How to remove PDF Tycoon adware [Chrome, Firefox, Safari]

The PDF Tycoon is an one of the many potentially unwanted applications (PUA) from the adware (sometimes called ‘ad-supported’ software) group. PDF Tycoon usually gets installed as a part of some free software. Do not be surprised, it happens, especially if you are an active Internet user. But this does not mean that you should reconcile with unwanted PDF Tycoon ads and pop-up deals.

The PDF Tycoon can insert ads directly to the pages that you visit, creating a sense that the sponsored links have been added by the creators of the webpage. Moreover, legal advertising links may be replaced on the fake advertisements, that will offer to download and install various unnecessary and harmful apps.

As well as undesired browser redirects to unwanted ads, the PDF Tycoon adware may gather your Internet surfing activity by saving URLs visited, IP addresses, web browser version and type, cookie information, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and webpages visited. Such kind of behavior can lead to serious security problems or privacy information theft. This is another reason why the PDF Tycoon adware that causes lots of annoying advertisements should be removed sooner.

If you are unfortunate have ad-supported software or malicious software running on your Apple Mac, you can follow the steps here to remove PDF Tycoon from your browser.

Remove PDF Tycoon adware (Removal guide)

In the tutorial below, we will try to cover the Safari, Chrome and Firefox and provide general advice to remove PDF Tycoon adware. You may find some minor differences in your Mac install. No matter, you should be okay if you follow the steps outlined below: remove all suspicious and unknown applications, reset web browsers settings, run free malicious software removal utilities. Read this manual carefully, bookmark or print it, because you may need to close your web browser or reboot your MAC.

To remove PDF Tycoon, complete the following steps:

1. Delete adware through the Finder
2. Remove PDF Tycoon adware from Google Chrome
3. Delete PDF Tycoon adware from Safari
4. Get rid of PDF Tycoon from Mozilla Firefox by resetting web-browser settings
5. Scan your Apple Mac and get rid of PDF Tycoon adware with free tools
6. How to stay safe online

Manual PDF Tycoon ad-supported software removal

If you perform exactly the instructions below you should be able to remove the PDF Tycoon adware from the Chrome, Firefox and Safari internet browsers.

Delete adware through the Finder

First of all, check the list of installed apps on your MAC and remove all unknown and recently installed software. If you see an unknown application with incorrect spelling or varying capital letters, it have most likely been installed by malware and you should clean it off first with malicious software removal tool such as Malwarebytes Anti-malware.

Open Finder and click “Applications” as shown below.

You will see a list of applications installed on your MAC. We recommend to pay maximum attention to the application you installed last. Most likely, it’s the PDF Tycoon which created to redirect your web-browser to various ad web sites. If you’re in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. Once the program which you need to delete is found, simply right click on its name, and select “Move to Trash”.

Don’t forget, choose Finder, then “Empty Trash”.

Remove PDF Tycoon adware from Google Chrome

The ad-supported software can change your Chrome settings without your knowledge. You may see an undesired site as your search provider or home page, additional plugins and toolbars. Reset Chrome internet browser will allow you to remove PDF Tycoon and reset the unwanted changes caused by adware. It will keep your personal information such as browsing history, bookmarks, passwords and web form auto-fill data.

Open the Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal dotes (). It will open the drop-down menu. Choose More Tools, then press Extensions.

Carefully browse through the list of installed plugins. If the list has the add-on labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guide: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy otherwise, just go to the step below.

Open the Chrome main menu again, click to “Settings” option.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the Reset settings section is visible, like below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.

Confirm your action, click the “Reset” button.

Delete PDF Tycoon adware from Safari

If you find that Safari internet browser settings such as new tab, startpage and search provider having been changed by PDF Tycoon ad supported software that causes web browsers to open unwanted pop-up ads, then you may return your settings, via the reset browser procedure.

Click Safari menu and select “Preferences”.

It will open the Safari Preferences window. Next, click the “Extensions” tab. Look for unknown and suspicious plugins on left panel, select it, then press the “Uninstall” button. Most important to get rid of all unknown extensions from Safari.

Once complete, click “General” tab. Change the “Default Search Engine” to Google.

Find the “Homepage” and type into textfield “https://www.google.com”.

Get rid of PDF Tycoon from Mozilla Firefox by resetting web-browser settings

If your Firefox web browser is redirected to PDF Tycoon without your permission or an unknown search engine opens results for your search, then it may be time to perform the web browser reset. It’ll save your personal information like saved passwords, bookmarks, auto-fill data and open tabs.

Start the Firefox and click the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the browser screen. Next, click the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will display the slide-out menu.

Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you are unable to access the Help menu, then type “about:support” in your address bar and press Enter. It bring up the “Troubleshooting Information” page as shown on the image below.

Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation dialog box. The Mozilla Firefox will begin a process to fix your problems that caused by the PDF Tycoon adware. After, it is done, click the “Finish” button.

Scan your Apple Mac and get rid of PDF Tycoon adware with free tools

If your MAC is still infected with PDF Tycoon adware which developed to redirect your internet browser to various ad web-pages, then the best way of detection and removal is to run an anti malware scan on the machine. Download free malicious software removal utilities below and run a full system scan. It will allow you remove all components of the adware from hardisk and Windows registry.

Use MalwareBytes to delete PDF Tycoon

You can delete PDF Tycoon adware automatically with a help of MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM). We recommend this free malicious software removal tool because it may easily delete hijacker, adware, potentially unwanted apps and toolbars with all their components such as files, folders and registry entries.

Visit the following page to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Anti Malware for Apple Mac.

When the download is finished, run it and follow the prompts. Click the “Scan” button to detect PDF Tycoon adware which redirects your browser to intrusive ad websites. Depending on your MAC OS, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the MalwareBytes program is checking, you can see how many objects it has identified as threat. Review the scan results and then click “Remove Selected Items” button.

The MalwareBytes Free is a free program that you can use to get rid of all detected folders, files, malicious services and so on.

How to stay safe online

In order to increase your security and protect your MAC against new unwanted ads and harmful pages, you need to use ad blocking application that stops an access to malicious ads and sites. Moreover, the program can stop the open of intrusive advertising, that also leads to faster loading of websites and reduce the consumption of web traffic.

Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you’ll need to download AdGuard from the following link. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop or in any other place.

After the download is done, run the downloaded file. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen.

Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick instructions. Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick instructions that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you start your MAC OS, AdGuard will start automatically and block unwanted ads, as well as other harmful or misleading web pages.

How did you get infected with PDF Tycoon ad-supported software

Many adware are included in the free programs setup file. Most often, a user have a chance to disable all included “offers”, but some setup files are designed to confuse the average users, in order to trick them into installing unwanted software.

Anyway, easier to prevent the ad supported software rather than clean up your MAC system after one. So, keep the internet browser updated (turn on automatic updates), use a good antivirus applications, double check free software before you start it (do a google search, scan a downloaded file with VirusTotal), avoid malicious and unknown web sites.

Finish words

Now your computer should be free of the PDF Tycoon that causes multiple undesired ads and popups. We suggest that you keep MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) (to periodically scan your machine for new adwares and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you block intrusive ads and harmful web pages). Moreover, to prevent any adware, please stay clear of unknown and third party applications.

If you need more help with PDF Tycoon related issues, go to here.