How to uninstall LeadingLibrary app/extension from Mac

What is LeadingLibrary

LeadingLibrary is supposed to be an application that will improve the browsing experience, but it is adware. Adware is a type of malicious software. It is created to bombard you with endless advertisements and pop up windows that could potentially be dangerous for your Apple Mac. If you get adware on your MAC OS, it can change web-browser settings and install harmful browser extensions.

Even worse, adware be able to collect lots of user data about you (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.

So, if you happen to encounter the adware, then be quick and take effort to get rid of it without a wait. Follow the instructions below to remove LeadingLibrary adware. Let us know how you managed by sending us your comments please.

How does LeadingLibrary get on your Mac

Most commonly, adware is bundled within the installation packages from file sharing and torrents web-sites. So, install free software is a a good chance that you will find a bundled adware. If you don’t know how to avoid it, then use a simple trick. During the setup, select the Custom or Advanced installation mode. Next, press ‘Decline’ button and clear all checkboxes on offers that ask you to install optional programs. Moreover, please carefully read Term of use and User agreement before installing any apps or otherwise you may end up with another unwanted program on your MAC system like this adware software.

Threat Summary

Name	LeadingLibrary, LeadingLibrary 1.0 app
Type	adware software, PUP (potentially unwanted program), pop ups, pop-up virus, pop-up ads
Symptoms	ads appear in places they shouldn’t be when you go to a web-site, you are periodically re-directed to another website that you do not intend to visit your machine starts automatically installing unexpected apps new add-ons suddenly installed on your browser unwanted changes in your internet browser such as displaying new tabs you didn’t open low ping but slow Internet your computer is no stable leading to freezes
Removal	LeadingLibrary removal guide

How to remove LeadingLibrary adware software

As with uninstalling adware, malicious software or potentially unwanted software, there are few steps you can do. We recommend trying them all. If you do only one part of the tutorial, then it should be run malware removal utility, because it should remove adware and stop any further infection. But to completely remove LeadingLibrary adware you will have to at least reset your web-browser settings like newtab page, home page and search engine to default state, uninstall all unwanted and suspicious apps, and remove adware with malware removal utilities. Certain of the steps will require you to reboot your MAC or close this web-site. So, read this guide carefully, then bookmark this page or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove LeadingLibrary, follow the steps below:

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

Remove profiles created by LeadingLibrary

LeadingLibrary 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 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 related to LeadingLibrary.

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

In order to get rid of LeadingLibrary you need to do is to delete unknown and dubious programs from your Apple Mac using the Finder. When deleting PUPs, browser hijackers and adware, check the list of installed apps and try to find dubious programs and uninstall them all. Pay special attention to recently installed applications, as it’s most probably that LeadingLibrary сame along with it.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

It will display a list of all software installed on your MAC OS. Scroll through the all list, and remove any suspicious and unknown programs. Right click to dubious program and select “Move to Trash”. Another solution 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 LeadingLibrary related files and folders

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

Check for LeadingLibrary 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 LeadingLibrary 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 LeadingLibrary 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.search.plist, com.machelper.plist, com.LeadingLibrary.plist and com.macsearch.plist. In most cases, browser hijackers, adware software and PUPs 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 LeadingLibrary. Of course, very often adware software, browser hijackers and potentially unwanted programs hides on a Mac computer, 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 PUPs, browser hijackers and adware software. Therefore, we recommend you to use MalwareBytes Free to scan the Mac device.

Visit the page linked below to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Anti Malware for Mac.

Once the downloading process is done, close all apps and windows on your Apple Mac. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.

The MalwareBytes Free will automatically start and you can see its main screen as on the image below.

Now click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the LeadingLibrary . A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your computer.

As the scanning ends, MalwareBytes Free will show a list of all items detected by the scan. All detected items will be marked. You can remove them all by simply click the “Quarantine” button. The MalwareBytes Free will remove LeadingLibrary adware software.

Remove LeadingLibrary from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

If you’re still seeing LeadingLibrary that won’t go away, you might have malicious extensions installed on your web-browser. Check your browser for unwanted extensions using the steps below.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top-right corner, expand the Google 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 LeadingLibrary 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 problems with LeadingLibrary 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

Using an ad blocking program such as AdGuard is an effective way to alleviate the risks. Additionally, adblocker programs will also protect you from harmful ads and web pages, and, of course, block redirection chain to misleading, scam and similar web sites.

Visit the following page to download AdGuard.

Once downloading is finished, 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 tutorial. Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick guidance which will allow you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you start your Apple Mac, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop intrusive pop up ads, block harmful and misleading web-sites.

Finish words

After completing the few simple steps outlined above, your Mac should be clean from LeadingLibrary and other malware. The Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari will no longer redirect you to various unwanyed websites and online ads. Unfortunately, if the few simple steps does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help here.