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

What is ExplorerTransaction

ExplorerTransaction is an adware application that targets Mac computers. Adware is a form of malicious software. When adware hijacks your Mac, it might carry out various harmful tasks. ExplorerTransaction can display numerous pop up windows and/or unwanted ads, redirect your web-browser to scam pages; slow down your MAC, modify browser settings.

Even worse, the adware can be used to gather and transmit sensitive information without your knowledge. ExplorerTransaction can be used to track information about webpages visited, web-browser and system information, and your computer IP address.

If you are unfortunate have adware, you can follow the guide below that will help you to delete ExplorerTransaction and get rid of unwanted ads from your web-browser.

How does ExplorerTransaction get on your Apple Mac

The adware was probably installed on your MAC when you installed some free applications like Email checker, PDF creator, video codec, etc. Because more often than not, adware can be bundled with the installation files of Softonic, Cnet, Soft32, Brothersoft or other similar software download web-pages. Thus, you must be very careful when running any files downloaded from the World Wide Web! Always read the User Agreement, Software License and Terms of Use carefully. In the installation wizard, you should select the Advanced, Custom or Manual installation option to specify which components and optional programs to install, otherwise you risk infecting your computer with adware or a potentially unwanted app (PUA).

Threat Summary

Name	ExplorerTransaction
Type	adware, potentially unwanted application (PUA), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	Adware.MAC.Generic, MacOS.Agent-MT, Adware/Adload!OSX, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, OSX.Trojan.Gen, ApplicUnwnt and Osx.Adware.Cimpli
Distribution	Freeware installers, fake software updaters, misleading pop up advertisements and torrent downloads
Symptoms	When you go to a web page, you are constantly redirected to another web-site that you do not intend to visit, advertising banners appear on websites that you are visiting, there is an unexpected program in the ‘Applications’ section of the Finder, unwanted internet browser extensions or toolbars keep coming back, unwanted changes in your browser such as displaying new tabs you didn’t open, your internet browser slows to a crawl.
Removal	ExplorerTransaction removal guide

How to remove ExplorerTransaction adware

Most often adware software requires more than a simple uninstall with the help of the Finder in order to be fully removed. For that reason, our team created several removal solutions that we’ve combined in a detailed guidance. Therefore, if you’ve the ExplorerTransaction adware on your Apple Mac and are currently trying to have it removed then feel free to follow the step-by-step instructions below in order to resolve your problem. Certain of the steps below will require you to close this web site. So, please read the guidance carefully, after that bookmark it or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove ExplorerTransaction, complete the following steps:

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

Remove profiles created by ExplorerTransaction

ExplorerTransaction 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 ExplorerTransaction.

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

In order to remove browser hijackers, PUPs and adware, open the Finder and click on “Applications”. Check the list of installed apps. For the ones you do not know, run an Internet search to see if they are browser hijackers, adware and PUPs. If yes, remove them off. Even if they are just a apps that you do not use, then removing them off will increase your Apple Mac start up time and speed dramatically.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

It will display a list of all software installed on your Apple Mac. Scroll through the all list, and remove any suspicious and unknown programs. Right click to dubious program and select “Move to Trash”. Another solution 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 ExplorerTransaction related files and folders

Now you need to try to find ExplorerTransaction 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

You can delete ExplorerTransaction related files automatically with a help of MalwareBytes Free. We suggest this free malware removal utility because it may easily remove potentially unwanted programs, toolbars, browser hijackers and adware software with all their components such as files, folders and system entries.

MalwareBytes Free can be downloaded from the following link.

Once downloading is finished, close all windows on your Apple Mac. Further, run the saved file. Follow the prompts.

The MalwareBytes Free will automatically start and you can see its main window as displayed below.

Next, click the “Scan Now” button . MalwareBytes AntiMalware application will scan through the whole MAC OS for the ExplorerTransaction adware software. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your computer and the speed of your MAC system. While the MalwareBytes Anti Malware is scanning, you can see how many objects it has identified either as being malicious software.

When MalwareBytes AntiMalware is done scanning your machine, MalwareBytes will show a list of all items found by the scan. Make sure to check mark the threats that are unsafe and then click the “Quarantine” button.

The MalwareBytes will delete ExplorerTransaction adware software.

Remove ExplorerTransaction from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Annoying ExplorerTransaction adware or other symptoms of adware software in your web-browser is a good reason to locate and delete harmful add-ons. This is an easy method to restore 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 ExplorerTransaction 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 problems with ExplorerTransaction 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

If you browse the Internet, you cannot avoid malicious advertising. But you can protect your web browser against it. Download and run an ad blocker program. AdGuard is an ad blocking which can filter out tons of of the malicious advertising, blocking dynamic scripts from loading harmful content.

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

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 instructions. Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick instructions that will help you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you start your MAC, AdGuard will start automatically and stop unwanted pop up ads, block malicious and misleading web pages.

Finish words

We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted pop up ads and intrusive harmful web pages) and MalwareBytes Free (to periodically scan your Apple Mac for new malware, browser hijackers and adware). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Mac OS. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new browser hijackers, harmful apps and adware are released.

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