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

What is MapperState

According to security experts, MapperState is an adware application. Adware’s basic purpose is to display advertisements. These advertisements are often shown as sponsored links, popups or different offers and deals. Clicks on the ads produce a monetary payoff for the software authors. Adware can work like Spyware, since it sends personal info such as searches and trends to advertisers.

The MapperState app may cause all kind of problems within internet browsers, it may cause unwanted redirects, unclosable windows or inline text links with ads you do not want. These adverts are used to promote sales or web-traffic to harmful webpages or publisher in order to generate profit. The worst is, the adware can be used to collect your surfing history and sensitive information, including passwords and credit card numbers. In the future, confidential data about you can be used for marketing purposes.

How does MapperState get on your MAC system

Adware software mostly comes on the MAC computers with free programs. Most commonly, it comes without the user’s knowledge. Therefore, many users aren’t even aware that their MAC system has been infected with PUAs and adware. Please follow the easy rules in order to protect your Mac from adware and unwanted software: do not install any suspicious applications, read the user agreement and choose only the Custom, Manual or Advanced install mode, don’t rush to press the Next button. Also, always try to find a review of the program on the Web. Be careful and attentive!

Threat Summary

Name	MapperState, MapperState 1.0 app
Type	adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, OSX.Trojan.Gen, MacOS.Agent-MT, Adware/Adload!OSX, ApplicUnwnt, Osx.Adware.Cimpli and Adware.MAC.Generic
Distribution	Free software installers, fake software updaters, dubious pop-up advertisements and torrent downloads
Symptoms	When you go to a web-page, you are periodically redirected to another web page that you do not intend to visit, unclosable window appear and recommend fake security software, your MAC OS starts automatically installing unwanted programs, unwanted web browser plugins or toolbars keep coming back, unexpected changes in your web-browser such as using a new default search provider, your browser slows to a crawl.
Removal	MapperState removal guide

How to remove MapperState from Mac device

Adware is a form of malicious software that you might have difficulty in deleting it from your MAC system. Thankfully, you have found the effective MapperState adware removal guidance in this article. Both the manual removal way and the automatic removal method will be provided below and you can just select the one that best for you. If you have any questions or need help then type a comment 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 system.

To remove MapperState, perform the following steps:

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

Remove profiles created by MapperState

MapperState 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 related to MapperState.

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 device, which is normal.

Uninstall MapperState associated software by using the Finder

The next step in uninstalling adware, PUPs and browser hijackers by yourself is to go into the Finder, then Applications. Take a look at the list of applications on your Mac computer and see if there are any suspicious and unknown applications. If you see any, you need to delete it. Of course, before doing so, you can do an Net search to find details on the program. If it is a adware, browser hijacker and potentially unwanted program, you will likely find information that says so.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Very carefully look around the entire list of software installed on your Apple Mac. Most likely, one of them is the MapperState adware. Once you’ve found a suspicious, unwanted or unused application, right click to it and select “Move to Trash”. Another method is drag the application from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Don’t forget, choose Finder -> “Empty Trash”.

Remove MapperState related files and folders

Now you need to try to find MapperState 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.

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

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

Some files created by MapperState 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 MapperState 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, macsearch.plist, com.machelper.plist, com.google.defaultsearch.plist, , com.net-preferences.plist, com.MapperState.service.plist and search.plist. Most often, adware, browser hijackers and PUPs create several files with similar names.

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

If you are still having problems with the MapperState removal or just wish to scan your Mac device occasionally for adware and other malicious software, then download MalwareBytes AntiMalware. It’s free for home use, and finds and removes various undesired apps that attacks your MAC OS or degrades MAC system performance. MalwareBytes Anti Malware can delete toolbars, adware, browser hijackers and PUPs as well as malicious software, including ransomware and trojans.

Please go to the following link to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) for Apple Mac.

When downloading is finished, close all windows on your Apple Mac. Further, start the saved file. Follow the prompts.

The MalwareBytes will automatically launch and you can see its main window as displayed below.

Next, click the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the MapperState adware. While the MalwareBytes Free application is checking, you may see count of objects it has identified as threat.

When the checking is finished, you can check all items found on your MAC OS. Next, you need to click the “Quarantine” button.

The MalwareBytes AntiMalware will begin to delete MapperState adware.

Remove MapperState from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

This step will show you how to remove malicious extensions. This can remove MapperState adware and fix some surfing problems, especially after adware infection.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top-right corner, expand the Google Chrome menu. 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 get rid of MapperState 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 issues with MapperState 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

It’s important to run ad blocking apps such as AdGuard to protect your Apple Mac from harmful webpages. Most security experts says that it’s okay to block advertisements. You should do so just to stay safe! And, of course, the AdGuard can to stop misleading and other unwanted web-sites.

AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link.

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

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

Finish words

Once you’ve finished the steps outlined above, your MAC should be clean from the MapperState adware and other malware. The Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome will no longer display any unwanted ads when you surf the Internet. Unfortunately, if the step-by-step guidance does not help you, then you have caught a new adware software, and then the best way – ask for help.

Please create a new question by using the “Ask Question” button in the Questions and Answers. Try to give us some details about your problems, so we can try to help you more accurately. Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with the unwanted MapperState adware.