What is ExclusiveAction?
ExclusiveAction is a PUP (potentially unwanted program) that belongs to the Adware family. What is Adware? Adware is software responsible for unwanted advertising. Some adware software will bring up advertisements when you is surfing the Net, while other will build up a profile of your surfing habits in order to target adverts. In general, adware have to be installed on your MAC, so it will tend to be bundled with other software in much the same way as PUPs.
Unwanted ads
Even worse, ExclusiveAction can be used to gather your surfing history and sensitive information, including passwords and credit card numbers. In the future, personal information can be sold to third party companies.
Threat Summary
| Name | ExclusiveAction, Exclusive Action app |
| Type | adware, potentially unwanted application (PUA), pop-up advertisements, pop ups, pop-up virus |
| Symptoms |
|
| Removal | ExclusiveAction removal guide |
How does Adware get on your Apple Mac
Most commonly, the free programs installation package includes bundled programs like this adware. So, be very careful when you agree to install anything. The best way – is to select a Custom, Advanced or Manual installation mode. Here uncheck all third-party applications in which you are unsure or that causes even a slightest suspicion. The main thing you should remember, you do not need to install any bundled apps which you don’t trust!
If you are unfortunate have adware or malware running on your Apple Mac, you can follow the step-by-step guide here to get rid of ExclusiveAction ads from your web-browser.
How to remove ExclusiveAction adware
If you have constant pop ups or unwanted advertisements, slow computer, crashing Apple Mac issues, you are in need of adware software removal assistance. The steps below will guide you forward to get ExclusiveAction adware removed and will help you get your MAC OS operating at peak capacity again.
To remove ExclusiveAction, use the steps below:
- Manual ExclusiveAction removal
- Automatic Removal of ExclusiveAction adware
- Run AdBlocker to stay safe online
- To sum up
Manual ExclusiveAction removal
This part of the post is a step-by-step instructions that will show you how to delete ExclusiveAction adware manually. You just need to carefully complete each step. In this case, you do not need to install any additional applications.
Remove adware software through the Finder
We recommend that you begin the machine cleaning process by checking the list of installed programs and remove all unknown or questionable software. This is a very important step, as mentioned above, very often the malicious apps such as adware software and hijackers may be bundled with freeware. Uninstall the unwanted applications can get rid of the annoying advertisements or web browser redirect.
Make sure you have closed all web-browsers and other apps. Next, uninstall any unrequested and suspicious apps from MAC system using the Finder.
Open Finder and click “Applications”.
Look around the entire list of applications installed on your Apple Mac. Most probably, one of them is the ExclusiveAction adware. Select the questionable program or the program that name is not familiar to you and remove it.
Drag the dubious program from the Applications folder to the Trash.
Most important, don’t forget, choose Finder -> Empty Trash.
Remove ExclusiveAction from Google Chrome
If you have adware, ExclusiveAction problems or Google Chrome is running slow, then reset Chrome can help you. In this guide we’ll show you the method to reset your Chrome settings and data to original state without reinstall.
Open the Google Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal dotes (
). It will show the drop-down menu. Select More Tools, then press Extensions.
Carefully browse through the list of installed extensions. If the list has the extension labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guidance: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy otherwise, just go to the step below.
Open the Google 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 press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
Confirm your action, click the “Reset” button.
Get rid of ExclusiveAction from Safari
If you find that Safari web browser settings like default search engine, new tab page and home page having been replaced by ExclusiveAction adware, then you may return your settings, via the reset browser procedure.
Run Safari internet browser. Next, choose Preferences from the Safari menu.
First, click the “Security” icon. Here, choose “Block pop-up windows”. It will block some types of pop ups.
Now, click the “Extensions” tab. Look for suspicious plugins on left panel, select it, then press the “Uninstall” button. Most important to delete all questionable add-ons from Safari.
Once complete, check your start page and search engine settings. Click “General” tab. Make sure that the “Homepage” field contains the website you want or is empty.
Make sure that the “Search engine” setting shows your preferred search provider. In some versions of Safari, this setting is in the “Search” tab.
Remove ExclusiveAction from Mozilla Firefox by resetting web browser settings
If Firefox settings are hijacked by the adware software, your internet browser displays annoying pop up ads, then ‘Reset Mozilla Firefox’ could solve these problems. However, your themes, bookmarks, history, passwords, and web form auto-fill information will not be deleted.
First, launch the Mozilla Firefox and click 
button. It will open the drop-down menu on the right-part of the web-browser. Further, click the Help button (
) as displayed in the following example.
In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the browser adress bar and press Enter. It will display the “Troubleshooting Information” page similar to the one below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.
It will display the confirmation dialog box. Further, press the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Mozilla Firefox will start a process to fix your problems that caused by the ExclusiveAction adware software. When, it’s done, click the “Finish” button.
Automatic Removal of ExclusiveAction adware
If you’re unsure how to remove ExclusiveAction easily, consider using automatic adware removal applications which listed below. It will identify ExclusiveAction and remove it from your MAC OS for free.
Remove ExclusiveAction adware with MalwareBytes Free
If you’re still having problems with the ExclusiveAction removal or just wish to scan your computer occasionally for adware software and other malicious software, then download MalwareBytes Anti-Malware. It’s free for home use, and searches for and removes various undesired apps that attacks your MAC system or degrades Apple Mac performance. MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) can get rid of browser hijacker infection, adware software, PUPs as well as malicious software, including ransomware and trojans.
- Installing the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware is simple. First you will need to download MalwareBytes Anti Malware by clicking on the following link. Save it on your Desktop.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
20851 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: September 10, 2020
- After the downloading process is done, close all applications and windows on your computer. Open a folder in which you saved it. Run the downloaded file and follow the prompts.
- Click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the ExclusiveAction adware. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your MAC OS. While the tool is scanning, you can see how many objects and files has already scanned.
- When the checking is done, MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will open you the results. You may remove threats (move to Quarantine) by simply click “Remove Selected Items”.
Run AdBlocker to stay safe online
We advise to install an ad-blocking program that can stop misleading and other undesired webpages. The adblocker utility like AdGuard is a program that basically removes advertising from the Internet and blocks access to malicious web-pages. Moreover, security experts says that using ad-blocking apps is necessary to stay safe when surfing the World Wide Web.
Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you’ll need to download AdGuard by clicking on the following link. Save it on your Desktop.
3687 downloads
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: January 17, 2018
Once the downloading process is done, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen. Follow the prompts.
Each time, when you start your MAC system, AdGuard will run automatically and stop undesired pop-ups, block harmful or misleading web pages.
To sum up
Now your MAC OS should be clean of the ExclusiveAction adware software. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop up advertisements and unwanted harmful webpages) and MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) (to periodically scan your MAC OS for new adwares and other malicious software).
If you are still having problems while trying to remove ExclusiveAction ads from the Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Chrome, then ask for help here here.
