UniversalWebResults is a potentially unwanted program (PUP) belonging to the category of Adware. Adware is form of software created to insert advertisements into your Web browsing or even desktop experience. Adware software can be developed to alter your home page, search engine, search results, or even add toolbars to your web-browser. Adware run in the background when surf the Web, and adware can slow down your machine and affect its performance.
Unwanted ads
Even worse, the UniversalWebResults adware has the ability to gather a wide variety of marketing-type data about you which can be later transferred to third parties. You don’t know if your home address, account names and passwords are safe.
Threat Summary
| Name | UniversalWebResults, Universal Web Results 1.0 app |
| Type | adware software, potentially unwanted application (PUA), popup virus, popup ads, popups |
| Symptoms |
|
| Removal | UniversalWebResults removal guide |
How does UniversalWebResults get on your MAC
Adware software spreads along with various free programs. This means that you need to be very careful when installing apps downloaded from the Net, even from a large proven hosting. Be sure to read the Terms of Use and the Software license, select only the Manual, Advanced or Custom install mode, switch off all additional modules and applications are offered to install.
Follow the tutorial below to clean your MAC system from adware software, as adware software can be a way to infect your computer with more malicious software like viruses and trojans. The step-by-step instructions which follow, I will show you how to delete adware and thereby get rid of UniversalWebResults adware from your browser forever.
How to Remove UniversalWebResults adware
To remove UniversalWebResults adware software from your MAC system, you must delete all suspicious applications and every component that could be related to the adware software. Besides, to fix your browser new tab, default search engine and homepage, you should reset the affected web-browsers. As soon as you’re complete with UniversalWebResults adware removal process, we recommend you scan your MAC OS with malware removal tools listed below. It will complete the removal process on your Apple Mac.
To remove UniversalWebResults, execute the steps below:
- Manual UniversalWebResults removal
- Automatic Removal of UniversalWebResults adware
- How to stay safe online
- To sum up
Manual UniversalWebResults removal
First of all, try to delete UniversalWebResults manually; to do this, follow the steps below. Of course, manual removal of adware software requires more time and may not be suitable for those who are poorly versed in system settings. In this case, we suggest that you scroll down to the section that describes how to get rid of UniversalWebResults using free tools.
Uninstall potentially unwanted applications using the Finder
Some PUPs, browser hijacking applications and adware can be removed by uninstalling the free programs they came with. If this way does not succeed, then looking them up in the list of installed programs in Finder. Use the “Move to Trash” command in order to remove them.
Open Finder and click “Applications”.
It will show a list of all software installed on your computer. Scroll through the all list, and delete any dubious and unknown programs. Right click to questionable program and select “Move to Trash”. Another way is drag the program from the Applications folder to the Trash.
Most important, scroll through the all list, and move to trash any unknown applications. Don’t forget, choose Finder -> Empty Trash.
Remove UniversalWebResults from Google Chrome
This step will show you how to reset Chrome browser settings to original state. This can remove UniversalWebResults ads and fix some surfing issues, especially after adware infection. When using the reset feature, your personal information like passwords, bookmarks, browsing history and web form auto-fill data will be saved.
First run the Google Chrome. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal dots (
).
It will open the Chrome menu. Choose More Tools, then press Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed plugins. If the list has the extension signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guidance: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Open the Google Chrome menu once again. Further, click the option named “Settings”.
The web-browser will show the settings screen. Another solution to show the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web-browser adress bar and press Enter
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and press the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset” section is visible, like below and press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
The Chrome will display the confirmation prompt as shown in the figure below.
You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The web browser will start the procedure of cleaning. When it’s done, the web browser’s settings including search provider by default, home page and new tab back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your MAC system.
Get rid of UniversalWebResults from Safari
By resetting Safari web-browser you restore your web-browser settings to its default state. This is basic when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by UniversalWebResults adware.
Click Safari menu and choose “Preferences”.
It will open the Safari Preferences window. Next, click the “Extensions” tab. Look for unknown and suspicious extensions on left panel, select it, then click the “Uninstall” button. Most important to remove all unknown add-ons from Safari.
Once complete, click “General” tab. Change the “Default Search Engine” to Google.
Find the “Homepage” and type into textfield “https://www.google.com”.
Remove UniversalWebResults adware from Mozilla Firefox
If the Mozilla Firefox browser is affected by UniversalWebResults and you want to recover the Firefox settings back to their default values, then you should follow the steps below. It will save your personal information like saved passwords, bookmarks, auto-fill data and open tabs.
Click the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and press the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as displayed in the figure below.
A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, press “Refresh Firefox” button as shown on the screen below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to revert back your Mozilla Firefox browser settings to their default values.
Automatic Removal of UniversalWebResults adware
Experienced security experts have built efficient adware removal tools to help users in removing unwanted pop ups and intrusive advertisements. Below we will share with you the best malicious software removal tools with the ability to scan for and delete the UniversalWebResults adware.
How to remove UniversalWebResults with MalwareBytes
We suggest using the MalwareBytes Free. You may download and install MalwareBytes Anti Malware to search for adware software and thereby remove UniversalWebResults ads from your internet browsers. When installed and updated, this free malware remover automatically identifies and removes all threats present on the machine.
Installing the MalwareBytes Free is simple. First you will need to download MalwareBytes by clicking on the following link.
20842 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: September 10, 2020
Once the download is done, run it and follow the prompts. Click the “Scan” button for scanning your MAC for the UniversalWebResults adware. A scan may take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your computer and the speed of your MAC OS. When a threat is found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is finished. In order to remove all threats, simply click “Remove Selected Items” button.
The MalwareBytes is a free application that you can use to remove all detected folders, files, malicious services and so on.
How to stay safe online
Use an adblocker tool such as AdGuard will protect you from malicious advertisements and content. Moreover, you may find that the AdGuard have an option to protect your privacy and block phishing and spam web-pages. Additionally, ad-blocker software will help you to avoid annoying pop-up advertisements and unverified links that also a good way to stay safe online.
Click the link below to download the latest version of AdGuard for Mac.
3677 downloads
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: January 17, 2018
Once downloading 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 instructions. Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick guide that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you start your machine, AdGuard will start automatically and stop unwanted popup advertisements, block malicious and misleading web pages.
To sum up
Now your MAC should be free of the UniversalWebResults adware software. We suggest that you keep MalwareBytes (to periodically scan your MAC system for new adwares and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you stop intrusive popup ads and harmful websites). Moreover, to prevent any adware software, please stay clear of unknown and third party software.
If you need more help with UniversalWebResults related issues, go to here.
