How to remove MarketService app/extension from Mac

What is MarketService

According to security researchers, MarketService is an adware program. Adware is type of malicious software which presents undesired advertising on a computer, redirects search requests to advertising webpages and gathers confidential data for marketing purposes. Adware can display banner ads, full-screen advertisements, pop ups, videos, or other varieties of online advertising. Adware can attack your MAC system’s internet browsers such as the Safari, Firefox and Google Chrome. Maybe you approve the idea that the advertisements or pop ups is just a small problem. But these annoying ads eat machine resources and slow down your machine performance

Another reason why you need to get rid of the MarketService adware is its online data-tracking activity. Adware can have spyware and keyloggers built into the program, leading to greater damage to your MAC and possible invasion of your personal data.

Therefore it’s very important to follow the step-by-step tutorial below as quickly as possible. The tutorial will help you to remove MarketService as well as clean your web-browser from unwanted advertisements. What is more, the steps below will help you get rid of other malicious apps such as unwanted toolbars and browser hijackers which can be installed onto MAC system along with the adware.

How does MarketService get on your MAC OS

The majority of adware come bundled with free software or even paid applications that Internet users can easily download online. The installers of such applications, most commonly, clearly indicate that they will install bundled programs. The option is given to users to stop the installation of any third-party applications. So, in order to avoid the installation of any adware software: read all disclaimers and install screens very carefully, select only Custom or Advanced setup method and disable all third-party software in which you are unsure.

Threat Summary

Name	MarketService, Market Service 1.0 app
Type	adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), popups, pop-up advertisements, pop-up virus
Symptoms	advertising banners appear in places they shouldn’t be when you go to a website, you’re constantly re-directed to another website that you do not intend to visit unwanted internet browser extensions or toolbars keep coming back your browser start page has changed without your permission speed test good but internet slow your machine is no stable leading to crashes
Removal	MarketService removal guide

How to remove MarketService from Mac

Not all unwanted software such as MarketService adware is easily uninstallable. You might see popups, deals, text links, in-text ads, banners and other type of advertisements in the Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari and might not be able to figure out the program responsible for this activity. The reason for this is that many undesired programs neither appear in the Finder. Therefore in order to fully delete MarketService , you need to execute the steps below. Certain of the steps below will require you to close this webpage. So, please read the steps carefully, after that bookmark it or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove MarketService, perform the following steps:

1. Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device
2. Check the list of installed applications
3. Remove MarketService related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove MarketService from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online
7. To sum up

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

MarketService can make changes to the Mac system such as malicious changes to browser settings, and the addition of malicious system profiles. You need to check the system preferences, find and remove malicious profiles and ensure your settings are as you expect.

Click Apple menu ( ) > System Preferences.

In System Preferences, select Profiles. if there is no Profiles in the list of preferences, that means there are no profiles installed on the Mac. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile related to MarketService.

To delete a malicious profile, click on the minus button ( – ) located at the bottom-left of the Profiles screen.

Check the list of installed applications

It is of primary importance to identify and remove PUPs, adware software and browser hijackers through ‘Applications’ section of your Finder.

1. Open the Finder.
2. Click “Applications”.
3. It will show a list of all software installed on the Apple Mac.
4. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall dubious and unknown software. Pay maximum attention to the program you installed last.
5. Drag the dubious program from the Applications folder to the Trash.
6. Empty Trash.

Remove MarketService related files and folders

Now you need to try to find MarketService related files and folders, and then delete them manually. You need to look for these files in certain directories. To quickly open them, we recommend using the “Go to Folder…” command.

Click on the Finder icon. From the menu bar, select Go and click “Go to Folder…”. As a result, a small window opens that allows you to quickly open a specific directory.

Check for MarketService generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchAgents

This will open the contents of the “/Library/LaunchAgents” folder. Look carefully at it and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files: search.plist, com.machelper.plist, MarketService.plist, installapp.plist and macsearch.plist. Most often, browser hijackers, adware and PUPs create several files with similar names.

Check for MarketService generated files in the /Library/Application Support folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/Application Support

This will open the contents of the “Application Support” folder. Look carefully at its contents, pay special attention to recently added/changed folder. Move all suspicious folders to the Trash.

Check for MarketService generated files in the “~/Library/LaunchAgents” folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
~/Library/LaunchAgents

Proceed in the same way as with the “/Library/LaunchAgents” and “/Library/Application Support” folders. Look for suspicious and recently added files. Move all suspicious files to the Trash.

Check for MarketService generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchDaemons

Carefully browse the entire list of files and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files to be deleted: com.macsearch.plist, com.search.plist, com.MarketService.plist, com.installapp.plist and com.machelper.plist. In most cases, PUPs, adware and browser hijackers create several files with similar names.

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

You can delete MarketService related files automatically with a help of MalwareBytes Anti Malware. We advise this free malicious software removal tool because it can easily delete browser hijackers, adware, toolbars and PUPs with all their components such as files, folders and system entries.

Download MalwareBytes by clicking on the following link.

When downloading is done, run it and follow the prompts. Press the “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the MarketService . This procedure can take some time, so please be patient. When a threat is detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is done. When you are ready, click the “Quarantine” button.

The MalwareBytes Anti-Malware is a free program that you can use to get rid of all detected folders, files, malicious services and so on.

Remove MarketService from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Annoying MarketService adware software or other symptoms of adware in your browser is a good reason to find and get rid of harmful extensions. This is an easy method to recover browsers settings and not lose any important information.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top right corner, click on Chrome’s main menu button, represented by three vertical dots. When the drop-down menu appears, choose ‘More tools’ and click on ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to get rid of MarketService adware by reset Google Chrome settings.	Click on ‘menu’ button and select ‘Add-ons’. Go to ‘Extensions’ tab. To uninstall an add-on, click on ‘Remove’ button next to it. If you are still experiencing problems with MarketService removal, you need to reset Mozilla Firefox browser.
Safari
On the top menu select ‘Safari’, then ‘Preferences’. Select ‘Extensions’ tab. Select an extension you want to delete and click ‘Uninstall’ button next to it.

How to stay safe online

The AdGuard is a very good ad blocking application for the Mozilla Firefox, Chrome and Safari, with active user support. It does a great job by removing certain types of undesired advertisements, popunders, pop ups, annoying newtabs, and even full page ads and web page overlay layers. Of course, the AdGuard can stop harmful web sites automatically or by using a custom filter rule.

Please go to the following link to download the latest version of AdGuard for Mac.

Once the downloading process is done, run the downloaded file. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen.

Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick guide. Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick guidance that will help you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you launch your MAC, AdGuard will start automatically and stop annoying ads, block malicious and misleading webpages.

To sum up

Now your computer should be clean of the MarketService adware. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted ads and unwanted malicious web-pages) and MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (to periodically scan your MAC for new adwares and other malware).

If you are still having problems while trying to remove MarketService ads from the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Safari, then ask for help here here.