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

What is TabHelper

TabHelper is supposed to be an app that will improve the browsing experience, but it is adware. Adware software can make big problem to your MAC. Adware also known as ‘ad-supported’ software is a type of malicious applications that shows a large amount of adverts in form of pop-up windows, discounting deals, banners or even fake alerts on the internet browser. TabHelper can seriously affect your privacy, your computer’s performance and security.

Does adware software steal your privacy information? Adware can install a component that enables its creator to track which web-sites you visit, which products you look at upon those pages. They are then able to choose the type of advertisements they display you. So, if you had adware on your machine, there is a good chance you have another that is collecting and sharing your data with third parties, without your knowledge.

By following guidance below it is easy to detect and get rid of adware software from Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari and your Apple Mac. Learn how to remove TabHelper and adware apps, as well as how to run a full Mac virus scan.

How does TabHelper get on your Apple Mac

Adware come together with various free programs. This means that you need to be very careful when installing software downloaded from the Web. Be sure to read the Terms of Use and the Software license, choose only the Manual, Advanced or Custom installation mode, switch off all bundled web browser extensions and programs are offered to install.

Threat Summary

Name	TabHelper
Type	adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	ApplicUnwnt, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, OSX.Trojan.Gen, Adware.MAC.Generic, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, MacOS.Agent-MT, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A and Adware/Adload!OSX
Distribution	Free software installers, torrent downloads, misleading pop up advertisements and fake updaters
Symptoms	When you go to a web page, you are randomly redirected to another web site that you do not intend to visit, advertising banners appear on web sites that you are visiting, there is an unwanted application in the ‘Applications’ section of the Finder, new plugins suddenly added on your web-browser, your web-browser search engine has modified without your permission, fast Internet but slow browsing speeds.
Removal	TabHelper removal guide

How to Remove TabHelper adware (removal tutorial)

Not all malicious software such as TabHelper adware are easily uninstallable. You may see pop-ups, deals, text links, in-text advertisements, banners and other type of advertisements in the Firefox, Chrome and Safari and may not be able to figure out the program responsible for this activity. The reason for this is that many unwanted applications neither appear in the Finder. Therefore in order to completely remove TabHelper adware, 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 internet browser or restart your computer.

To remove TabHelper, perform the steps below:

1. Remove profiles created by TabHelper
2. Check the list of installed apps
3. Remove TabHelper related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove TabHelper from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online

Remove profiles created by TabHelper

TabHelper 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.

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. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile associated with TabHelper.

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

Check the list of installed apps

In order to delete PUPs, adware and browser hijackers, open the Finder and click on “Applications”. Check the list of installed software. For the ones you do not know, run an Internet search to see if they are adware software, browser hijackers and PUPs. If yes, delete them off. Even if they are just a apps that you do not use, then deleting them off will increase your computer start up time and speed dramatically.

Make sure you have closed all web-browsers and other applications. Next, remove any unknown and suspicious applications from MAC OS using the Finder.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Look around the entire list of applications installed on your MAC. Most likely, one of them is the TabHelper adware. Select the questionable program or the program that name is not familiar to you and uninstall it.

Drag the dubious program from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Most important, don’t forget, select Finder -> Empty Trash.

Remove TabHelper related files and folders

Now you need to try to find TabHelper 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We recommend using MalwareBytes Free to scan the Mac computer for adware, browser hijackers and potentially unwanted programs. This free tool is an advanced malware removal application created by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular anti-malware technology. It is able to help you remove PUPs and other security threats from your Mac device for free.

1. MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) can be downloaded from the following link.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
   20983 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: September 10, 2020
   
2. After the downloading process is done, please close all software and open windows on your MAC. Run the downloaded file. Follow the prompts.
3. The MalwareBytes AntiMalware will run and open the main window.
4. Further, press the “Scan” button . MalwareBytes AntiMalware application will scan through the whole MAC OS for the TabHelper adware. Depending on your MAC, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. When a malicious software, adware or PUPs are found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly.
5. After the checking is done, you can check all items found on your Apple Mac.
6. All detected items will be marked. You can delete them all by simply click the “Remove Selected Items” button.
7. Close the Anti-Malware and continue with the next step.

Remove TabHelper from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Remove unwanted extensions is a easy method to remove TabHelper adware and restore web-browser’s settings which have been modified by adware.

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 delete TabHelper 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 TabHelper adware 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

We recommend to install an ad blocking application. The ad blocking tool such as AdGuard is a program which basically removes advertising from the Net and blocks access to malicious web pages. Moreover, security experts says that using ad blocking apps is necessary to stay safe when surfing the Web.

AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link.

Once the downloading process is complete, run the downloaded file. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen.

Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick guidance. Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will help you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you run your MAC system, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop intrusive pop-ups, block harmful and misleading web sites.

To sum up

After completing the steps outlined above, your machine should be clean from TabHelper and other malware. The Safari, Google Chrome and Firefox will no longer redirect you to scam sites and online ads. Unfortunately, if the guidance does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help here.