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

What is AdjustableControl

AdjustableControl is an adware application that targets Mac computers. Adware is a form of malicious software designed to display unwanted advertisements on the web-browser screen. Some of these ads are scams or fake ads designed to trick users. Even the harmless advertisements can become really irritating. Adware software can be installed accidentally and without users knowing about it, when they open email attachments, install free programs.

Another reason why you need to get rid of AdjustableControl is its online data-tracking activity. It can analyze the location and which Internet webpages you visit, and then present advertisements to the types of content, goods or services featured there. Adware makers can gather and sell your browsing information and behavior to third parties.

How does AdjustableControl get on your machine

Adware actively distributed with free programs, along with the installation package of these programs. Therefore, it is very important, when installing an unknown program even downloaded from well-known download website, read the Terms of use and the Software license, as well as to choose the Manual, Advanced or Custom setup method. In this method, you can disable the install of bundled modules and applications and protect your Mac from adware.

Threat Summary

Name	AdjustableControl, “AdjustableControl 1.0 extension”
Type	adware, potentially unwanted application (PUA), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	OSX.Trojan.Gen, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, MacOS.Agent-MT, ApplicUnwnt, Adware/Adload!OSX, Adware.MAC.Generic, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A and Osx.Adware.Cimpli
Distribution	Free software installers, shady popup ads, fake update tools and torrent downloads
Symptoms	Every time you perform an Internet search, your web-browser is redirected to another web page, advertising banners appear on web-sites that you are visiting, your machine starts automatically installing unexpected programs, new plugins suddenly added on your internet browser, your Mac settings are being changed without your request, slow browsing Internet.
Removal	AdjustableControl removal guide

How to Remove AdjustableControl adware (removal guide)

In most cases adware requires more than a simple uninstall through the use of the Finder in order to be fully uninstalled. For that reason, our team created several removal solutions that we have combined in a detailed guide. Therefore, if you’ve the AdjustableControl adware on your MAC computer and are currently trying to have it uninstalled then feel free to follow the steps below in order to resolve your problem. Some of the steps below will require you to close this web site. So, please read the steps carefully, after that bookmark it or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove AdjustableControl, use the following steps:

1. Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device
2. Check the list of installed software
3. Remove AdjustableControl related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove AdjustableControl from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

AdjustableControl 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 AdjustableControl.

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

Check the list of installed software

In the next step, you need to check the list of installed apps on your Mac device and remove all unused, unknown and dubious applications.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

It will show a list of all applications installed on your MAC. Scroll through the all list, and delete any questionable and unknown software. Right click to dubious application and select “Move to Trash”. Another solution is drag the application 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 AdjustableControl related files and folders

Now you need to try to find AdjustableControl 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We recommend using MalwareBytes. You may download and install MalwareBytes Free to find and get rid of AdjustableControl associated programs from your Mac computer. When installed and updated, the malicious software remover automatically finds and removes all security threats exist on the MAC OS.

Click the following link to download MalwareBytes Free.

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

The MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will automatically launch and you can see its main window as shown on the image below.

Next, press the “Scan Now” button . MalwareBytes Free application will scan through the whole machine for the AdjustableControl .

After MalwareBytes AntiMalware completes the scan, MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) will create a list of unwanted applications and adware. All detected items will be marked. You can remove them all by simply click the “Quarantine” button.

The MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will begin to delete AdjustableControl adware.

Remove AdjustableControl from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

If you’re still getting AdjustableControl adware, then you can try to delete it by uninstalling malicious extensions.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top right hand corner, click on ‘three vertical dots’, and this will open up the main menu on Chrome. 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 get rid of AdjustableControl adware 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 issues with AdjustableControl 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

One of the worst things is the fact that you cannot block all malicious websites using only built-in MS Windows capabilities. However, there is a application out that you can use to block unwanted browser redirects, ads and pop ups in any modern internet browsers including Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome. It is named Adguard and it works very well.

1. Visit the page linked below to download the latest version of AdGuard for Mac OS.
   
   

   AdGuard for Mac download
   3686 downloads
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: January 17, 2018
   
2. After downloading is done, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the installation is done, click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will help you get to know AdGuard better.
4. In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you start your MAC system, AdGuard will start automatically and stop intrusive ads, block malicious and misleading websites.

To sum up

We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop up advertisements and unwanted harmful web-sites) and MalwareBytes Anti Malware (to periodically scan your MAC for new adwares and other malicious software).

If you are still having problems while trying to remove AdjustableControl ads from Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari, then ask for help here.