Though it's not easy to hack into or break through a Mac's security, it is possible, especially if someone accidentally installs malware without realizing it. If your Mac is running slow or you're seeing unusual advertisements within your web browser you might have accidentally installed malware at some point. Don't worry. It happens to the best of us (not me, of course). There are things you can do without having to burn it all down.

1. How To Clean Up My Mac
2. How To Clean Ur Computer

The problem: Mac malware in the Library folder

Serenity Caldwell writing for iMore in 2017:

My father-in-law's MacBook Pro had been running into curious slowdowns for a two-year-old laptop and he kept on seeing weird sites taking over his Safari and Firefox search bars. It was clear to me that his browser had been hijacked.

We got rid of the browser hijack pretty quickly — I suggest using Cella's excellent how-to if you ever run into a browser hijack yourself — but the slowdowns were more curious. Upon further investigation, I found a couple of self-professed 'Mac security programs' that popped up, demanding money to 'clean your Mac from junk'.

Spoiler: These programs were the junk. And worst of all, they'd seemingly added a bunch of nonsense files into this computer's Library folder, with random folder names like 'prestidigitation' and 'beeswax'.

May 15, 2016  How to remove Advanced Mac Cleaner. Alternatively you can simultaneously press ⌘ (the Command key situated next to the space bar), Option (the key right next to it) and Escape (the key located at the upper left corner of your keyboard). If you have done it right a dialog box titled Force Quit Applications will open up. Mac Android Computing. It’s also safer for you and for your computer. Cleaning your monitor while it’s on and the pixels are all fired up could damage your screen or potentially give you an. Check Advanced Mac Cleaner in the list of your startup menu, click the “Minus” icon.7. Empty Trash to permanently erase all the Advanced Mac Cleaner related filesTo remove the Advanced Mac Cleaner extension (add-on) from web browsers on your Mac, do the following: Safari.

Now, I want to preface: I'd never seen an attack like this on a Mac before in my life, and finding this kind of full-Mac hijack is very rare. It's likely that he accidentally installed one of these 'security' programs (or had it installed), which spiraled out of control from there.

These hijacks didn't appear to be able to do much beyond slow down his machine with endless failed attempts to run a program — the process didn't have admin permissions, so it couldn't execute a thing from the library. But because they were there, they were constantly crashing aspects of his Mac. I knew I had a malfunctioning laptop on my hands, so I turned to my age-old troubleshooting checklist.

How to fix a corrupted Mac

If you're working on a computer that has slowed down beyond reasonable aging or is otherwise acting beyond the pale, here are my favorite tactics you can take to try and restore it to its former glory.

Update the system software

This is almost always the first thing I do when troubleshooting Macs: Chances are, the user hasn't installed a security update or other software updates that may be slowing their computer to a crawl.

1. Click on the Apple menu icon in the upper left corner of the screen.

2. Select App Store to open the Mac App Store.

3. Click on the Updates tab at the top of the Mac App Store window.

4. Install all relevant updates. (You may need the Apple ID and password for the machine.)

If the computer is running macOS Sierra, you can avoid having to do this troubleshooting step in the future by turning on Automatic Install in System Preferences, which can automatically download newly available updates in the background, and install them overnight.

1. With the Mac App Store open, click on App Store in the upper left corner of the Menu bar.

2. Click on Preferences.

3. Under Automatically check for updates, check the following boxes:

   • Download newly available updates in the background
   • Install app updates
   • Install macOS updates
   • Install system data files and security updates

Check the disk for errors

If software updates aren't doing the trick, the next thing to check is the hard drive itself. With Apple's Internet Recovery partition, fixing a cranky drive is an easy process.

1. Restart your Mac.
2. During reboot, hold down Command-R until it starts up.
3. Once rebooted, you should be in the Internet Recovery Partition. Select Disk Utility.

4. Click Continue. /download-os-x-el-capitan-dmg.html.

5. In Disk Utility, click on the First Aid button,

6. Click on Run to execute.

Your Mac will then run a cursory check on its hard drive to determine if there's anything wrong — and if so — if it can fix it.

Reset the NVRAM/PRAM and SMC

If neither app updates nor disk repair are helping, sometimes a good cache flush can get your Mac running just a bit more smoothly.

To reset the NVRAM (or, on older Macs, PRAM), reboot the Mac and hold down the following keyboard command during startup for at least twenty seconds: Command-Option-P-R.

After you reset your NVRAM, you may be required to reconfigure some system settings (like sound and time zones), which are stored in that cache.

An SMC reset is a bit more complicated, and Apple recommends it only after all other troubleshooting avenues have been exhausted.

If you're using a laptop:

1. Shut down your Mac and plug it in.
2. Restart the computer by pressing the Power button along with the keyboard command Shift-Control-Option.
3. Release these keys, then just press the Power button to properly start your computer.

If you're using a desktop:

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Unplug it and wait for at least 20 seconds.
3. Plug the Mac back in and wait 5-10 seconds.
4. Restart your Mac with the Power button.

Partition your disk (or erase it)

After exhausting all other avenues, this was the solution we came across to properly fix the broken laptop. The hard drive had been so corrupted by these 'security' programs that there was nothing I could do to fix it. When Safari launched over the login screen after a reboot, I knew my usual fixes wouldn't work: It was time to bring out the big guns.

In most cases, I'd grab an external drive, back up the corrupted disk, then wipe the drive clean with the Internet Recovery partition and start over. But there were a couple of reasons that wouldn't work here:

• We were on vacation, and lacking any sort of external media.
• With a semi-corrupted disk, we couldn't just clone the user folder and restore the new disk from a backup — we'd have to do a clean install, which meant moving files over one by one. If we'd missed something and moved all the old files to an external drive, my father-in-law would have had to carry it everywhere just in case.

Given that this laptop had a 500GB hard drive — only 40GB of which was being used — I had an alternate idea: I'd partition the drive, again using Internet Recovery, and install macOS Sierra on the new partition. Essentially, it would be a 'clean' new computer for my father-in-law to work on, but all the original data would still exist on the old partition in case he needed to grab a file.

Note: In order to partition your drive, you'll need enough free space on your drive to do so — at least 30GB. If you're light on space, you may want to back up your corrupted disk to a USB drive, instead.

How to create a partition on your Mac

1. Open Finder from your dock.

2. Select Applications.

3. Scroll down and open the Utilities folder.

4. Double-click to open Disk Utility.

5. Select your hard drive in the Disk Utility window. It will be the first drive on the list. It might be named 'Fusion,' or 'Macintosh HD.'
6. Click on the Partition tab.

7. Click the plus (+) button.

8. Change the size of the partition you wish to use by dragging the resize controls. The used space is represented in blue.
9. Name the new partition.

10. Click apply.

Disk Utility will check the disk and make changes. This will take several minutes.Disk Utility will then make the changes. After that's completed, quit Disk Utility to return to the main Internet Recovery menu.

1. Click on Reinstall macOS.

2. Click Continue.

3. Click Agree to agree to Apple's licensing agreements.
4. Choose the New Mac hard drive as the disk you'd like to install macOS onto.

5. Press Install.

6. The Mac will download a fresh copy of your operating system from the App Store and will install it. The speed of this process entirely depends on your Mac's connection speed to the Internet. You can wait an hour or longer on a slower connection.
7. Your Mac will restart automatically into the new partition once the software has downloaded, then the installation of the operating system will continue.

After you finish setting up the new hard drive, it's time to move your files over. Because of the way partitioning works, your old hard drive partition will show up next to your currently-active partition, just like an external drive; you can then grab any files you need from it.

1. Launch a Finder window.
2. Under Devices in the sidebar, locate your original Macintosh HD.

3. Copy any files you'd like to keep from your old hard drive to the new machine.

Note: If you want to copy over applications, I'd strongly suggest redownloading them from the source — the Mac App Store or the company's website — rather than trying to copy them over from the old partition.

From here, you can follow instructions for setting a Mac up from scratch when it comes to installing and customizing anything else.

I generally recommend keeping the old drive partition around for at least a few months in case you or your family member forgets to move something over; after that period, however, you can easily delete the old partition and move to the new partition full time.

Consider additional anti-malware protection

While malware on the Mac is rare, it does crop up, as we've demonstrated. Having the right tools to get rid of malware can be an important part of keeping your Mac safe and secure. There are a number of tools that you can choose from, including popular programs like BitDefender and Kaspersky, that will help you keep malware from infecting your Mac.

Questions?

Do you have any must-follow troubleshooting steps? Let us know in the comments.

Updated July 2019: Added a sub-section regarding anti-malware protection.

Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this guide.

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Threat Summary

Mac Clean Pro is endorsed as a system optimizer that gives Macintosh computer better performance. What you may expect after downloading this tool is a bunch of advertisements that will show up on the browser when you surf the internet. Apart from advertisements, Mac Clean Pro is also labeled as an adware that may steal sensitive data from your computer.

Mac Clean Pro may appear as a practical tool that you may use for cleaning junk files, optimizing applications, and safeguarding online privacy. Unknown to many Mac OS X users, Mac Clean Pro is part of a network that spreads software and this may include potentially unwanted program (PUP). Once installed on the computer, Mac Clean Pro may have significant effect on Safari browser. Ads by Mac Clean Pro will appear on browser’s window and unknown search engine may occupy New Tab or Homepage of Safari and other installed browser.

About Mac Clean Pro (from maccleanpro.com)

Cleaning Mac gets easier and simpler with Mac Clean Pro. Its One-Click Cleaning feature speedily cleans out all junk files and ensures the security of your Mac. All unneeded languages, temporary files, user cache and log files are scanned and removed instantly, releasing ample space on hard drive. It also optimizes applications by removing redundant parts from them, making them perform better. Using this powerful tool saves plenty of time and optimizes your Mac for better performance with just a few simple clicks.

Overview

Presence of Mac Clean Pro may mean that computer is threatened with possible malware infection. This may not be the only danger which victims need to address. Mac Clean Pro may also come bundled with other adware and junkware. These additional programs get installed on the system without asking for user’s approval.

With the existence of Mac Clean Pro, browser will display unwanted advertisements. It will also produce certain browser redirect issue occasionally. Furthermore, code embedded on the computer may give Mac Clean Pro some freedom to watch on user’s online activities. It can monitor visited pages, search key words, and other useful online data.

The program may be promoted as valid software but most users didn’t realize is that it belongs to a family of malicious program. Your Mac system can be at risk during the presence of Mac Clean Pro. Security experts suggest the removal of this adware.

Mac Clean Pro Removal Steps

To effectively remove Mac Clean Pro from your computer, please follow the removal procedures as stated below. It is also vital to scan the system with anti-virus, anti-malware, and security tool as presented. Junkware removers we provided on this site are completely free to use.

Force Quit Mac Clean Pro

1. From Apple Menu, choose Force Quit. Alternatively, press and hold down Command + Option + Esc on your keyboard.

2. On the Force Quit Applications window, select Mac Clean Pro and click the Force Quit button.

This method should end any running background process that belongs to unwanted application.

Scan and Remove Mac Clean Pro with Bitdefender Adware Removal Tool

1. Download Bitdefender Adware Removal Tool for Mac from official website. [Download Now]

2. Unzip the file and run it on your Mac system.

3. On the main console, click on Search for Adware.

4. Remove all threats after the scan. If this procedure is not sufficient in getting rid of Mac Clean Pro, please proceed to the next step.

Uninstall Mac Clean Pro browser extension

1. Uninstall Mac Clean Pro extension, add-on, or plug-in from affected browser. This method will remove all malicious codes integrated into the browser.

For Safari Browser

Open Safari browser and select Preferences from the top menu. Then, choose Extensions tab to display all installed third party software. Look for Mac Clean Pro and remove related entry.

For Chrome Browser

Open Google Chrome and select Preferences from the menu. Next, click on the Extensions link which is located on the left side of the window. Once the list shows up, select Mac Clean Pro and uninstall it from the browser.

For Firefox Browser

Open Mozilla Firefox and select Add-ons from the Tools menu. Find Mac Clean Pro from Extensions and Plugins and delete if it is present.

2. Once you completed uninstall process of Mac Clean Pro extension, please restart the affected browser.

Delete Mac Clean Pro file manually

1. Go to User library. To do this, go to your Finder and select Go menu. From the list, click on Go to Folder command and input the following string: ~/Library/LaunchAgents

2. Press Return on your keyboard to open the LaunchAgents folder.

3. Inside the said folder, you will see the following files:

Mac Clean Pro.AppRemoval.plist
Mac Clean Pro.download.plist
Mac Clean Pro.ltvbit.plist
Mac Clean Pro.update.plist

4. Drag them all to your Trash. Empty the Trash Bin and restart the computer.

5. Go to Finder once more and Go to Folder using this string: ~/Library/Application Support/do-i-need-to-keep-dmg-files-after-installation.html.

6. Press Return on your keyboard to open the Application Support folder.

7. Once more, find any items with word Mac Clean Pro and put them to your Trash. Please restart the computer.

8. Lastly, go to your Finder and select Go menu. From the list, click on Applications command. Look for Mac Clean Pro and drag it to Trash.

Scan Again with with Anti-malware Tool

1. Download the most recent version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac. [Download Now]

2. Double-click to open the .Dmg file and drag the program onto Applications folder to install.

How To Clean Up My Mac

3. Run the anti-malware tool.

4. Click Scan to start checking the computer for items related to Mac Clean Pro and other malware.

5. After scanning the computer, the tool will issue a list of detected threats.

How To Clean Ur Computer

6. Click on Remove Selected Items to start deleting all identified threats.