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

What is FileDisplay

FileDisplay is an adware application. Adware is considered by many to be synonymous with ‘malware’. It is a form of malicious software which displays unwanted advertisements to computer users. Some examples include pop up ads, various offers and deals or unclosable windows. Adware software can be installed onto your MAC system via infected web pages, when you open email attachments, anytime you download and install freeware.

Another reason why you need to remove FileDisplay is its online data-tracking activity. Adware software may monetize its functionality by collecting personal information from your browsing sessions. This confidential data, later, can be easily transferred to third parties. This puts your personal data at a security risk.

Thus, the adware is quite dangerous. So, we advise you remove it from your MAC as soon as possible. Follow the tutorial presented below to delete FileDisplay from your Mac and Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

How does FileDisplay get on your Apple Mac

Adware software may be spread through the use of trojan horses and other forms of malicious software, but most commonly, adware spreads bundled with certain freeware. Many creators of free applications include additional software in their setup file. Sometimes it’s possible to avoid the installation of any adware: carefully read the Terms of Use and the Software license, choose only Manual, Custom or Advanced installation method, disable all checkboxes before clicking Install or Next button while installing new free programs.

Threat Summary

Name	FileDisplay, “FileDisplay 1.0 app”
Type	adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	Adware/Adload!OSX, ApplicUnwnt, OSX.Trojan.Gen, MacOS.Agent-MT, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, Adware.MAC.Generic and Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload
Distribution	Freeware installers, malicious pop-up ads, fake updaters and torrent downloads
Symptoms	Your internet browser is redirected to web sites you did not want, advertising banners appear on web pages that you are visiting, unwanted application installed without your consent, unwanted web-browser add-ons or toolbars keep coming back, unwanted changes in your web browser such as displaying new tabs you didn’t open, slow Internet browsing speeds.
Removal	FileDisplay removal guide

How to remove FileDisplay adware

As with removing adware software, malware or PUPs, there are few steps you may do. We recommend trying them all. If you do only one part of the guidance, then it should be use malicious software removal utility, because it should remove adware software and stop any further infection. But to completely remove FileDisplay you will have to at least reset your browser settings, uninstall suspicious apps, and remove adware by using malware removal tools. Read it once, after doing so, please bookmark this page (or open it on your smartphone) as you may need to close your web-browser or restart your MAC system.

To remove FileDisplay, complete the following steps:

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

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

FileDisplay 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 software.

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 FileDisplay.

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.

Remove FileDisplay associated software by using the Finder

In the next step, you need to check the list of installed applications on your Mac computer and remove all unused, unknown and questionable programs.

Open Finder and click “Applications” as on the image below.

You will see a list of programs installed on your MAC. We recommend to pay maximum attention to the program you installed last. Most probably, it is the FileDisplay adware. If you are in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing.

When the program which you need to uninstall is found, simply right click on its name, and select “Move to Trash”.

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

Remove FileDisplay related files and folders

Now you need to try to find FileDisplay 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We advise using MalwareBytes. You can download and install MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) to look for and get rid of FileDisplay related software from your Mac device. When installed and updated, the malicious software remover automatically scans for and deletes all security threats present on the Apple Mac.

1. Download MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) on your machine from the following link.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
   20994 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: September 10, 2020
   
2. When downloading is finished, please close all software and open windows on your MAC. Run the downloaded file. Follow the prompts.
3. The MalwareBytes will launch and show the main window.
4. Further, press the “Scan” button to begin scanning your machine for the FileDisplay adware. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your computer. While the MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) is checking, you may see how many objects it has identified either as being malicious software.
5. Once the scan get finished, the results are displayed in the scan report.
6. Review the scan results and then press the “Remove Selected Items” button.
7. Close the Anti Malware and continue with the next step.

Remove FileDisplay from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

If you’re still getting FileDisplay adware, then you can try to delete it by removing malicious add-ons.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
Click on ‘three dots menu’ button at the top right corner of the Google Chrome window. Select ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to get rid of FileDisplay 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 FileDisplay 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

We suggest to install an ad blocking program. The adblocker tool like AdGuard is a program which basically removes advertising from the Web and blocks access to malicious web-pages. Moreover, security experts says that using ad blocking software is necessary to stay safe when surfing the Internet.

1. AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link.
   
   

   AdGuard for Mac download
   3772 downloads
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: January 17, 2018
   
2. When the downloading process is finished, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the install is finished, click “Skip” to close the install program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will help 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 launch your MAC OS, AdGuard will start automatically and stop intrusive advertisements, block harmful and misleading web pages.

To sum up

Once you’ve complete the steps shown above, your MAC OS should be clean from FileDisplay and other malicious software. The Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Safari will no longer redirect you to unwanted webpages and online ads. Unfortunately, if the steps does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help here.