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

What is FlexibleOrigin

FlexibleOrigin is an adware application. Adware is type of malicious software that can cause issues for your Mac. It can generate numerous additional popup, banner, pop-under and in-text link ads flooding on your web browser; gather your personal data such as login details, online searches, etc; run in the background and drag down your Mac running speed; give more chances for other adware, PUPs even malicious software to get on your computer.

Another reason why you need to delete FlexibleOrigin is its online data-tracking activity. It can gather your World Wide Web browsing activity by recording URLs visited, IP addresses, internet browser version and type, cookie information, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and websites visited. Such kind of behavior can lead to serious security problems or user info theft. This is another reason why the FlexibleOrigin adware should be removed without a wait.

The tutorial below explaining steps to remove FlexibleOrigin. Feel free to use it for removal of the adware that may attack Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari and other popular browsers. The steps will allow you delete adware software and get rid of annoying advertisements from your web-browser.

How does FlexibleOrigin get on your MAC system

Adware software usually come bundled with freeware . So, when you installing free programs, carefully read the disclaimers, choose the Custom or Advanced setup type to watch for optional programs that are being installed, because some of the programs are PUPs and adware.

Threat Summary

Name	FlexibleOrigin, FlexibleOrigin 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, Adware.MAC.Generic, ApplicUnwnt, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, Adware/Adload!OSX and MacOS.Agent-MT
Distribution	Free software installers, suspicious pop-up advertisements, fake updaters and torrent downloads
Symptoms	Your browser is redirected to webpages you did not want, advertising pop-ups won’t go away, new entries appear in your Applications folder, new toolbars suddenly added on your web browser, unwanted changes in your web browser like using a new default search provider, low ping but slow Internet.
Removal	FlexibleOrigin removal guide

How to remove FlexibleOrigin adware

The adware is a form of malicious software that you might have difficulty in removing it from your MAC system. Luckily, you have found the effective adware removal instructions in this article. Both the manual removal method and the automatic removal way will be provided below and you can just choose the one that best for you. If you’ve any questions or need help then type a comment below. Certain of the steps will require you to restart your MAC or close this website. So, read this guide carefully, then bookmark this page or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove FlexibleOrigin, execute the following steps:

1. Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device
2. Delete FlexibleOrigin related apps through the Finder
3. Remove FlexibleOrigin related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove FlexibleOrigin from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

FlexibleOrigin 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 FlexibleOrigin.

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

Delete FlexibleOrigin related apps through the Finder

Check the list of installed applications and delete all unknown or suspicious software. This is an important step, it so often happens that PUPs, browser hijackers and adware are built into free software, so by removing these programs you can get rid of intrusive ads and web-browser redirects.

1. Open the Finder.
2. Click “Applications”.
3. It will display a list of all apps installed on the machine.
4. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall suspicious and unknown applications. 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 FlexibleOrigin related files and folders

Now you need to try to find FlexibleOrigin 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

You can remove FlexibleOrigin associated files automatically through the use of MalwareBytes Free. We advise this free malicious software removal tool because it can easily get rid of browser hijackers, toolbars, potentially unwanted programs and adware with all their components such as files, folders and system entries.

MalwareBytes Free can be downloaded from the following link.

After downloading is done, close all software and windows on your machine. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.

The MalwareBytes AntiMalware will automatically start and you can see its main screen as shown on the screen below.

Now click the “Scan” button to look for FlexibleOrigin . A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your MAC. While the MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) program is checking, you can see how many objects it has identified as threat.

After finished, it will open the Scan Results. Make sure all threats have ‘checkmark’ and click the “Quarantine” button. The MalwareBytes will remove FlexibleOrigin and move the selected items to the program’s quarantine.

Remove FlexibleOrigin from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Annoying FlexibleOrigin adware or other symptoms of adware in your web-browser is a good reason to locate and delete harmful plugins. This is an easy way to restore web browsers settings and not lose any important information.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top right hand corner, click on ‘three vertical dots’, and this will open up the main menu on Google Chrome. When the drop-down menu appears, select ‘More tools’ and click on ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to delete FlexibleOrigin 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 FlexibleOrigin 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

Using an ad-blocker program like AdGuard is an effective way to alleviate the risks. Additionally, ad-blocker apps will also protect you from malicious ads and webpages, and, of course, block redirection chain to misleading, scam and similar websites.

Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you will need to download AdGuard by clicking on the following link.

Once the download is done, 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 guide. Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick guide which will allow you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you launch your MAC, AdGuard will start automatically and stop annoying pop-ups, block malicious and misleading web pages.

Finish words

After completing the step-by-step tutorial shown above, your MAC OS should be free from the FlexibleOrigin adware and other malicious software. The Safari, Firefox and Google Chrome will no longer redirect you to unwanted web-sites and online ads. Unfortunately, if the step-by-step guide does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help here.