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

What is MicroProcess

MicroProcess is malicious application that belongs to the Adware category. Adware is a term that originates from ‘ad supported’ software. In many cases, ‘adware’ is considered by many to be synonymous with ‘malicious software’. Its purpose is to earn profit for its author by serving unwanted ads to a user while the user is surfing the Internet.

Another reason why you need to remove the MicroProcess app is its online data-tracking activity. It can seek out your data stored on the Mac, collect this information and use it to steal your identity.

How does MicroProcess get on your machine

Most often, a freeware installation package includes additional apps such as this adware. So, be very careful when you agree to install anything. The best way – is to select a Custom, Advanced or Manual installation method. Here uncheck all optional programs in which you are unsure or that causes even a slightest suspicion.

Threat Summary

Name	MicroProcess, MicroProcess 1.0 app
Type	adware software, PUP (potentially unwanted program), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, Adware/Adload!OSX, Adware.MAC.Generic, OSX.Trojan.Gen, ApplicUnwnt, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Osx.Adware.Cimpli and MacOS.Agent-MT
Distribution	Freeware installers, dubious pop-up advertisements, torrent downloads and fake software updaters
Symptoms	Every time you perform an Internet search, your browser is redirected to another web-site, adverts appear in places they shouldn’t be, new entries appear in your Applications folder, unexpected web-browser extensions or toolbars keep coming back, your web browser home page has replaced and you cannot modify it back, slow Internet or slow browsing.
Removal	MicroProcess removal guide

How to remove MicroProcess

To remove MicroProcess adware from your machine, you must uninstall all suspicious programs and every file that could be related to the adware software. Besides, to restore your web-browser search engine by default, new tab page and start page, you should reset the hijacked web-browsers. As soon as you’re complete with adware removal process, we advise you scan your computer with malware removal tools listed below. It’ll complete the removal procedure on your MAC OS.

To remove MicroProcess, perform the steps below:

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

Remove profiles created by MicroProcess

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

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

Remove MicroProcess associated software by using the Finder

One of the first things to attempt for removal of adware is to check your Mac computer installed programs screen and look for undesired and suspicious apps. If there are any applications you do not recognize or are no longer using, you should uninstall them. If that doesn’t work, then you may need to use malicious software removal tool such as MalwareBytes Free.

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

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

After 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 MicroProcess related files and folders

Now you need to try to find MicroProcess 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

Manual MicroProcess removal requires some computer skills. Some files and system entries that created by the adware can be not completely removed. We recommend that run MalwareBytes to scan the Mac. Moreover, this program will help you to remove adware software, PUPs, browser hijackers and toolbars that your machine can be affected too.

Download MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) on your MAC system by clicking on the following link.

After the downloading process is finished, close all apps and windows on your machine. Open a directory in which you saved it. Run the saved file and follow the prompts.

Once installation is complete, you’ll see window as displayed below.

Now click the “Scan” button to begin scanning your computer for the MicroProcess adware software. While the utility is scanning, you can see number of objects and files has already scanned.

As the scanning ends, MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will create a list of unwanted apps and adware software. You may remove items (move to Quarantine) by simply click “Quarantine” button.

The Malwarebytes will now begin to delete MicroProcess adware.

Remove MicroProcess from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

This step will show you how to delete malicious extensions. This can remove MicroProcess adware software and fix some browsing problems, especially after adware software infection.

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 MicroProcess 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 MicroProcess 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

Run an adblocker utility such as AdGuard will protect you from harmful ads and content. Moreover, you can find that the AdGuard have an option to protect your privacy and stop phishing and spam web-pages. Additionally, ad-blocker apps will help you to avoid unwanted advertisements and unverified links that also a good way to stay safe online.

Please go to the link below to download AdGuard.

After the download is finished, 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 tutorial. Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick guidance which will help you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you start your Apple Mac, AdGuard will run automatically and stop intrusive popup advertisements, block harmful and misleading web-sites.

Finish words

Now your MAC system should be clean of the MicroProcess adware. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted popup ads and annoying malicious web-pages) and MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) (to periodically scan your computer for new adwares and other malware).

If you are still having problems while trying to get rid of MicroProcess ads from Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome, then ask for help here here.