How to uninstall GeneralObject app/extension from Mac (Virus removal guide)

What is GeneralObject

According to security researchers, GeneralObject is an adware app. Adware’s basic purpose is to display unwanted advertisements. These advertisements are often presented as advertising banners, unclosable windows or push notifications. Clicks on the advertisements produce a monetary payoff for the adware authors. Adware can work like Spyware, since it sends personal information such as searches and trends to advertisers.

Another reason why you need to remove the GeneralObject adware is its online data-tracking activity. It can be used to collect a wide variety of marketing-type data about you to get profit. Adware software can analyze your surfing, and gain access to your confidential information and, subsequently, can use it for marketing purposes. Thus, there are more than enough reasons to remove adware software from your computer.

Adware software is usually written in ways common to malicious software, spyware and browser hijackers. In order to remove GeneralObject adware, you will need complete the following steps or use free adware removal utility listed below.

How does GeneralObject get on your MAC system

In most cases, adware come bundled with the setup files from file sharing and torrents web-pages. So, install free software is a a good chance that you will find a bundled adware software. If you don’t know how to avoid it, then use a simple trick. During the installation, select the Custom or Advanced setup option. Next, click ‘Decline’ button and clear all checkboxes on offers that ask you to install third-party software. Moreover, please carefully read Term of use and User agreement before installing any applications.

Threat Summary

Name	GeneralObject, GeneralObject 1.0 app
Type	adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	OSX.Trojan.Gen, Adware.MAC.Generic, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, Adware/Adload!OSX, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, ApplicUnwnt, Osx.Adware.Cimpli and MacOS.Agent-MT
Distribution	Freeware installers, fake software updaters, suspicious pop-up ads and torrent downloads
Symptoms	When you go to a web-site, you are frequently redirected to another webpage that you do not intend to visit, unclosable window appear and recommend fake Flash updates, unwanted program installed without your say-so, unexpected internet browser plugins or toolbars keep coming back, your internet browser homepage has modified and you cannot change it back, slow Internet browsing speeds.
Removal	GeneralObject removal guide

How to remove GeneralObject from Mac computers

We can assist you remove GeneralObject ads from your browsers, without the need to take your computer to a professional. Simply follow the removal tutorial below if you currently have the annoying adware on your computer and want to delete it. If you’ve any difficulty while trying to remove the adware, feel free to ask for our assist in the comment section below. Read this manual carefully, bookmark it or open this page on your smartphone, because you may need to exit your web browser or reboot your MAC OS.

To remove GeneralObject, execute the following steps:

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

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

GeneralObject 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 GeneralObject.

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 apps

Check the list of installed applications on your Mac and uninstall all unknown and recently installed apps. If you see an unknown application with incorrect spelling or varying capital letters, it have most likely been installed by malicious software and you should clean it off first with malicious software removal utility such as MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM).

1. Open the Finder.
2. Click “Applications”.
3. It will display a list of all applications installed on the MAC OS.
4. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall dubious and unknown software. Pay maximum attention to the program you installed last.
5. Drag the questionable program from the Applications folder to the Trash.
6. Empty Trash.

Remove GeneralObject related files and folders

Now you need to try to find GeneralObject 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.

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

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

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

Check for GeneralObject 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.GeneralObject.system, then this folder must be deleted. Move all suspicious folders and files to the Trash.

Check for GeneralObject 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 GeneralObject 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.GeneralObject.system.plist, com.installapp.system.plist, com.machelper.system.plist, com.macsearch.system.plist and com.search.system.plist. In most cases, adware, 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 delete GeneralObject. Of course, very often adware software, PUPs and browser hijackers hides on a Mac, 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 advise you to use MalwareBytes to scan the Mac computer.

1. Download MalwareBytes on your MAC system by clicking on the following link.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
   20850 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: September 10, 2020
   
2. Once the downloading process is finished, close all software and windows on your MAC system. Open a directory in which you saved it. Run the downloaded file and follow the prompts.
3. Press the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the GeneralObject adware. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your Apple Mac and the speed of your MAC OS.
4. Once finished, MalwareBytes Anti Malware will display a scan report. Next, you need to press “Quarantine”.

Remove GeneralObject from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

This step will show you how to remove harmful extensions. This can get rid of GeneralObject adware and fix some surfing problems, especially after adware infection.

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 GeneralObject 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 issues with GeneralObject adware software 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 an ad-blocker tool such as AdGuard will protect you from harmful advertisements and content. Moreover, you can find that the AdGuard have an option to protect your privacy and stop phishing and spam web-sites. Additionally, ad blocking software will help you to avoid annoying ads and unverified links that also a good way to stay safe online.

1. Visit the following page to download the latest version of AdGuard for Mac.
   
   

   AdGuard for Mac download
   3687 downloads
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: January 17, 2018
   
2. After the downloading process is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the install is done, press “Skip” to close the install program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
4. In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you run your Apple Mac, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop unwanted ads, block harmful and misleading websites.

Finish words

Now your MAC should be free of the GeneralObject adware. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted advertisements and unwanted harmful web-sites) and MalwareBytes Free (to periodically scan your machine for new adware softwares and other malware).

If you are still having problems while trying to get rid of adware from Mozilla Firefox, Chrome and Safari, then ask for help here here.