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

What is MapperIndex

MapperIndex is a malicious application that belongs to the Adware category. Adware is a form of malicious software that can cause problems for your Mac. Adware can show intrusive ads on your web-browser so that your cannot stop them, redirect your web browser to shady web sites, and it can cause scam apges to pop up on your computer screen. Adware software might end up on your computer after you download and install free apps from a questionable web-site.

Even worse, adware has the ability to collect a wide variety of confidential info about you which may be later used for marketing purposes. You don’t know if your home address, account names and passwords are safe. So, you should remove the adware as quickly as possible. Here, in this post below, you can found the effective guidance on How to remove MapperIndex and get rid of unwanted ads from your Mac for free.

How does MapperIndex get on your computer

Adware software actively distributed with free apps, as a part of the setup file of these applications. Therefore, it’s very important, when installing an new software, read the Terms of use and the Software license, as well as to select the Manual, Advanced or Custom install option. In this mode, you may disable the installation of unnecessary browser addons and adware and protect your computer from any unwanted software.

Threat Summary

Name	MapperIndex, MapperIndex 1.0 app
Type	adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Adware/Adload!OSX, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, ApplicUnwnt, Adware.MAC.Generic, MacOS.Agent-MT, Osx.Adware.Cimpli and OSX.Trojan.Gen
Distribution	Freeware installers, fake updaters, malicious popup advertisements and torrent downloads
Symptoms	Every time you perform an Internet search, your web-browser is redirected to another web page, unclosable window appear and recommend fake security software, your Apple Mac starts automatically installing unwanted programs, unwanted icons on your desktop, your web-browser search provider has modified without your permission, fast Internet but slow browsing speeds.
Removal	MapperIndex removal guide

How to Remove MapperIndex (Adware removal steps)

As with deleting adware, malware or potentially unwanted software, there are few steps you can do. We recommend trying them all. If you do only one part of the tutorial, then it should be run malware removal tool, because it should remove adware software and block any further malware infection. But to completely remove MapperIndex you will have to at least reset your web-browser settings like home page, default search provider and new tab to default state, delete all unwanted and suspicious software, and scan Mac susing malicious software removal utilities. 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 MAC.

To remove MapperIndex, execute the following steps:

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

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

MapperIndex 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 related to MapperIndex.

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, which is normal.

Remove MapperIndex associated software by using the Finder

In order to remove MapperIndex you need to do is to uninstall unknown and suspicious programs from your MAC using the Finder. When deleting browser hijackers, PUPs and adware, check the list of installed apps and try to find suspicious programs and remove them all. Pay special attention to recently installed applications, as it is most likely that MapperIndex сame along with it.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

It will display a list of all programs installed on your machine. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall any dubious and unknown applications. Right click to questionable program and choose “Move to Trash”. Another method is drag the program from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Most important, scroll through the all list, and move to trash any unknown applications. Don’t forget, select Finder -> Empty Trash.

Remove MapperIndex related files and folders

Now you need to try to find MapperIndex 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

Manual MapperIndex removal requires some computer skills. Some files and system entries that created by the adware may be not completely removed. We suggest that use MalwareBytes AntiMalware to scan the Mac computer. Moreover, this program will help you to remove adware, toolbars, potentially unwanted programs and browser hijackers that your MAC OS can be affected too.

Click the link below to download MalwareBytes.

After downloading is done, close all applications and windows on your MAC OS. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.

The MalwareBytes Anti Malware will automatically start and you can see its main screen like below.

Now click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the MapperIndex . Depending on your MAC, the scan may take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. When a malware, adware or PUPs are found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is finished.

When the scanning is complete, MalwareBytes Anti Malware will open a screen that contains a list of malicious software that has been detected. Review the report and then click the “Quarantine” button. The MalwareBytes will remove MapperIndex .

Remove MapperIndex from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Annoying MapperIndex or other symptoms of adware in your browser is a good reason to locate and delete malicious addons. This is an easy way to recover web browsers settings and not lose any important information.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top-right corner, expand the Chrome menu. When the drop-down menu appears, choose ‘More tools’ and click on ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to remove MapperIndex 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 MapperIndex 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 blocker programs such as AdGuard to protect your computer from harmful webpages. Most security experts says that it is 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.

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 downloading is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the install is done, press “Skip” to close the setup program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which 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 run your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and stop unwanted advertisements, block malicious and misleading web pages.

Finish words

Now your MAC system should be free of the MapperIndex adware. We suggest that you keep MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (to periodically scan your MAC OS for new adwares and other malicious software) and AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted pop-up ads and harmful websites). Moreover, to prevent any adware, please stay clear of unknown and third party software.

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