According to security researchers, ExtendedTool is an adware program. Adware is considered a potentially security threat because it often installed on a MAC without the consent of the owner. Adware usually just presents unwanted advertisements, but sometimes adware software can be used to obtain your privacy information.
Unwanted ads
The worst is, adware has the ability to collect lots of your user info (your ip address, what is a web-page you are viewing now, what you are looking for on the Internet, which links you are clicking), which can later transfer to third parties.
How does ExtendedTool get on your Apple Mac
Usually, adware such as ExtendedTool gets into your Apple Mac as part of a bundle with free programs, sharing files and other unsafe apps which you downloaded from the Internet. The authors of adware pays software authors for distributing adware within their applications. So, bundled software is often included as part of the installer. In order to avoid the installation of any adware: select only Manual, Custom or Advanced setup option and reject all bundled apps in which you are unsure.
Threat Summary
| Name | ExtendedTool, Extended Tool 1.0 app |
| Type | adware software, PUP (potentially unwanted program), pop-up advertisements, pop-ups, popup virus |
| Symptoms |
|
| Removal | ExtendedTool removal guide |
How to Remove ExtendedTool adware
Not all unwanted applications such as ExtendedTool are easily uninstallable. You might see popups, deals, text links, in-text ads, banners and other type of ads in the Google Chrome, Safari and Mozilla Firefox and might not be able to figure out the program responsible for this activity. The reason for this is that many unwanted apps neither appear in the Finder. Therefore in order to fully delete ExtendedTool ads, you need to complete the following steps. Read this manual carefully, bookmark it or open this page on your smartphone, because you may need to shut down your internet browser or restart your computer.
To remove ExtendedTool, use the steps below:
- How to get rid of ExtendedTool without any software
- Automatic Removal of ExtendedTool
- How to stay safe online
- Finish words
How to get rid of ExtendedTool without any software
In this section of the post, we have posted the steps that will help to remove ExtendedTool manually. Although compared to removal tools, this solution loses in time, but you don’t need to install anything on your MAC OS. It will be enough for you to follow the detailed guide with images. We tried to describe each step in detail, but if you realized that you might not be able to figure it out, or simply do not want to change the MS Windows and web browser settings, then it’s better for you to use utilities from trusted developers, which are listed below.
Remove PUPs through the Finder
First of all, check the list of installed applications on your Apple Mac and delete all unknown and recently installed software. If you see an unknown program with incorrect spelling or varying capital letters, it have most likely been installed by malicious software and you should clean it off first with malicious software removal utility like MalwareBytes AntiMalware.
Open Finder and click “Applications”.
It will display a list of all apps installed on your Apple Mac. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall any dubious and unknown programs. Right click to suspicious application and choose “Move to Trash”. Another solution is drag the program from the Applications folder to the Trash.
Most important, scroll through the all list, and move to trash any unknown applications. Don’t forget, select Finder -> Empty Trash.
Remove ExtendedTool from Safari
The Safari reset is great if your web-browser is hijacked by ExtendedTool or you have unwanted add-ons or toolbars on your web browser, which installed by an malicious software.
Click Safari menu and select “Preferences”.
It will open the Safari Preferences window. Next, click the “Extensions” tab. Look for unknown and suspicious extensions on left panel, choose it, then click 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”.
Remove ExtendedTool adware software from Google Chrome
In this step we are going to show you how to reset Chrome settings. PUPs like the adware can make changes to your web-browser settings, add toolbars and undesired add-ons. By resetting Chrome settings you will delete ExtendedTool ads 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.
Open the Google Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal dotes (
). It will open the drop-down menu. Select More Tools, then press Extensions.
Carefully browse through the list of installed plugins. If the list has the addon labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guidance: Remove Google 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, as on the image below and press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
Confirm your action, press the “Reset” button.
Get rid of ExtendedTool from Mozilla Firefox by resetting browser settings
If your Mozilla Firefox browser is hijacked by ExtendedTool or an unknown search provider shows results for your search, then it may be time to perform the internet browser reset. Your saved bookmarks, form auto-fill information and passwords won’t be cleared or changed.
First, start the Mozilla Firefox. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (
). It will open the drop-down menu. Next, press the Help button (
).
In the Help menu click the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page click on “Refresh Firefox” button like below.
Confirm your action, click the “Refresh Firefox”.
Automatic Removal of ExtendedTool
Spyware, adware, PUPs and hijackers can be difficult to remove manually. Do not try to remove this software without the help of malware removal utilities. In order to fully delete adware software from your computer, use professionally designed tool such as MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM).
How to get rid of ExtendedTool with MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM)
Manual ExtendedTool removal requires some computer skills. Some files that created by the adware software may be not completely removed. We recommend that run the MalwareBytes that are completely free your machine of adware. Moreover, this free utility will help you to delete browser hijacker, malware, PUPs and toolbars that your MAC may be infected too.
- MalwareBytes Free can be downloaded from the following link.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
20986 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: September 10, 2020
- After the download is complete, please close all software and open windows on your MAC. Run the downloaded file. Follow the prompts.
- The MalwareBytes Anti-Malware will start and show the main window.
- Further, press the “Scan” button to locate the ExtendedTool adware. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your Apple Mac. When a threat is found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is complete.
- When MalwareBytes Anti Malware is done scanning your machine, MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will produce a list of unwanted programs and adware software.
- Review the scan results and then press the “Remove Selected Items” button.
- Close the Anti-Malware and continue with the next step.
How to stay safe online
We advise to install an ad blocker application which can stop misleading and other unwanted web-pages. The ad blocker utility such as AdGuard is a application which basically removes advertising from the Internet and stops access to malicious web-sites. Moreover, security experts says that using ad-blocking apps is necessary to stay safe when surfing the Web.
AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link.
3772 downloads
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: January 17, 2018
Once the download is finished, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen. Follow the prompts.
Each time, when you launch your MAC OS, AdGuard will run automatically and stop unwanted ads, block harmful and misleading web-pages.
Finish words
Now your MAC OS should be free of the ExtendedTool adware. We suggest that you keep MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (to periodically scan your computer for new adware softwares and other malicious software) and AdGuard (to help you block intrusive advertisements and malicious websites). Moreover, to prevent any adware, please stay clear of unknown and third party applications.
If you need more help with ExtendedTool related issues, go to here.
