CompeteService is a PUP (potentially unwanted program) belonging to the Adware category. Is Adware dangerous? Adware is form of malware which shows unwanted advertisements on a machine, redirects search results to advertising web-sites and collects confidential info for marketing purposes. The CompeteService adware can display banner ads, full-screen ads, popups, videos, or other varieties of online advertising. Adware software can attack your computer’s browsers like the Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Maybe you approve the idea that the ads or pop ups is just a small problem. But these intrusive ads eat computer resources and slow down your Apple Mac performance.
Unwanted ads
Another reason why you need to remove CompeteService is its online data-tracking activity. Adware may collect your Web browsing activity by recording URLs visited, IP addresses, internet browser version and type, cookie information, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and webpages visited. Such kind of behavior can lead to serious security problems or personal info theft. This is another reason why the CompeteService adware should be uninstalled sooner.
By following few simple steps below it is easy to scan and remove unwanted ads from Firefox, Safari and Chrome and your computer. Learn how to get rid of CompeteService adware and harmful programs, as well as how to run a full MAC system virus scan.
Threat Summary
| Name | CompeteService, Compete Service 1.0 app |
| Type | adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), pop up virus, pop ups, pop-up ads |
| Symptoms |
|
| Removal | CompeteService removal guide |
How does CompeteService get on your computer
Most often adware come bundled with various free programs. Therefore it is very important at the stage of installing applications downloaded from the Internet carefully review the Terms of use and the License agreement, as well as to always select the Advanced, Custom or Manual setup type. In this mode, you can turn off all third-party modules, that will be installed along with the desired application.
How to remove CompeteService adware
Most often adware requires more than a simple uninstall with the help of the Finder in order to be fully removed. For that reason, our team developed several removal methods which we’ve combined in a detailed guidance. Therefore, if you have the intrusive CompeteService on your machine and are currently trying to have it removed then feel free to follow the few simple steps below in order to resolve your problem. Some of the steps below will require you to close this web-page. So, please read the few simple steps carefully, after that bookmark it or open it on your smartphone for later reference.
To remove CompeteService, complete the steps below:
- How to get rid of CompeteService adware without any software
- Automatic Removal of CompeteService
- How to stay safe online
- To sum up
How to get rid of CompeteService adware without any software
This part of the article is a step-by-step tutorial that will help you to remove CompeteService manually. You just need to follow every step. In this case, you do not need to download any additional utilities.
Remove CompeteService related programs through the Finder
Some PUPs, browser hijacking programs and adware software can be removed by uninstalling the free applications they came with. If this way does not succeed, then looking them up in the list of installed apps in Finder. Use the “Move to Trash” command in order to delete them.
Open Finder and click “Applications”.
Very carefully look around the entire list of software installed on your MAC OS. Most probably, one of them is the CompeteService adware. If you have many applications installed, you can help simplify the search of malicious software by sort the list by date of installation.
Once you have found a dubious, unwanted or unused application, right click to it and select “Move to Trash”. Another way is drag the application from the Applications folder to the Trash.
Don’t forget, select Finder -> “Empty Trash”.
Remove CompeteService adware from Chrome
Like other modern web-browsers, the Google Chrome has the ability to reset the settings to their default values and thereby restore the internet browser’s settings like newtab, homepage and default search provider that have been changed by the CompeteService adware.
First run the Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal dots (
).
It will open the Chrome menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed add-ons. If the list has the plugin signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guide: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Open the Google Chrome menu once again. Further, click the option named “Settings”.
The browser will open the settings screen. Another way to open the Google Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the internet 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 Google Chrome will show the confirmation dialog box as displayed on the image below.
You need to confirm your action, press the “Reset” button. The internet browser will launch the procedure of cleaning. Once it’s done, the web browser’s settings including new tab, home page and search provider back to the values which have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your MAC system.
Get rid of CompeteService from Firefox by resetting internet browser settings
This step will allow you get rid of CompeteService ads, third-party toolbars, disable harmful addons and return your default start page, newtab page and search provider settings.
Run the 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 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 displayed 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 start a procedure to fix your problems that caused by the CompeteService adware. When, it is done, click the “Finish” button.
Remove CompeteService adware software from Safari
By resetting Safari internet browser you restore your web-browser settings to its default state. This is good initial when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by CompeteService adware.
Run Safari web-browser. Next, choose Preferences from the Safari menu.
First, click the “Security” icon. Here, select “Block pop-up windows”. It will block some types of popups.
Now, click the “Extensions” tab. Look for questionable addons on left panel, choose it, then click the “Uninstall” button. Most important to remove all dubious extensions from Safari.
Once complete, check your startpage and search engine settings. Click “General” icon. 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.
Automatic Removal of CompeteService
Manual removal is not always as effective as you might think. Often, even the most experienced users can not completely remove CompeteService adware. So, we suggest to check your MAC for any remaining harmful components with free adware removal programs below.
How to remove CompeteService with MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM)
If you’re still having problems with the CompeteService adware software removal or just wish to check your Apple Mac occasionally for adware software and other malware, then download MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM). It is free for home use, and detects and removes various unwanted programs that attacks your machine or degrades Apple Mac performance. MalwareBytes Anti Malware can remove browser hijacker, adware, PUPs as well as malware, including ransomware and trojans.
Installing the MalwareBytes AntiMalware is simple. First you will need to download MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) from the link below.
20988 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: September 10, 2020
When downloading is finished, close all software and windows on your computer. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.
The MalwareBytes Free will automatically start and you can see its main screen as on the image below.
Now click the “Scan” button to scan for the CompeteService adware. This procedure can take quite a while, so please be patient. When a threat is detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is finished.
When MalwareBytes has finished scanning your MAC system, it will display the Scan Results. Review the scan results and then click “Remove Selected Items” button. The MalwareBytes will start to remove CompeteService adware.
How to stay safe online
It is important to run ad blocker applications like AdGuard to protect your Apple Mac from malicious web sites. Most security experts says that it’s okay to block ads. You should do so just to stay safe! And, of course, the AdGuard may to stop misleading and other intrusive web-pages.
- Click the link below to download AdGuard.
AdGuard for Mac download
3772 downloads
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: January 17, 2018
- When the download is complete, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- Once the install is complete, click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will allow 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 launch your computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop unwanted ads, block harmful and misleading web-sites.
To sum up
Now your machine should be clean of the CompeteService adware. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted ads and annoying harmful web pages) and MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (to periodically scan your machine for new adware softwares and other malware).
If you are still having problems while trying to delete CompeteService ads the Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, then ask for help here here.
