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

What is ActiveOptimization

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

The worst is, the ActiveOptimization adware can monetize its functionality by gathering confidential data from your surfing sessions. This information, subsequently, can be easily transferred third party companies. This puts your personal information at a security risk.

If you are unfortunate have adware software, you can follow the guide below that will assist you to remove ActiveOptimization and thereby get rid of unwanted ads from your web browser.

How does ActiveOptimization get on your Apple Mac

Adware usually gets onto MAC computers by being attached to freeware and fake updates. So, when you installing freeware, carefully read the disclaimers, select the Custom or Advanced install type to watch for third-party software that are being installed, because certain of the applications are PUPs and adware.

Threat Summary

Name	ActiveOptimization
Type	adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, OSX.Trojan.Gen, Adware.MAC.Generic, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, MacOS.Agent-MT, Adware/Adload!OSX, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A and ApplicUnwnt
Distribution	Freeware installers, torrent downloads, suspicious popup advertisements and fake software updaters
Symptoms	When you go to a web site, you’re occasionally redirected to another web site that you do not intend to visit, advertising pop ups won’t go away, new entries appear in your Applications folder, new toolbars on your desktop, your web-browser startpage has changed and you are unable to modify it back, slow Internet or slow browsing.
Removal	ActiveOptimization removal guide

How to Remove ActiveOptimization adware software (removal tutorial)

We can assist you get rid of unwanted ads from your web-browsers, without the need to take your MAC to a professional. Simply follow the removal steps below if you currently have the annoying adware software on your machine and want to delete it. If you have any difficulty while trying to get rid of the ActiveOptimization adware, feel free to ask for our help in the comment section below. Read it once, after doing so, please bookmark this page (or open it on your smartphone) as you may need to close your web browser or restart your MAC system.

To remove ActiveOptimization, execute the steps below:

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

Remove profiles created by ActiveOptimization

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

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

Check the list of installed software on your Mac computer and remove all unknown and recently installed programs. If you see an unknown application 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 like MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM).

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Very carefully look around the entire list of apps installed on your MAC. Most likely, one of them is the ActiveOptimization adware. Once you have found a suspicious, unwanted or unused program, right click to it and choose “Move to Trash”. Another way is drag the program from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Don’t forget, choose Finder -> “Empty Trash”.

Remove ActiveOptimization related files and folders

Now you need to try to find ActiveOptimization 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.

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

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

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

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

Check for ActiveOptimization 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 ActiveOptimization 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.ActiveOptimization.system.plist, com.search.system.plist and com.macsearch.system.plist. In most cases, adware, browser hijackers and PUPs create several files with similar names.

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We suggest using MalwareBytes Free. You can download and install MalwareBytes to scan for and remove ActiveOptimization associated programs from your Mac. When installed and updated, the malware remover automatically scans for and removes all security threats present on the computer.

MalwareBytes AntiMalware can be downloaded from the following link.

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

The MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will automatically start and you can see its main screen such as the one below.

Now click the “Scan” button to locate ActiveOptimization . This process can take quite a while, so please be patient. When a malware, adware software or potentially unwanted software are detected, the count of the security threats will change accordingly.

Once the scan get completed, MalwareBytes Free will show a scan report. Once you have selected what you want to delete from your Apple Mac click the “Quarantine” button. The MalwareBytes AntiMalware will begin to remove ActiveOptimization .

Remove ActiveOptimization from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Remove unwanted extensions is a simple solution to remove ActiveOptimization and return web-browser’s settings that have been modified by adware.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
Click on ‘three dots menu’ button at the top right corner of the Chrome window. 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 get rid of ActiveOptimization 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 ActiveOptimization 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

Running an adblocker program like AdGuard is an effective way to alleviate the risks. Additionally, ad blocker programs will also protect you from malicious advertisements and websites, and, of course, stop redirection chain to misleading, scam and similar websites.

Visit the following page to download the latest version of AdGuard for Mac OS.

When downloading is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen. Follow the prompts.

Each time, when you run your computer, AdGuard will run automatically and stop unwanted pop-ups, block harmful and misleading webpages.

Finish words

We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted advertisements and annoying malicious web pages) and MalwareBytes Free (to periodically scan your MAC OS for new malicious software, browser hijackers and adware software). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Mac OS. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new hijackers, harmful software and adware are released.

If you are still having problems while trying to remove ActiveOptimization ads from your internet browser, then ask for help here.