How to uninstall AccessibilityDock app/extension from Mac

What is AccessibilityDock

AccessibilityDock is supposed to be an app that will improve the browsing experience, but it is adware. Adware is type of malicious software created to insert adverts into your Internet surfing or even desktop experience. Adware software can be developed to change your home page, search provider, search results, or even add toolbars to your internet browser. Adware run in the background when you’re online, and adware can slow down your MAC OS and affect its performance.

Another reason why you need to delete adware is its online data-tracking activity. Adware can be used to gather your surfing history and privacy info, including passwords and credit card numbers. In the future, your sensitive information can be transferred third party companies. If you are unfortunate have adware software or malware running on your computer, you can follow the few simple steps here to remove AccessibilityDock from your MAC OS and web browser.

How does AccessibilityDock get on your MAC system

Usually, adware gets into your MAC as part of a bundle with freeware, sharing files and other unsafe apps that you downloaded from the Internet. The makers of adware pays software makers for distributing adware within their apps. So, optional apps is often included as part of the setup file. In order to avoid the installation of any adware: choose only Manual, Custom or Advanced installation mode and reject all optional applications in which you are unsure.

Threat Summary

Name	AccessibilityDock, AccessibilityDock 1.0 app
Type	adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	Osx.Adware.Cimpli, Adware/Adload!OSX, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, MacOS.Agent-MT, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Adware.MAC.Generic, OSX.Trojan.Gen and ApplicUnwnt
Distribution	Free software installers, fake update tools, suspicious popup ads and torrent downloads
Symptoms	When you go to a web page, you’re automatically redirected to another web-page that you do not intend to visit, you experience lots of of unwanted pop-up advertisements, there is an unwanted application in the ‘Applications’ section of the Finder, unwanted browser extensions or toolbars keep coming back, your browser search engine has changed without your permission, slow Internet or slow browsing.
Removal	AccessibilityDock removal guide

How to remove AccessibilityDock from Mac computer

Most often adware software requires more than a simple uninstall through the use of the Finder in order to be fully removed. For that reason, our team designed several removal ways that we have combined in a detailed instructions. Therefore, if you’ve the AccessibilityDock adware on your MAC OS and are currently trying to have it uninstalled then feel free to follow the step-by-step tutorial below in order to resolve your problem. Certain of the steps below will require you to shut down this webpage. So, please read the tutorial carefully, after that bookmark it or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove AccessibilityDock, complete the steps below:

1. Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device
2. Remove AccessibilityDock associated software by using the Finder
3. Remove AccessibilityDock related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove AccessibilityDock from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online
7. To sum up

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

AccessibilityDock 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 computer. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile related to AccessibilityDock.

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

Remove AccessibilityDock associated software by using the Finder

Some adware, browser hijackers and PUPs can be deleted by uninstalling the free software they came with. If this way does not succeed, then looking them up in the list of installed applications in the Finder. Use the “Move to Trash” command in order to get rid of them.

Open Finder and click “Applications” as displayed below.

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

After the application which you need to delete is found, simply right press on its name, and choose “Move to Trash”.

Don’t forget, select Finder, then “Empty Trash”.

Remove AccessibilityDock related files and folders

Now you need to try to find AccessibilityDock 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.

AccessibilityDock creates several files, these files must be found and removed. Below is a list of files associated with this unwanted program.

• /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.AccessibilityDock.system.plist
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.AccessibilityDock.service.plist
• /Library/Application Support/.(RANDOM)/System/com.AccessibilityDock.system
• ~/Library/Application Support/.(RANDOM)/Services/com.AccessibilityDock.service.app

Some files created by AccessibilityDock are hidden from the user. To find and delete them, you need to enable “show hidden files”. To do this, use the shortcut CMD + SHIFT + . Press once to show hidden files and again to hide them. There is another way. Click Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal. In Terminal, paste the following text: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

Press Enter. Hold the ‘Option/alt’ key, then right click on the Finder icon in the dock and click Relaunch.

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 AccessibilityDock 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.net-preferences.plist, com.google.defaultsearch.plist, , com.machelper.plist, search.plist, macsearch.plist and com.AccessibilityDock.service.plist. Most often, adware, browser hijackers and potentially unwanted programs create several files with similar names.

Check for AccessibilityDock 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 folders and files. Check the contents of suspicious folders, if there is a file with a name similar to com.AccessibilityDock.system, then this folder must be deleted. Move all suspicious folders and files to the Trash.

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We recommend using MalwareBytes Free to scan the Mac for browser hijackers, PUPs and adware. This free tool is an advanced malware removal program designed by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular anti malware technology. It is able to help you get rid of ransomware and other security threats from your Mac for free.

1. Installing the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware is simple. First you will need to download MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) by clicking on the following link.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
   20988 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: September 10, 2020
   
2. After downloading is finished, please close all applications and open windows on your MAC system. Run the downloaded file. Follow the prompts.
3. The MalwareBytes will start and display the main window.
4. Further, click the “Scan” button . MalwareBytes Free program will scan through the whole computer for the AccessibilityDock . A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your MAC system and the speed of your machine. When a threat is found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is done.
5. When the scan is complete, MalwareBytes will open a screen that contains a list of malicious software that has been found.
6. In order to delete all items, simply click the “Remove Selected Items” button.
7. Close the AntiMalware and continue with the next step.

Remove AccessibilityDock from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

If you have ‘AccessibilityDock ‘ removal problem, then remove unwanted add-ons can help you. In the steps below we will show you the method to remove harmful add-ons without reinstall. This will also help to remove AccessibilityDock from your browser.

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 delete AccessibilityDock 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 AccessibilityDock 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

In order to increase your security and protect your computer against new unwanted advertisements and harmful web-pages, you need to use ad blocker program that stops an access to malicious ads and web-pages. Moreover, the application can block the open of intrusive advertising, that also leads to faster loading of webpages and reduce the consumption of web traffic.

Visit the following page to download AdGuard.

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

Each time, when you launch your MAC, AdGuard will start automatically and stop annoying pop-up ads, block malicious and misleading web-sites.

To sum up

Now your machine should be free of the AccessibilityDock adware. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted pop up ads and annoying harmful websites) and MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) (to periodically scan your MAC OS for new adwares and other malware).

If you are still having problems while trying to remove AccessibilityDock from the Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari, then ask for help here here.