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

What is OptionPreview

OptionPreview is an adware application that targets Mac platform. Adware is a form of malicious software designed to throw advertisements up on the web-browser screen. OptionPreview generates revenue for its developer by displaying a large amount of unwanted advertisements and pop up deals. You might experience a change in your homepage or search provider, new tabs opening or even a redirect to scam webpages.

Does OptionPreview steal your privacy information? It can gather marketing-type data about you which can be later sold to third party companies. You do not know if your home address, account names and passwords are safe.

To find out how to remove OptionPreview adware, we advise to read the step-by-step guide added to this article below. The instructions was prepared by experienced security specialists who discovered a method to get rid of the adware software out of the MAC.

How does OptionPreview get on your MAC

Most often, adware come bundled with the setup files from file sharing and torrents web pages. So, install freeware is a a good chance that you will find a bundled adware software. If you don’t know how to avoid it, then use a simple trick. During the installation, select the Custom or Advanced installation type. Next, click ‘Decline’ button and clear all checkboxes on offers that ask you to install optional software. Moreover, please carefully read Term of use and User agreement before installing any applications or otherwise you may end up with another unwanted program on your Mac such as this adware.

Threat Summary

Name	OptionPreview
Type	adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	Adware.MAC.Generic, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, MacOS.Agent-MT, OSX.Trojan.Gen, ApplicUnwnt, Adware/Adload!OSX and Program:MacOS/Vigram.A
Distribution	Freeware installers, misleading pop up ads, torrent downloads and fake updaters
Symptoms	Your internet browser is redirected to websites you did not want, undesired advertising links appear on webpages that you are visiting, new entries appear in your Applications folder, unexpected icons in your browser, unwanted changes in your web-browser such as displaying new tabs you did not open, slow Internet browsing speeds.
Removal	OptionPreview removal guide

How to Remove OptionPreview adware (removal instructions)

There exist several free adware removal utilities. Also it is possible to delete OptionPreview adware manually. But we suggest to combine all these ways below into the one removal algorithm. Follow the steps of the instructions. Read it once, after doing so, please bookmark this page (or open it on your smartphone) as you may need to exit your browser or restart your MAC.

To remove OptionPreview, use the steps below:

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

Remove profiles created by OptionPreview

OptionPreview 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 the System Preferences icon ( ) in the Dock, or choose Apple menu ( ) > System Preferences.

In System Preferences, click Profiles, then select a profile associated with OptionPreview.

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.

Check the list of installed programs

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

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Very carefully look around the entire list of programs installed on your Apple Mac. Most probably, one of them is the OptionPreview adware. Once you have found a dubious, unwanted or unused program, right click to it and select “Move to Trash”. Another method is drag the application from the Applications folder to the Trash.

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

Remove OptionPreview related files and folders

Now you need to try to find OptionPreview 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

You can remove OptionPreview associated files automatically with a help of MalwareBytes Free. We advise this free malware removal tool because it may easily remove PUPs, adware, toolbars and browser hijackers with all their components such as files, folders and system entries.

1. Installing the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware is simple. First you’ll need to download MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) on your MS Windows Desktop from the following link.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
   20988 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: September 10, 2020
   
2. After downloading is finished, please close all apps and open windows on your MAC OS. Run the downloaded file. Follow the prompts.
3. The MalwareBytes Anti-Malware will run and show the main window.
4. Further, click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the OptionPreview . Depending on your MAC, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. During the scan MalwareBytes Free will search for threats exist on your computer.
5. After finished, MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will display a list of all threats found by the scan.
6. Make sure to check mark the threats which are unsafe and then press the “Remove Selected Items” button.
7. Close the Anti Malware and continue with the next step.

Remove OptionPreview from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Annoying OptionPreview adware software or other symptoms of adware in your web-browser is a good reason to locate and remove malicious 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. Select ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to remove OptionPreview 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 OptionPreview adware software 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

Run an ad blocking 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 block phishing and spam web pages. Additionally, ad blocker programs will help you to avoid annoying popup ads and unverified links that also a good way to stay safe online.

Download AdGuard from the following link.

When 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 guide. Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick guidance that will assist you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you run your MAC OS, AdGuard will start automatically and stop annoying popups, block malicious and misleading web pages.

To sum up

We suggest that you keep MalwareBytes Anti Malware (to periodically scan your machine for new adware softwares and other malicious software) and AdGuard (to help you block annoying pop up advertisements and malicious websites). Moreover, to prevent any adware software, please stay clear of unknown and third party applications.

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