How to uninstall Progress Handler app/extension from Mac

What is ProgressHandler

ProgressHandler is supposed to be a program that will improve the browsing experience, but according to security researchers, this program is an adware. Adware is ‘advertising supported’ software that tries to generate money by redirecting you to unwanted websites or online ads. It has different ways of earning profit including showing up advertisements on the web-browser forcefully. Most of adware gets installed when you are downloading free software or browser addons.

Does adware steal your privacy data? Adware can be used to gather and transmit privacy data without your knowledge. Adware software be able to track information about webpages visited, web-browser and system information, and your computer IP address.

If you would like to remove ProgressHandler and clean your browser of undesired ads and are unable to do so, you can follow the steps below to look for and remove adware software and any other malicious software for free.

How does ProgressHandler get on your Apple Mac

Adware software gets onto MAC system by being attached to certain free software. So always read carefully the installation screens, disclaimers, ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Software license’ appearing during the install process. Additionally pay attention for bundled software that are being installed along with the main program. Ensure that you unchecked all of them! Also, run an ad-blocker application that will help to stop misleading and illegitimate webpages.

Threat Summary

Name	ProgressHandler, Progress Handler 1.0 app
Type	adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), popup advertisements, pop up virus, pop ups
Symptoms	you experience a large count of of unwanted pop-up ads when you go to a web-page, you are randomly rerouted to another web page that you do not intend to visit unwanted applications installed without your say-so new add-ons suddenly added on your web browser your browser search engine has modified without your permission slow browsing Internet your machine is no stable leading to crashes
Removal	ProgressHandler removal guide

How to remove ProgressHandler from Mac computer

There exist several free adware software removal utilities. Also it is possible to remove ProgressHandler adware manually. But we recommend to combine all these ways below into the one removal algorithm. Follow the steps of the guidance. Read it once, after doing so, please bookmark this page (or open it on your smartphone) as you may need to exit your internet browser or restart your MAC.

To remove ProgressHandler, complete the following steps:

1. Remove profiles created by ProgressHandler
2. Check the list of installed programs
3. Remove ProgressHandler related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove ProgressHandler from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online
7. Finish words

Remove profiles created by ProgressHandler

ProgressHandler 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 ProgressHandler.

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

Check the list of installed programs

The next step in uninstalling browser hijackers, PUPs and adware by yourself is to go into the Finder, then Applications. Take a look at the list of software on your Mac device and see if there are any suspicious and unknown programs. If you see any, you need to remove it. Of course, before doing so, you can do an Internet search to find details on the program. If it is a browser hijacker, adware and potentially unwanted program, you will likely find information that says so.

Open Finder and click “Applications” as on the image below.

You will see a list of software installed on your MAC. We recommend to pay maximum attention to the program you installed last. Most likely, it’s the ProgressHandler adware. If you’re in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing.

When 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 ProgressHandler related files and folders

Now you need to try to find ProgressHandler 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 ProgressHandler 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: installapp.plist, com.machelper.plist, ProgressHandler.plist, search.plist and macsearch.plist. Most often, PUPs, browser hijackers and adware create several files with similar names.

Check for ProgressHandler 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 ProgressHandler 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 ProgressHandler 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.search.plist, com.machelper.plist, com.installapp.plist, com.ProgressHandler.plist and com.macsearch.plist. In most cases, potentially unwanted programs, browser hijackers and adware create several files with similar names.

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We recommend using MalwareBytes Free. You may download and install MalwareBytes Free to scan for and delete ProgressHandler associated applications from your Mac. When installed and updated, the malware remover automatically finds and deletes all security threats present on the MAC.

Installing the MalwareBytes AntiMalware is simple. First you’ll need to download MalwareBytes by clicking on the link below. Save it to your Desktop.

Once the download is done, close all software and windows on your MAC OS. Open a directory in which you saved it. Run the saved file and follow the prompts.

Once install is finished, you’ll see window as on the image below.

Now press the “Scan” button to start checking your MAC for the ProgressHandler adware. During the scan MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) will find threats present on your MAC.

When finished, the results are displayed in the scan report. Next, you need to press “Quarantine” button.

The Malwarebytes will now begin to get rid of ProgressHandler .

Remove ProgressHandler from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Browser redirects or other symptoms of adware in your web-browser is a good reason to find and delete malicious addons. This is an easy method to restore web browsers settings and not lose any important information.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top-right corner, expand the Chrome menu. In the menu go to ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to get rid of ProgressHandler by reset 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 issues with ProgressHandler adware removal, you need to reset 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

To put it simply, you need to use an ad-blocker utility (AdGuard, for example). It’ll stop and protect you from malicious webpages, unwanted advertisements and pop ups. To be able to do that, the ad blocking program uses a list of filters. Each filter is a rule that describes a malicious webpage, an advertising content, a banner and others. The ad blocking program automatically uses these filters, depending on the websites you’re visiting.

Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you’ll need to download AdGuard on your Microsoft Windows Desktop by clicking on the following link.

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

Each time, when you start your MAC OS, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop undesired pop up advertisements, block harmful and misleading webpages.

Finish words

Now your MAC system should be free of the ProgressHandler adware. We suggest that you keep MalwareBytes Free (to periodically scan your Apple Mac for new adwares and other malicious software) and AdGuard (to help you block unwanted ads and harmful websites). Moreover, to prevent any adware software, please stay clear of unknown and third party apps.

If you need more help with ProgressHandler related issues, go to here.