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

What is SchedulerSkyLoad

SchedulerSkyLoad is an adware application that targets Apple computers. Adware is considered by many to be synonymous with ‘malicious software’. It is a type of harmful software that serves unwanted advertisements to computer users. Some examples include pop-up ads, different offers and deals, push notfications or even fake virus alerts and unclosable windows. Adware can be installed onto your computer via infected webpages, when you open email attachments, anytime you download and install free software.

Does SchedulerSkyLoad steal your personal information? It is able to gather a wide variety of confidential data about you to get profit. The adware can analyze your surfing, and gain access to your sensitive info and, later, can transfer it to third parties. Thus, there are more than enough reasons to remove SchedulerSkyLoad from your computer.

How does SchedulerSkyLoad get on your MAC system

Most of unwanted ads and popups come from internet browser toolbars and/or extensions, BHOs (browser helper objects) and bundled apps. In many cases, these items claim itself as programs which improve your experience on the Web by providing a fast and interactive homepage or a search provider that does not track you. Remember, how to avoid the unwanted apps. Be cautious, start only reputable applications which download from reputable sources. NEVER install any unknown and suspicious apps.

Threat Summary

Name	SchedulerSkyLoad
Type	adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	OSX.Trojan.Gen, Adware.MAC.Generic, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, ApplicUnwnt, MacOS.Agent-MT, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Adware/Adload!OSX and Osx.Adware.Cimpli
Distribution	Free software installers, fake updaters, torrent downloads and shady popup advertisements
Symptoms	The webpage links redirect to a websites different from what you expected, internet browser popups appear and recommend fake Jave updates, there is an unexpected program in the ‘Applications’ section of the Finder, an unexpected add-on appears in your web-browser, your web browser search engine has changed without your permission, slow browsing Internet.
Removal	SchedulerSkyLoad removal guide

How to remove SchedulerSkyLoad from Mac computer

There are a simple manual guide below which will help you to remove SchedulerSkyLoad from your Mac computer. The most effective way to remove this adware is to follow the manual removal tutorial and then run MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) automatic tool (it is free). The manual solution will assist to weaken this adware and these malicious software removal utilities will completely remove SchedulerSkyLoad adware and restore the Google Chrome, Safari and Mozilla Firefox settings to default.

To remove SchedulerSkyLoad, perform the following steps:

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

Remove profiles created by SchedulerSkyLoad

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

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

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 computer, which is normal.

Check the list of installed programs

The next step in uninstalling browser hijackers, adware and PUPs by yourself is to go into the Finder, then Applications. Take a look at the list of applications on your Mac device and see if there are any dubious and unknown apps. If you see any, you need to delete it. Of course, before doing so, you can do an Internet search to find details on the program. If it is a browser hijacker, PUP and adware software, you will likely find information that says so.

1. Open the Finder.
2. Click “Applications”.
3. It will open a list of all software installed on the Apple Mac.
4. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall questionable and unknown apps. Pay maximum attention to the program you installed last.
5. Drag the dubious application from the Applications folder to the Trash.
6. Empty Trash.

Remove SchedulerSkyLoad related files and folders

Now you need to try to find SchedulerSkyLoad 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We recommend using MalwareBytes. You may download and install MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) to look for and remove SchedulerSkyLoad associated programs from your Mac device. When installed and updated, the malicious software remover automatically detects and removes all security threats present on the MAC system.

1. Please go to the link below to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Free for Mac.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
   20850 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: September 10, 2020
   
2. Once the downloading process is finished, close all apps and windows on your MAC OS. Open a folder in which you saved it. Run the downloaded file and follow the prompts.
3. Click the “Scan” button for checking your Apple Mac for the SchedulerSkyLoad adware. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your MAC system and the speed of your MAC OS. While the MalwareBytes is checking, you can see how many objects it has identified either as being malware.
4. When the system scan is finished, you can check all items detected on your computer. When you are ready, click “Quarantine”.

Remove SchedulerSkyLoad from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

If you are still seeing SchedulerSkyLoad adware that won’t go away, you might have malicious add-ons installed on your browser. Check your browser for unwanted extensions using the steps below.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top-right corner, expand the Chrome menu. Select ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to delete SchedulerSkyLoad adware 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 SchedulerSkyLoad adware 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 surf the Internet, you cannot avoid malicious advertising. But you can protect your internet browser against it. Download and run an ad blocking application. AdGuard is an ad blocking which can filter out a large amount of of the malvertising, stoping dynamic scripts from loading harmful content.

Visit the following page to download AdGuard.

After downloading is complete, 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 guide that will help you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you launch your MAC system, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop annoying pop-ups, block harmful and misleading web-sites.

To sum up

Once you have removed the adware using this steps, Safari, Chrome and Mozilla Firefox will no longer show any unwanted ads when you surf the Web. Unfortunately, if the steps does not help you, then you have caught a new adware software, and then the best way – ask for help.

Please create a new question by using the “Ask Question” button in the Questions and Answers. Try to give us some details about your problems, so we can try to help you more accurately. Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with the unwanted SchedulerSkyLoad adware.