How to remove AccessibleSkill app/extension from Mac

What is AccessibleSkill

According to security specialists, AccessibleSkill is a potentially unwanted program (PUP) that falls under the category of Adware . Adware is a type of malicious software. It is designed to bombard you with unsolicited ads and pop up windows that could potentially be dangerous for your MAC OS. If you get adware software on your MAC system, it can modify web-browser settings and install malicious browser extensions.

Even worse, adware software can collect confidential info, including:

• IP addresses;
• URLs visited;
• search queries/terms;
• clicks on links and advertisements;
• browser version information.

If the Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari have been infected with the adware software, you must have done the steps listed below. Once you have removed AccessibleSkill from your MAC OS by following our few simple steps below, make sure not to commit the same mistakes again in the future.

How does AccessibleSkill get on your MAC system

Usually, adware gets into your MAC as part of a bundle with free applications, sharing files and other unsafe applications that you downloaded from the Internet. The developers of adware pays software makers for distributing adware within their software. So, bundled programs is often included as part of the install package. In order to avoid the installation of any adware software: select only Manual, Custom or Advanced installation method and disable all additional applications in which you are unsure.

Threat Summary

Name	AccessibleSkill, Accessible Skill 1.0 app
Type	adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), pop ups, pop up virus, popup ads
Symptoms	advertising banners appear in places they shouldn’t be web-site links redirect to webpages different from what you expected unwanted application installed without your say-so an unexpected addon appears in your browser your web-browser home page has changed without your permission you are unable to update your security applications speed test good but internet slow CPU usage seems unusually high
Removal	AccessibleSkill removal guide

How to remove AccessibleSkill adware

In the step-by-step guide below, we will try to cover the Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari and provide general help to remove AccessibleSkill adware. You may find some minor differences in your Mac OS install. No matter, you should be okay if you follow the steps outlined below: uninstall all suspicious and unknown software, reset internet browsers settings, use free malicious software removal tools. Read this manual carefully, bookmark it or open this page on your smartphone, because you may need to shut down your web-browser or reboot your Apple Mac.

To remove AccessibleSkill, execute the following steps:

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

Remove profiles created by AccessibleSkill

AccessibleSkill can install a configuration profile on the Mac system to block changes made to the browser settings. Therefore, you need to open system preferences, find and delete the profile installed by the adware.

Click the System Preferences icon ( ) in the Dock, or choose Apple menu ( ) > System Preferences.

In System Preferences, click Profiles, then select a profile associated with AccessibleSkill.

Click the minus button ( – ) located at the bottom-left of the Profiles screen to remove the profile.
Note: if you do not see Profiles in the System Preferences, that means there are no profiles installed on your Mac computer, which is normal.

Check the list of installed apps

In order to remove AccessibleSkill you need to do is to uninstall unknown and suspicious programs from your MAC OS using the Finder. When uninstalling adware, potentially unwanted programs and browser hijackers, check the list of installed apps and try to find questionable programs and uninstall them all. Pay special attention to recently installed apps, as it is most probably that AccessibleSkill сame along with it.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

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

When you’ve found anything dubious that may be the AccessibleSkill adware or other PUP, then right click this program and select “Move to Trash”. Once complete, Empty Trash.

Remove AccessibleSkill related files and folders

Now you need to try to find AccessibleSkill 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 AccessibleSkill 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, installapp.plist, macsearch.plist and AccessibleSkill.plist. Most often, PUPs, adware software and browser hijackers create several files with similar names.

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We suggest using MalwareBytes Free. You may download and install MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) to find and remove AccessibleSkill related apps from your Mac device. When installed and updated, the malware remover automatically scans for and removes all security threats present on the MAC OS.

Please go to the link below to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Anti Malware for Mac OS.

After downloading is finished, close all applications and windows on your MAC. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.

The MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) will automatically start and you can see its main screen like the one below.

Now click the “Scan” button . MalwareBytes Free tool will start scanning the whole MAC to find out the AccessibleSkill adware. Depending on your MAC, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the MalwareBytes Anti Malware is checking, you can see count of objects it has identified either as being malicious software.

After MalwareBytes has completed scanning, MalwareBytes will display a list of all items found by the scan. Next, you need to press the “Quarantine” button. The MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will get rid of AccessibleSkill and move the selected threats to the Quarantine.

Remove AccessibleSkill from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

This step will show you how to remove harmful plugins. This can get rid of AccessibleSkill adware and fix some browsing problems, especially after adware infection.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top right corner, click on Google Chrome’s main menu button, represented by three vertical dots. When the drop-down menu appears, select ‘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 AccessibleSkill adware software 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 issues with AccessibleSkill 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

Run ad blocking program like AdGuard in order to stop advertisements, malvertisements, pop-ups and online trackers, avoid having to install harmful and adware browser plug-ins and add-ons that affect your computer performance and impact your MAC security. Surf the World Wide Web anonymously and stay safe online!

Download AdGuard on your machine by clicking on the link below.

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

Each time, when you start your Apple Mac, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop unwanted popup advertisements, block malicious and misleading web pages.

To sum up

After completing the guidance outlined above, your computer should be clean from AccessibleSkill and other malicious software. The Mozilla Firefox, Chrome and Safari will no longer redirect you to any unwanted websites and online ads. Unfortunately, if the steps does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help here.