According to security researchers, Shoptimizely is a potentially unwanted program (PUP) that belongs to the categort of Adware. Adware is short for ‘ad supported’ software. Additionally, some malware has adware software built into the application. Adware shows unwanted advertisements that appear in pop ups or advertising links on computer screens. In order to show unwanted advertisements as often as possible adware software can alter your internet browser settings. You may even find that your Mac settings are changed without your knowledge. The Shoptimizely creators do so in order to make revenue via third-party ad network. Thus every your click on the adverts makes profit for them.
Unwanted ads
Does adware steal your data? The Shoptimizely adware has the ability to gather and transmit personal data without your knowledge. Adware can be used to track information about web sites visited, web browser and system information, and your MAC system IP address.
If you are unfortunate have adware software or malicious software running on your MAC, you can follow the few simple steps here to remove Shoptimizely ads from your web-browser.
How does Shoptimizely get on your Apple Mac
Adware such as Shoptimizely gets on your computer along with certain free software. So always read carefully the setup screens, disclaimers, ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Software license’ appearing during the install process. Additionally pay attention for optional software that are being installed along with the main program. Ensure that you unchecked all of them! Also, run an ad blocking program that will help to block dubious and untrustworthy web-sites.
Threat Summary
| Name | Shoptimizely |
| Type | adware, potentially unwanted application (PUA), pop-up virus, pop-up advertisements, pop ups |
| Symptoms |
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| Removal | Shoptimizely removal guide |
How to remove Shoptimizely from Mac
Not all undesired programs such as Shoptimizely are easily uninstallable. You might see popups, deals, text links, in-text advertisements, banners and other type of advertisements in the Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari and might not be able to figure out the application responsible for this activity. The reason for this is that many undesired apps neither appear in the Finder. Therefore in order to fully get rid of Shoptimizely adware software, you need to follow the steps below. Read this manual carefully, bookmark it or open this page on your smartphone, because you may need to close your web-browser or reboot your MAC OS.
To remove Shoptimizely, perform the following steps:
- How to remove Shoptimizely manually
- Automatic Removal of Shoptimizely adware software
- How to stay safe online
- To sum up
How to remove Shoptimizely manually
The most common adware can be deleted manually, without the use of anti-virus or other removal tools. The manual steps below will help you delete Shoptimizely adware step by step. Although each of the steps is very simple and does not require special knowledge, but you doubt that you can finish them, then use the free tools, a list of which is given below.
Deleting the Shoptimizely, check the list of installed software first
First method for manual adware removal is to go into the Finder, then Applications. Take a look at the list of applications on your MAC system and see if there are any questionable and unknown apps. If you see any, you need to uninstall them. Of course, before doing so, you can do an Web search to find details on the program. If it is a potentially unwanted program, adware or malicious software, you will likely find information that says so.
Open Finder and click “Applications”.
Very carefully look around the entire list of apps installed on your Apple Mac. Most likely, one of them is the Shoptimizely adware. If you’ve many apps installed, you can help simplify the search of malicious software by sort the list by date of installation.
Once you have found a questionable, unwanted or unused program, right click to it and select “Move to Trash”. Another method is drag the application from the Applications folder to the Trash.
Don’t forget, select Finder -> “Empty Trash”.
Remove Shoptimizely adware software from Safari
If you find that Safari web browser settings such as search provider by default, start page and new tab having been changed by Shoptimizely adware software, then you may restore your settings, via the reset web browser procedure.
Run Safari internet browser. Next, choose Preferences from the Safari menu.
First, click the “Security” icon. Here, choose “Block pop-up windows”. It will block some types of pop ups.
Now, click the “Extensions” icon. Look for suspicious plugins on left panel, select it, then click the “Uninstall” button. Most important to delete all questionable extensions from Safari.
Once complete, check your startpage and search engine settings. Click “General” tab. Make sure that the “Homepage” field contains the website you want or is empty.
Make sure that the “Search engine” setting shows your preferred search engine. In some versions of Safari, this setting is in the “Search” tab.
Remove Shoptimizely adware software from Chrome
If you have adware problem or the Google Chrome is running slow, then reset Chrome settings can help you. In the steps below we’ll show you a way to reset your Google Chrome settings to original settings without reinstall. This will also allow to remove Shoptimizely ads from your browser.
First start the Google Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal dots (
).
It will show the Google Chrome menu. Select More Tools, then press Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed extensions. If the list has the addon signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guide: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Open the Google Chrome menu once again. Further, press the option named “Settings”.
The web browser will open the settings screen. Another method to show the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the browser adress bar and press Enter
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset” section is visible, as shown below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
The Chrome will open the confirmation dialog box as displayed on the image below.
You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The internet browser will start the procedure of cleaning. Once it is complete, the web browser’s settings including new tab, startpage and search engine by default back to the values which have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your MAC OS.
Remove Shoptimizely from Mozilla Firefox
The Mozilla Firefox reset will remove the Shoptimizely ads, modified preferences, extensions and security settings. However, your themes, bookmarks, history, passwords, and web form auto-fill information will not be deleted.
Start the Mozilla Firefox and click the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the web-browser screen. Next, click the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will show the slide-out menu.
Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you are unable to access the Help menu, then type “about:support” in your address bar and press Enter. It bring up the “Troubleshooting Information” page as displayed below.
Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation dialog box. The Firefox will begin a process to fix your problems that caused by the Shoptimizely adware. When, it’s done, click the “Finish” button.
Automatic Removal of Shoptimizely adware software
Use malicious software removal utilities to get rid of Shoptimizely adware automatically. The free applications tools specially designed for hijackers, adware software and other potentially unwanted software removal. These utilities can delete most of adware from Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari. Moreover, it may remove all components of adware from Windows registry and system drives.
Run MalwareBytes to remove Shoptimizely adware
Remove Shoptimizely adware software manually is difficult and often the adware is not fully removed. Therefore, we recommend you to run the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware that are completely clean your MAC. Moreover, this free program will help you to remove malicious software, potentially unwanted programs, toolbars and browser hijacker that your MAC OS may be infected too.
- MalwareBytes AntiMalware can be downloaded from the following link.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
20841 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: September 10, 2020
- After the downloading process is finished, close all software and windows on your computer. Open a directory in which you saved it. Run the downloaded file and follow the prompts.
- Click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the Shoptimizely adware. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your machine and the speed of your machine. When a threat is found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is done.
- When the checking is finished, MalwareBytes will display a scan report. Review the scan results and then click “Remove Selected Items”.
How to stay safe online
The AdGuard is a very good adblocker program for the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Safari, with active user support. It does a great job by removing certain types of intrusive ads, popunders, popups, undesired new tab pages, and even full page ads and web-site overlay layers. Of course, the AdGuard can stop unwanted websites automatically or by using a custom filter rule.
- Visit the following page to download the latest version of AdGuard for Apple Mac.
AdGuard for Mac download
3677 downloads
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: January 17, 2018
- When the downloading process is finished, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- After the installation is complete, press “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you run your computer, AdGuard will run automatically and stop annoying advertisements, block harmful and misleading web sites.
To sum up
Once you’ve complete the guide above, your MAC should be clean from this adware and other malicious software. The Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome will no longer open the Shoptimizely ads when you surf the World Wide Web. Unfortunately, if the step-by-step guidance 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 Shoptimizely adware.
