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

What is WebBoostSeach

WebBoostSeach is an adware application. Adware is form of malicious software designed to inject adverts into your Net surfing or even desktop experience. Adware can be created to alter your startpage, search engine, search results, or even add toolbars to your web-browser. Adware run in the background when browse the World Wide Web, and adware can slow down your MAC and affect its performance.

Does adware software steal your privacy data? Adware be able to gather marketing-type data about you (your ip address, what is a webpage you are viewing now, what you are looking for on the Web, which links you are clicking), which can later transfer to third parties.

How does WebBoostSeach get on your machine

Adware software can be spread with the help of trojan horses and other forms of malicious software, but in many cases, adware come together with some free programs. Many makers of free software include additional apps in their installer. Sometimes it’s possible to avoid the install of any adware: carefully read the Terms of Use and the Software license, choose only Manual, Custom or Advanced setup mode, disable all checkboxes before clicking Install or Next button while installing new free applications.

Threat Summary

Name	WebBoostSeach, WebBoostSeach 1.0 app
Type	adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Adware/Adload!OSX, ApplicUnwnt, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, OSX.Trojan.Gen, MacOS.Agent-MT, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload and Adware.MAC.Generic
Distribution	Freeware installers, torrent downloads, shady popup ads and fake update tools
Symptoms	When you go to a website, you are randomly redirected to another web site that you do not intend to visit, unwanted advertising links appear on websites that you are visiting, unwanted program installed without your consent, new plugins suddenly installed on your web-browser, your web browser homepage has changed and you are unable to modify it back, your browser slows to a crawl.
Removal	WebBoostSeach removal guide

How to remove WebBoostSeach from Mac device

There are several steps to removing the WebBoostSeach adware. You need to uninstall all suspicious and unknown programs, then get rid of malicious addons from the Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome and other browsers you have installed. Finally, you need to reset your browser settings to remove any changes the adware software has made, and then scan your MAC OS with MalwareBytes to ensure the adware is fully removed. It will take a while.

To remove WebBoostSeach, perform the following steps:

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

Remove profiles created by WebBoostSeach

WebBoostSeach 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 WebBoostSeach.

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

Check the list of installed programs

Check the list of installed software on your Mac and uninstall all unknown and recently installed software. If you see an unknown program 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).

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Carefully browse through the list of installed programs and remove all dubious and unknown programs.

When you’ve found anything questionable that may be the WebBoostSeach or other potentially unwanted program, then right click this program and choose “Move to Trash”. Once complete, Empty Trash.

Remove WebBoostSeach related files and folders

Now you need to try to find WebBoostSeach 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

You can remove WebBoostSeach associated files automatically with a help of MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM). We advise this free malicious software removal tool because it can easily get rid of browser hijackers, potentially unwanted programs, toolbars and adware with all their components such as files, folders and system entries.

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

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
   20851 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: September 10, 2020
   
2. Once downloading is done, close all applications and windows on your Apple Mac. Open a file location. Run the downloaded file and follow the prompts.
3. Click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the WebBoostSeach . This process can take some time, so please be patient. When a malicious software, adware software or potentially unwanted applications are detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is finished.
4. As the scanning ends, MalwareBytes Free will display a list of found items. Next, you need to click “Quarantine”.

Remove WebBoostSeach from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Remove unwanted extensions is a easy method to delete WebBoostSeach adware software and return internet browser’s settings which have been changed by adware.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top-right corner, expand the 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 delete WebBoostSeach 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 WebBoostSeach adware 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

By installing an adblocker program such as AdGuard, you’re able to block malicious webpages, stop autoplaying video ads and remove a lot of distracting and unwanted ads on web pages.

1. AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link.
   
   

   AdGuard for Mac download
   3687 downloads
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: January 17, 2018
   
2. After the downloading process is complete, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. Once the install is done, press “Skip” to close the installation 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 start your Apple Mac, AdGuard will run automatically and stop intrusive ads, block malicious and misleading web pages.

Finish words

Now your MAC system should be clean of the WebBoostSeach adware. We suggest that you keep MalwareBytes Free (to periodically scan your Apple Mac for new adwares and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you block intrusive popup advertisements and malicious web sites). Moreover, to prevent any adware, please stay clear of unknown and third party software.

If you need more help with WebBoostSeach related issues, go to here.