How to uninstall NationalSpecial app/extension on Mac – Removal guide

NationalSpecial is a PUP (potentially unwanted program) that belongs to the category of Adware. Adware is type of malicious software which presents undesired advertising on a Apple Mac, redirects search results to advertising webpages and gathers personal information for marketing purposes. The NationalSpecial adware can display banner ads, full-screen ads, pop ups, videos, or other varieties of online advertising. Adware can attack your MAC system’s web browsers such as the Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Maybe you approve the idea that the advertisements or pop ups is just a small problem. But these intrusive ads eat machine resources and slow down your MAC system performance

The worst is, the NationalSpecial adware be able to collect confidential information about you such as what web sites you are opening, what you are looking for the World Wide Web and so on. This personal data, later, may be sold to third party companies.

Threat Summary

Name	NationalSpecial, National Special 1.0 app
Type	adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), pop-ups, pop-up ads, popup virus
Symptoms	advertising popups won’t go away webpage links redirect to web-sites different from what you expected intrusive toolbars your internet browser startpage has replaced and you cannot change it back fast Internet but slow browsing speeds CPU usage seems unusually high
Removal	NationalSpecial removal guide

How does the NationalSpecial adware get on your MAC OS

Adware is bundled with various freeware. This means that you need to be very careful when installing apps downloaded from the Internet. Be sure to read the Terms of Use and the Software license, choose only the Manual, Advanced or Custom installation option, switch off all unneeded web browser addons and software are offered to install.

In the tutorial below, we will explain useful solutions on how to clean your computer of adware software and get rid of NationalSpecial ads from your internet browser.

How to remove NationalSpecial

The following step-by-step instructions will help you to delete NationalSpecial ads from the Mozilla Firefox, Chrome and Safari. Moreover, the few simple steps below will help you to get rid of malware, hijacker infections, potentially unwanted programs and toolbars that your MAC OS may be infected. Please do the guidance step by step. If you need assist or have any questions, then ask for our assistance or type a comment below. Read this manual carefully, bookmark it or open this page on your smartphone, because you may need to close your web browser or reboot your MAC system.

To remove NationalSpecial, complete the following steps:

1. How to manually remove NationalSpecial
   • Remove NationalSpecial associated software by using the Finder
   • Delete NationalSpecial from Firefox by resetting browser settings
   • Get rid of NationalSpecial adware software from Safari
   • Remove NationalSpecial adware from Google Chrome
2. Automatic Removal of NationalSpecial
   • How to automatically remove NationalSpecial with MalwareBytes Anti Malware
3. How to stay safe online
4. Finish words

How to manually remove NationalSpecial

First try to remove NationalSpecial manually; to do this, follow the steps below. Of course, manual removal of adware requires more time and may not be suitable for those who are poorly versed in computer settings. In this case, we advise that you scroll down to the section that describes how to delete NationalSpecial adware software using free utilities.

Remove NationalSpecial associated software by using the Finder

First, go to the Finder and remove questionable software, all applications you do not remember installing. It is important to pay the most attention to programs you installed just before NationalSpecial ads appeared on your web-browser. If you do not know what a program does, look for the answer on the Net.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Carefully browse through the list of installed apps and remove all dubious and unknown programs.

Once you have found anything dubious that may be the NationalSpecial or other potentially unwanted application (PUA), then right click this program and select “Move to Trash”. Once complete, Empty Trash.

Delete NationalSpecial from Firefox by resetting browser settings

Resetting your Mozilla Firefox is basic troubleshooting step for any issues with your web browser program, including the NationalSpecial ads. It will save your personal information such as saved passwords, bookmarks, auto-fill data and open tabs.

First, launch the Mozilla Firefox. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will show the drop-down menu. Next, press the Help button ().

In the Help menu press the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page click on “Refresh Firefox” button as shown in the following example.

Confirm your action, press the “Refresh Firefox”.

Get rid of NationalSpecial adware software from Safari

The Safari reset is great if your web browser is hijacked by the NationalSpecial adwareor you have unwanted add-ons or toolbars on your web browser, which installed by an malware.

Click Safari menu and choose “Preferences”.

It will open the Safari Preferences window. Next, click the “Extensions” tab. Look for unknown and suspicious add-ons on left panel, choose it, then click the “Uninstall” button. Most important to delete all unknown add-ons 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”.

Remove NationalSpecial adware from Google Chrome

In this step we are going to show you how to reset Chrome settings. PUPs such as the adware software can make changes to your internet browser settings, add toolbars and undesired extensions. By resetting Chrome settings you will get rid of NationalSpecial adware and reset unwanted changes caused by adware software. When using the reset feature, your personal information such as passwords, bookmarks, browsing history and web form auto-fill data will be saved.

1. First start the Google Chrome and click Menu button (small button in the form of three dots).
2. It will show the Google Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
3. You will see 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 steps: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
4. Now open the Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
5. You will see the Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and click “Advanced” link.
6. Scroll down again and click the “Reset” button.
7. The Chrome will open the reset profile settings page as shown on the screen above.
8. Next click the “Reset” button.
9. Once this task is complete, your browser’s new tab, homepage and search engine will be restored to their original defaults.
10. To learn more, read the blog post How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.

Automatic Removal of NationalSpecial

Run malicious software removal utilities to get rid of NationalSpecial adware automatically. The free software utilities specially made for hijackers, adware and other potentially unwanted programs removal. These tools can remove most of adware software from Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Chrome. Moreover, it can remove all components of adware from Windows registry and system drives.

How to automatically remove NationalSpecial with MalwareBytes Anti Malware

You can get rid of NationalSpecial adware automatically with a help of MalwareBytes Free. We recommend this free malicious software removal utility because it can easily remove browser hijacker, adware software, PUPs and toolbars with all their components such as files, folders and registry entries.

MalwareBytes Free can be downloaded from the following link.

After downloading is complete, close all software and windows on your computer. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.

The MalwareBytes will automatically start and you can see its main screen as shown below.

Now click the “Scan” button for scanning your MAC for the NationalSpecial adware. A system scan may take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your Apple Mac. While the MalwareBytes Anti Malware program is checking, you can see number of objects it has identified as threat.

When MalwareBytes Free is complete scanning your MAC system, it will show the Scan Results. Review the scan results and then press “Remove Selected Items” button. The MalwareBytes Anti Malware will start to delete NationalSpecial adware.

How to stay safe online

If you surf the Web, you cannot avoid malicious advertising. But you can protect your internet browser against it. Download and use an adblocker application. AdGuard is an ad blocker that can filter out a large amount of of the malvertising, stoping dynamic scripts from loading harmful content.

AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link.

After downloading is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen. Follow the prompts.

Each time, when you run your Apple Mac, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop undesired pop ups, block malicious or misleading web-pages.

Finish words

Now your computer should be clean of the NationalSpecial ads. We suggest that you keep MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) (to periodically scan your computer for new adwares and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop ups and harmful web sites). Moreover, to prevent any adware, please stay clear of unknown and third party programs.

If you need more help with NationalSpecial adware software related issues, go to here.