn when it comes to uninstall attempts. It obfuscates some of its critical files to make sure the average user won’t spot them, thus effectively preventing regular removal.
Another serious caveat is the way the presence of MacShiny makes itself felt on the infected Mac. It employs an aggressive brainwashing strategy by running system scans whose results are questionably trustworthy, to say the least. The scan reports try to give the user a heads-up regarding the security, free disk space, and overall performance of their machine. The invariable verdict about the Mac’s health is going to be “Critical” every time, with an additional scary message “Your System is at risk!” accompanying the report. No matter how fine-tuned the computer actually is, the scareware will claim to detect thousands of issues that purportedly keep it from performing at its peak.
In order to crank up its manipulative effect further, MacShiny will additionally trigger multiple popup alerts. The goal of these splash screens and dialogs is to constantly remind the victim of the allegedly poor security and performance status of their Mac, with an emphasis on the necessity to “fix” the problems immediately. As is the case with any run-of-the-mill scareware, this one will insist of the user purchasing its license to unlock the cleaning features. The obvious takeaway from such a modus operandi is that the app doesn’t really follow the activity patterns of legit software. It inundates the user’s experience with obnoxious scans and popup warnings that keep on reporting hundreds or even thousands of system and security issues. Whereas some of these items might be real, quite a few aren’t there and are listed solely to dupe the user into paying for the app’s commercial version.
Speaking of the stealth trespass, the authors of MacShiny mostly stick with the bundling logic. The potentially unwanted program gets on board alongside harmless freeware as part of complex setup agents. The users run the risk of overlooking the intrusion as long as they opt for the recommended, or express, installation mode. This brings up an important security hygiene matter: it’s always a good idea to select the custom setup option in such cases as it allows for exploring what’s actually under the hood and rejecting the unwelcome extras. Anyway, if MacShiny has made it into a Mac and is wreaking havoc with it, the steps below will help uninstall it.
MacShiny virus manual removal for Mac
The steps listed below will walk you through the removal of this potentially unwanted application. Be sure to follow the instructions in the order specified.
- Open up the Utilities folder as shown below
- Locate the Activity Monitor icon on the screen and double-click on it
- Under Activity Monitor, find the entry for MacShiny, select it and click Quit Process
- A dialog should pop up, asking if you are sure you would like to quit the MacShiny executable. Select the Force Quit option
- Expand the Go menu in Apple Finder and select Go to Folder
- Type or paste the following string in the folder search dialog: /Library/LaunchAgents
- Once the LaunchAgents directory opens up, look for suspicious entries in it that were added about the same time the MacShiny problem started, and move them to the Trash. These might be files similar to these:
- com.MacShiny.agent.plist
- com.MacShiny.mcphlpr
- Use the Go to Folder lookup feature again to navigate to the folder named ~/Library/LaunchAgents. When this path opens, look for the same dubious-looking entries (see above) and send them to the Trash
- Similarly, go to the ~Library/Application Support folder. Locate and move the following entries, if any, to Trash:
- MacShiny
- hlprmacshiny
- Click the Go button again, but this time select Applications on the list. Find the entry for MacShiny on the interface, right-click on it and select Move to Trash. If user password is required, go ahead and enter it
- Now go to Apple Menu and pick the System Preferences option
- Select Accounts and click the Login Items button. The system will come up with the list of the items that launch when the box is started up. Locate MacShiny there and click on the “-“ button
Use automatic tool to uninstall MacShiny virus from your Mac
The Mac maintenance and security app called Combo Cleaner is a one-stop tool to detect and remove MacShiny 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 MacShiny 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 MacShiny 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.
