GeneralLaunch is a PUP (potentially unwanted program) that belongs to the Adware family. It can make big problem to your MAC OS. GeneralLaunch adware is malicious program which displays unwanted ads in form of pop-up windows, discount offers, banners or even fake alerts on the browser. It can seriously affect your privacy, your computer’s performance and security.
Unwanted ads
The worst is, GeneralLaunch adware software can gather a wide variety of marketing-type data about you to get profit. It can analyze your browsing, and gain access to your user data and, later, can use it for marketing purposes. Thus, there are more than enough reasons to remove adware from your machine.
Threat Summary
| Name | GeneralLaunch, General Launch 1.0 app |
| Type | adware, potentially unwanted application (PUA), pop up virus, popups, popup advertisements |
| Symptoms |
|
| Removal | GeneralLaunch removal guide |
How does GeneralLaunch adware get on your MAC
Adware most likely to occur during the installation of free programs due the fact that PUPs like this are commonly hidden in the installer. Thus, if you’ve installed some free software using Quick(Standard) mode, you may have let adware software get inside your Apple Mac. Keep in mind that the Quick mode is unreliable because it do not warn about additional programs. Thus, additional programs will be installed automatically unless you choose Advanced/Custom mode and disable its installation.
Thus, it is clear that the presence of GeneralLaunch adware on your MAC is not desirable, and you need to clean up your Apple Mac as quickly as possible. Follow the steps below in order to uninstall GeneralLaunch adware.
How to Remove GeneralLaunch adware
Fortunately, it is not hard to get rid of GeneralLaunch adware. In the following instructions, we will provide two ways to clean your MAC OS of this adware. One is the manual removal method and the other is automatic removal way. You can select the method that best fits you. Please follow the removal instructions below to get rid of GeneralLaunch adware right now!
To remove GeneralLaunch, perform the steps below:
- Manual GeneralLaunch adware software removal
- Automatic Removal of GeneralLaunch
- How to stay safe online
- Finish words
Manual GeneralLaunch adware software removal
Looking for a method to remove GeneralLaunch manually without installing any apps? Then this section of the post is just for you. Below are some simple steps you can take. Performing these steps requires basic knowledge of web browser and Windows setup. If you doubt that you can follow them, it is better to use free utilities listed below that can help you remove GeneralLaunch adware.
Removing the GeneralLaunch, check the list of installed programs first
First, you should try to identify and uninstall the program that causes the appearance of annoying advertisements or browser redirects, using the ‘Applications’ list that located in the Finder.
Open Finder and click “Applications” as shown on the screen below.
You will see a list of applications installed on your MAC system. We recommend to pay maximum attention to the program you installed last. Most probably, it is the GeneralLaunch . If you are in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. After the program which you need to remove is found, simply right press on its name, and choose “Move to Trash”.
Don’t forget, select Finder, then “Empty Trash”.
Remove GeneralLaunch adware from Google Chrome
Another way to remove GeneralLaunch ads from Google Chrome is Reset Chrome settings. This will disable malicious extensions and reset Google Chrome settings to original state. However, your themes, bookmarks, history, passwords, and web form auto-fill information will not be deleted.
First open the Chrome. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal dots (
).
It will display the Chrome menu. Select More Tools, then press Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed addons. If the list has the extension signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following instructions: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Open the Chrome menu once again. Further, press the option called “Settings”.
The web browser will open the settings screen. Another solution to show the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web browser adress bar and press Enter
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset” section is visible, like below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
The Chrome will show the confirmation prompt similar to the one below.
You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The web-browser will launch the task of cleaning. Once it’s complete, the internet browser’s settings including new tab, start page and search provider by default back to the values which have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your Apple Mac.
Remove GeneralLaunch adware from Safari
If you find that Safari browser settings such as default search provider, new tab and home page having been modified by GeneralLaunch adware, then you may restore your settings, via the reset internet browser procedure.
Run Safari web 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” icon. Look for dubious extensions on left panel, select it, then click the “Uninstall” button. Most important to delete all suspicious extensions from Safari.
Once complete, check your startpage 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 engine. In some versions of Safari, this setting is in the “Search” tab.
Delete GeneralLaunch from Firefox by resetting web-browser settings
Resetting Firefox web browser will reset all the settings to their original settings and will remove GeneralLaunch adware, malicious add-ons and extensions. It’ll save your personal information like saved passwords, bookmarks, auto-fill data and open tabs.
Start the Mozilla Firefox and click the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the web browser screen. Next, click the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will open the slide-out menu.
Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you’re 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 on the image below.
Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation prompt. The Firefox will begin a process to fix your problems that caused by the GeneralLaunch adware software. After, it is finished, press the “Finish” button.
Automatic Removal of GeneralLaunch
The easiest solution to delete GeneralLaunch adware is to use an antimalware program capable of detecting adware software and PUPs. We advise try MalwareBytes or another malicious software remover which listed below. It has excellent detection rate when it comes to adware software, browser hijacker infections and other PUPs.
Automatically delete GeneralLaunch adware with MalwareBytes AntiMalware
Get rid of GeneralLaunch manually is difficult and often the adware is not completely removed. Therefore, we suggest you to run the MalwareBytes which are fully clean your MAC. Moreover, this free application will allow you to remove malicious software, potentially unwanted programs, toolbars and hijacker that your MAC OS may be infected too.
- Click the link below to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Free for Mac OS.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
20984 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: September 10, 2020
- Once downloading is complete, please close all applications and open windows on your MAC. Run the downloaded file. Follow the prompts.
- The MalwareBytes will start and display the main window.
- Further, click the “Scan” button . MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) program will scan through the whole MAC for the GeneralLaunch . When a malware, adware software or PUPs are found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is done.
- Once finished, you can check all threats detected on your Apple Mac.
- In order to delete all threats, simply click the “Remove Selected Items” button.
- Close the Anti Malware and continue with the next step.
How to stay safe online
Run an ad-blocker tool like AdGuard will protect you from harmful ads and content. Moreover, you can find that the AdGuard have an option to protect your privacy and stop phishing and spam web sites. Additionally, adblocker apps will help you to avoid unwanted pop up advertisements and unverified links that also a good way to stay safe online.
- Visit the following page to download AdGuard.
AdGuard for Mac download
3772 downloads
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: January 17, 2018
- When the downloading process is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- After the setup is done, click “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will help you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you start your Apple Mac, AdGuard will run automatically and stop undesired ads, block malicious or misleading websites.
Finish words
Once you have complete the guidance shown above, your MAC OS should be free from GeneralLaunch and other malicious software. The Mozilla Firefox, Chrome and Safari will no longer display the unwanted GeneralLaunch ads. Unfortunately, if the guidance does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help here.
