How to remove AppEnviroment app/extension from Mac

What is AppEnviroment

AppEnviroment is supposed to be an app that will improve the browsing experience, but according to security researchers, it is an adware. Adware is considered by many to be synonymous with ‘malware’. It is a malicious application that shows unwanted ads to computer users. Some examples include pop up ads, push notifications or unclosable windows. Adware can be installed onto your Apple Mac via infected web-pages, when you open email attachments, anytime you download and install free software.

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

Take a deep breath. Learn everything you should know about AppEnviroment removal, how to get rid of unwanted ads from your browser and machine. Find the best free adware software and malware removal utilities here!

How does AppEnviroment get on your computer

These days certain free software authors bundle potentially unwanted software or adware with a view to making some money. These are not free programs as install an unwanted software on to your Windows computer. So whenever you install a new free software that downloaded from the Internet, be very careful during setup. Carefully read the EULA (a text with I ACCEPT/I DECLINE button), select custom or manual installation option, uncheck all bundled applications.

Threat Summary

Name	AppEnviroment, AppEnviroment 1.0 app
Type	adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), pop ups, popup virus, popup ads
Symptoms	you experience tons of of unwanted advertising popups you keep getting redirected to unfamiliar web-pages unwanted applications installed without your knowledge unwanted browser extensions or toolbars keep coming back your web-browser start page has changed and you are unable to change it back low ping but slow Internet your MAC crashes
Removal	AppEnviroment removal guide

How to remove AppEnviroment adware

In the steps below we will have a look at the adware and how to remove AppEnviroment from Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Chrome web browsers for Apple Mac, natively or by using a few free removal tools. Certain of the steps will require you to restart your MAC or exit this website. So, read this instructions carefully, then bookmark this page or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove AppEnviroment, perform the steps below:

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

Remove profiles created by AppEnviroment

AppEnviroment 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 software.

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 device. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile associated with AppEnviroment.

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

Remove AppEnviroment related programs through the Finder

One of the first things to attempt for removal of adware is to check your Mac installed programs screen and look for undesired and questionable applications. If there are any programs you do not recognize or are no longer using, you should uninstall them. If that doesn’t work, then you may need to use malicious software removal tool like MalwareBytes.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

It will display a list of all applications installed on your MAC system. Scroll through the all list, and remove any suspicious and unknown software. Right click to questionable application and choose “Move to Trash”. Another way is drag the application from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Most important, scroll through the all list, and move to trash any unknown applications. Don’t forget, choose Finder -> Empty Trash.

Remove AppEnviroment related files and folders

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

If you carefully followed the previous steps, then you should be able to remove AppEnviroment. Of course, very often adware software, potentially unwanted programs and browser hijackers hides on a Mac device, disguising itself as legitimate apps and files. Therefore, in some cases, it is difficult for an inexperienced user to decide whether a particular file is part of potentially unwanted programs, browser hijackers and adware. Therefore, we suggest you to use MalwareBytes to scan the Mac device.

MalwareBytes can be downloaded from the following link.

When the downloading process is complete, run it and follow the prompts. Click the “Scan” button . MalwareBytes Anti Malware program will scan through the whole MAC for the AppEnviroment adware software. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the utility is checking, you may see number of objects and files has already scanned. Review the results once the tool has complete the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply click the “Quarantine” button.

The MalwareBytes Free is a free program that you can use to remove all detected folders, files, malicious services and so on.

Remove AppEnviroment from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Annoying AppEnviroment adware or other symptoms of adware software in your web-browser is a good reason to locate and remove malicious extensions. 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. Select ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to remove AppEnviroment 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 AppEnviroment 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

We recommend to install an ad-blocking application. The ad blocker utility like AdGuard is a program which basically removes advertising from the Web and stops access to malicious web-pages. Moreover, security experts says that using ad-blocking software is necessary to stay safe when surfing the Web.

AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link.

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

Each time, when you run your Apple Mac, AdGuard will start automatically and stop annoying popups, block harmful and misleading web-pages.

Finish words

Now your machine should be clean of the AppEnviroment adware. We suggest that you keep MalwareBytes AntiMalware (to periodically scan your computer for new adwares and other malicious software) and AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop up advertisements and malicious web sites). Moreover, to prevent any adware software, please stay clear of unknown and third party software.

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