How to uninstall ProcessBrand app/extension from Mac

What is ProcessBrand

ProcessBrand is supposed to be an application that will improve the browsing experience, but it is adware. Adware is a part of software whose motive is to generate money for its creator. It have different methods of earning by showing the advertisements forcibly to its victims. The ProcessBrand adware can generate popup windows, show intrusive advertisements, alter the victim’s web-browser settings, or redirect the victim’s internet browser to unknown web sites. Aside from causing unwanted ads and web browser redirects, it also can slow down the computer.

The worst is, adware can have spyware and keyloggers built into the application, leading to greater damage to your MAC system and possible invasion of your privacy data. If you would like to delete ProcessBrand and clean your web-browser of intrusive ads and are unable to do so, you can follow the instructions below to scan for and get rid of adware and any other malware for free.

How does ProcessBrand get on your Apple Mac

Adware gets on your Apple Mac along with certain free applications. So always read carefully the install screens, disclaimers, ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Software license’ appearing during the install procedure. Additionally pay attention for additional programs that are being installed along with the main application. Ensure that you unchecked all of them! Also, run an ad blocking application that will help to stop suspicious and untrustworthy web-sites.

Threat Summary

Name	ProcessBrand, ProcessBrand 1.0 app
Type	adware software, potentially unwanted application (PUA), pop-ups, pop-up ads, pop-up virus
Symptoms	unwanted advertisements appear on web pages that you are visiting web-site links redirect to web-sites different from what you expected new entries appear in your Applications folder new toolbars suddenly installed on your web browser your machine settings are being altered without your request slow Internet or slow browsing CPU usage seems unusually high
Removal	ProcessBrand removal guide

How to remove ProcessBrand adware

Not all unwanted programs like ProcessBrand adware are easily uninstallable. You might see pop-ups, deals, text links, in-text ads, banners and other type of advertisements in the Safari, Chrome and Firefox and might not be able to figure out the application responsible for this activity. The reason for this is that many unwanted applications neither appear in the Finder. Therefore in order to completely get rid of ProcessBrand adware software, you need to execute the following steps. Read it once, after doing so, please bookmark this page (or open it on your smartphone) as you may need to exit your browser or restart your MAC.

To remove ProcessBrand, execute the following steps:

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

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

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

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

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, which is normal.

Check the list of installed programs

Check out the Finder (Applications section) to see all installed software. If you see any unknown and suspicious programs, they are the ones you need to delete.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

It will open a list of all programs installed on your machine. Scroll through the all list, and delete any questionable and unknown software. Right click to questionable application and select “Move to Trash”. Another way is drag the program from the Applications folder to the Trash.

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

Remove ProcessBrand related files and folders

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

Check for ProcessBrand 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 ProcessBrand 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 ProcessBrand 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.machelper.plist, com.installapp.plist, com.ProcessBrand.plist and com.search.plist. In most cases, browser hijackers, adware software and PUPs create several files with similar names.

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We advise using MalwareBytes Free. You can download and install MalwareBytes Free to detect and remove ProcessBrand associated programs from your Mac device. When installed and updated, the malware remover automatically searches for and removes all security threats exist on the machine.

Click the link below to download MalwareBytes.

After the download is finished, close all applications and windows on your MAC system. Open a directory in which you saved it. Run the saved file and follow the prompts.

Once install is done, you’ll see window as shown in the following example.

Now click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the ProcessBrand adware software. This procedure may take some time, so please be patient.

After the checking is complete, the results are displayed in the scan report. You may delete items (move to Quarantine) by simply click “Quarantine” button.

The Malwarebytes will now delete ProcessBrand adware software and move the selected threats to the Quarantine.

Remove ProcessBrand from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

The ProcessBrand extension or other symptoms of adware in your browser is a good reason to locate and get rid of harmful extensions. This is an easy method to restore web browsers settings and not lose any important information.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
Click on ‘three dots menu’ button at the top right corner of the Google Chrome window. 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 delete ProcessBrand adware software 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 problems with ProcessBrand adware software 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

One of the worst things is the fact that you cannot block all malicious web pages using only built-in MS Windows capabilities. However, there is a program out that you can use to stop unwanted browser redirections, advertisements and pop-ups in any modern web-browsers including Safari, Google Chrome and Firefox. It is called Adguard and it works very well.

AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link.

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

Each time, when you launch your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and stop undesired ads, block malicious and misleading web-sites.

To sum up

Now your Apple Mac should be free of the ProcessBrand adware. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted popup advertisements and intrusive harmful web-pages) and MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (to periodically scan your machine for new malware, browser hijackers and adware). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Mac operating system. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new hijackers, malicious apps and adware are released.

If you are still having problems while trying to delete ProcessBrand from your web-browser, then ask for help here.