Remove MicroClick Adware From Mac OS

Complete Guideline To Delete MicroClick

MicroClick is a notorious computer infection for Mac. It can easily penetrate the target Mac systems using several deceptive tactics and then conduct a series of vicious activities in the background. Some of the malicious actions that it performs inside the infected devices are home page and search engine hijacking, aggressive advertisements, data theft and so on. It can alter the settings of the browser by assigning its own perilous URL as the new home page and new tab addresses to promote a fraudulent search engine. The customized search tool only delivers inorganic results mixed with commercial contents and sponsored links right at the top.

Know More About MicroClick:

MicroClick acts as an adware and therefore, displaying annoying advertisements is a part of its operation. During the presence of this nasty PUP in your computer, you are flooded with tons of intrusive banners, pop-ups, push notifications, coupons, surveys etc. which interrupts your online sessions badly. These ads are based on pay-per-click scheme and earn revenues for the creators when clicked. However, they usually contain affiliate links and cause unwanted redirects that drive the browser to unknown sites that are trying to increase their popularity and again more visits.

Ads by MicroClick might also take you to online gambling pages, sites that promote fake surveys, suspicious file downloads and pages showing fake prizes and draws. And thus, you should avoid interacting with these adverts as you may land on web portals where you might be deceived into installing rogue application or tricked into participating in fake surveys and providing your sensitive data to scammers. Like most potentially unwanted programs, it is also able to track users’ online activities and record information such as favorite websites, search keywords, IP addresses, geolocations, username, passwords, URLs of accessed pages and so on.

Data gathered by MicroClick are very helpful for generating eye-catching advertisements in order to make users more eager to click on these adverts. In additional, your personal information like credit card details could be misused by the scammers for deceptive transactions or purchases that may lead to severe privacy issues, identity theft and huge financial loss. All the malevolent acts executed by the PUP consume enormous amount of memory resources and drags down the overall system performance severely. It may trigger many other hazardous parasites such as frequent system crash, hard drive failure, boot errors and so on. And hence, a quick MicroClick removal is strongly recommended.

Quick Glance

Name: MicroClick 

Type: Mac virus, adware, Potentially unwanted program

Short Description: Shows intrusive ads, alters default browser’s settings, Redirects Mac users to affiliated sites, promotes sponsored products, services and programs and make online revenues for the creators.

Symptoms: Regular appearance of annoying adverts, Fake identity theft. Users are enforced to visit hijacker’s website and search the Internet using their search engines, slowness of infected system’s performance.

Distribution methods: Free software installers (bundling), Deceptive emails, malicious pop-ups ads, fake flash player installers.

Damage: Web browsing tracking (potential privacy issues), exhibition of unwanted ads, redirects to shady websites.

Removal: To get rid of this infection and other malware threats, our security researchers recommend scanning your device with an effective anti-malware tool is recommended.

Ways To Spread MicroClick:

Millions of people download browser helpers, converters, adblockers, download managers believing that their online experience will be better. Nevertheless, they generally don’t know that apps that are promoted on third-party pages like Cnet, Softonic, Download etc. or torrent sites, are often filled with additional objects. When you download a freeware from unreliable domains and then install it using the Quick, Recommended, Default or Basic configuration settings, you risk installing unwanted threats on your computer. Moreover, you can get infected with such PUPs if you have habit of clicking suspicious ads or hyperlinks that often appear on pages you visit while web surfing.

How To Avoid PUP Intrusion?

You need to be very careful while downloading/installing freeware to prevent such unwanted situations. If you decide to install a free program, make sure you have opted for the right configuration settings. The Custom or Advanced wizards provide you the complete control over the incoming downloads and allow you to de-select all the objects that give a concerning look. Furthermore, download any product or software using the trustworthy sites or direct links only and stay away from Peer-to-Peer sharing networks, third-party downloaders/installers, etc. But at the moment, you must remove MicroClick from the Mac system without wasting any time.

Remove Files and Folders Related to MicroClick

Open the “Menu” bar and click the “Finder” icon. Select “Go” and click on “Go to Folder…”

Step 1: Search the suspicious and doubtful malware generated files in /Library/LaunchAgents folder

Type /Library/LaunchAgents in the “Go to Folder” option

In the “Launch Agent” folder, search for all the files that you have recently downloaded and move them to “Trash”. Few of the examples of files created by browser-hijacker or adware are as follow, “myppes.download.plist”, “mykotlerino.Itvbit.plist”, installmac.AppRemoval.plist”, and “kuklorest.update.plist” and so on.

Step 2: Detect and remove the files generated by the adware in “/Library/Application” Support folder

In the “Go to Folder..bar”, type “/Library/Application Support”

Search for any suspicious newly added folders in “Application Support” folder. If you detect any one of these like “NicePlayer” or “MPlayerX” then send them to “Trash” folder.

Step 3: Look for the files generated by malware in /Library/LaunchAgent Folder:

Go to Folder bar and type /Library/LaunchAgents

You are in the “LaunchAgents” folder. Here, you have to search for all the newly added files and move them to “Trash” if you find them suspicious. Some of the examples of suspicious files generated by malware are “myppes.download.plist”, “installmac.AppRemoved.plist”, “kuklorest.update.plist”, “mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist” and so on.

Step4: Go to /Library/LaunchDaemons Folder and search for the files created by malware

Type /Library/LaunchDaemons in the “Go To Folder” option

In the newly opened “LaunchDaemons” folder, search for any recently added suspicious files and move them to “Trash”. Examples of some of the suspicious files are “com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist”, “com.avickUpd.plist”, “com.myppes.net-preference.plist”, “com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist” and so on.

Step 5: Use Combo Cleaner Anti-Malware and Scan your Mac PC

The malware infections could be removed from the Mac PC if you execute all the steps mentioned above in the correct way. However, it is always advised to be sure that your PC is not infected. It is suggested to scan the work-station with “Combo Cleaner Anti-virus”.

Once the file gets downloaded, double click on combocleaner.dmg installer in the newly opened window. Next is to open the “Launchpad” and press on “Combo Cleaner” icon. It is advised to wait until “Combo Cleaner” updates the latest definition for malware detection. Click on “Start Combo Scan” button.

A depth scan of your Mac PC will be executed in order to detect malware. If the Anti-virus scan report says “no threat found” then you can continue with guide further. On the other hand, it is recommended to delete the detected malware infection before continuing.

Now the files and folders created by the adware is removed, you have to remove the rogue extensions from the browsers.

Remove MicroClick from Internet Browsers

Delete Doubtful and Malicious Extension from Safari

Go to “Menu Bar” and open “Safari” browser. Select “Safari” and then “Preferences”

In the opened “preferences” window, select “Extensions” that you have recently installed. All such extensions should be detected and click the “Uninstall” button next to it. If you are doubtful then you can remove all the extensions from “Safari” browser as none of them are important for smooth functionality of the browser.

In case if you continue facing unwanted webpage redirections or aggressive advertisements bombarding, you can reset the “Safari” browser.

“Reset Safari”

Open the Safari menu and choose “preferences…” from the drop-down menu.

Go to the “Extension” tab and set the extension slider to “Off” position. This disables all the installed extensions in the Safari browser

Next step is to check the homepage. Go to “Preferences…” option and choose “General” tab. Change the homepage to your preferred URL.

Also check the default search-engine provider settings. Go to “Preferences…” window and select the “Search” tab and select the search-engine provider that you want such as “Google”.

Next is to clear the Safari browser Cache- Go to “Preferences…” window and select “Advanced” tab and click on “Show develop menu in the menu bar.“

Go to “Develop” menu and select “Empty Caches”.

Remove website data and browsing history. Go to “Safari” menu and select “Clear History and Website Data”. Choose “all history” and then click on “Clear History”.

Remove Unwanted and Malicious Plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox

Delete MicroClick add-ons from Mozilla Firefox

Open the Firefox Mozilla browser. Click on the “Open Menu” present in the top right corner of the screen. From the newly opened menu, choose “Add-ons”.

Go to “Extension” option and detect all the latest installed add-ons. Select each of the suspicious add-ons and click on “Remove” button next to them.

In case if you want to “reset” the Mozilla Firefox browser then follow the steps that has been mentioned below.

Reset Mozilla Firefox Settings

Open the Firefox Mozilla browser and click on “Firefox” button situated at the top left corner of the screen.

In the new menu, go to “Help” sub-menu and choose “Troubleshooting Information”

In the “Troubleshooting Information” page, click on “Reset Firefox” button.

Confirm that you want to reset the Mozilla Firefox settings to default by pressing on “Reset Firefox” option

The browser will get restarted and the settings changes to factory default

Delete Unwanted and Malicious Extensions from Google Chrome

Open the chrome browser and click on “Chrome menu”. From the drop down option, choose “More Tools” and then “Extensions”.

In the “Extensions” option, search for all the recently installed add-ons and extensions. Select them and choose “Trash” button. Any third-party extension is not important for the smooth functionality of the browser.

Reset Google Chrome Settings

Open the browser and click on three line bar at the top right side corner of the window.

Go to the bottom of the newly opened window and select “Show advanced settings”.

In the newly opened window, scroll down to the bottom and choose “Reset browser settings”

Click on the “Reset” button on the opened “Reset browser settings” window

Restart the browser and the changes you get will be applied

The above mentioned manual process should be executed as it is mentioned. It is a cumbersome process and requires a lot of technical expertise. And hence it is advised for technical experts only. To be sure that your PC is free from malware, it is better that you scan the work-station with a powerful anti-malware tool. The automatic malware removal application is preferred because it doesn’t requires any additional technical skills and expertise.

Download the application and execute it on the PC to begin the depth scanning. Once the scanning gets completed, it shows the list of all the files related to MicroClick. You can select such harmful files and folders and remove them immediately.