According to security researchers, PlusAbout is an adware program. What is Adware & Is it actually malicious? Adware is considered a potentially security threat because it often installed on MAC system without the knowledge of the owner. Adware usually just shows unwanted advertisements, but sometimes adware software can be used to obtain your confidential data.
Unwanted ads
Another reason why you need to remove adware is its online data-tracking activity. The PlusAbout adware may collect your World Wide Web surfing activity by recording URLs visited, IP addresses, internet browser version and type, cookie information, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and web-sites visited. Such kind of behavior can lead to serious security problems or user info theft. This is another reason why the PlusAbout adware should be uninstalled sooner.
How does PlusAbout get on your MAC system
The majority of adware software spreads bundled with free programs or even paid applications that Net users can easily download online. The setup files of such applications, in many cases, clearly show that they will install bundled programs. The option is given to users to block the installation of any additional software. So, in order to avoid the setup of any adware: read all disclaimers and install screens very carefully, select only Custom or Advanced install option and uncheck all bundled apps in which you are unsure.
Threat Summary
| Name | PlusAbout, Plus About 1.0 app |
| Type | adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), popup virus, popup advertisements, popups |
| Symptoms |
|
| Removal | PlusAbout removal guide |
How to remove PlusAbout
The adware is a form of malicious software that you might have difficulty in removing it from your computer. Luckily, you’ve found the effective PlusAbout adware removal guide in this post. Both the manual removal way and the automatic removal method will be provided below and you can just choose the one that best for you. If you have any questions or need help then type a comment below. Some of the steps will require you to reboot your MAC or exit this web-site. So, read this guide carefully, then bookmark this page or open it on your smartphone for later reference.
To remove PlusAbout, perform the following steps:
- How to delete PlusAbout adware software without any software
- Automatic Removal of PlusAbout
- How to stay safe online
- Finish words
How to delete PlusAbout adware software without any software
The step-by-step guide created by our team will allow you manually get rid of PlusAbout ads from the web-browser. If you are not good at computers, we advise that you use the free utilities listed below.
Uninstall PlusAbout related applications through the Finder
First, you should try to identify and delete the application that causes the appearance of unwanted advertisements or web browser redirect, using the ‘Applications’ list that located in the Finder.
Open Finder and click “Applications”.
Carefully browse through the list of installed software and remove all dubious and unknown software.
After you’ve found anything dubious that may be the PlusAbout adware or other unwanted software, then right click this program and choose “Move to Trash”. Once complete, Empty Trash.
Remove PlusAbout adware from Google Chrome
Reset Google Chrome settings is a easy method to get rid of PlusAbout ads, harmful and ‘ad-supported’ extensions, web-browser’s newtab page, startpage and search engine that have been modified by adware software.
- First, launch the Google Chrome and click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
- It will open the Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You will see the list of installed extensions. If the list has the addon labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following instructions: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Google Chrome menu once again, press the “Settings” menu.
- Next, press “Advanced” link, which located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
- The Google Chrome will show the reset settings prompt as on the image above.
- Confirm the web browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, read the article How to reset Chrome settings to default.
Remove PlusAbout from Safari
The Safari reset is great if your web browser is hijacked by PlusAbout or you have unwanted addo-ons or toolbars on your web browser, that installed by an malware.
Run Safari web browser. Next, choose Preferences from the Safari menu.
First, click the “Security” tab. Here, select “Block pop-up windows”. It will block some types of pop-ups.
Now, click the “Extensions” tab. Look for questionable extensions on left panel, choose it, then click the “Uninstall” button. Most important to remove all questionable extensions from Safari.
Once complete, check your homepage and search provider settings. Click “General” icon. 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 PlusAbout from Firefox
If Firefox settings are hijacked by the PlusAbout adware, your web browser displays unwanted pop up ads, then ‘Reset Mozilla Firefox’ could solve these problems. It will keep your personal information like browsing history, bookmarks, passwords and web form auto-fill data.
First, start the Mozilla Firefox and press 
button. It will open the drop-down menu on the right-part of the web-browser. Further, click the Help button (
) as shown on the screen below.
In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the web browser adress bar and press Enter. It will show the “Troubleshooting Information” page as shown in the following example. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.
It will open the confirmation dialog box. Further, click the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Firefox will begin a process to fix your problems that caused by the PlusAbout adware. When, it’s finished, click the “Finish” button.
Automatic Removal of PlusAbout
There are not many good free anti malware applications with high detection ratio. The effectiveness of malicious software removal tools depends on various factors, mostly on how often their virus/malware signatures DB are updated in order to effectively detect modern malicious software, adware, browser hijackers and other PUPs. We suggest to use several programs, not just one. These programs which listed below will help you delete all components of the adware software from your disk and system folders and get rid of unwanted ads.
Use MalwareBytes to get rid of PlusAbout adware software
You can get rid of PlusAbout adware automatically with a help of MalwareBytes. We recommend this free malicious software removal tool because it can easily remove browser hijacker infection, adware, PUPs and toolbars with all their components such as files, folders and registry entries.
Download MalwareBytes Free by clicking on the link below.
20841 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: September 10, 2020
Once the download is done, close all software and windows on your computer. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.
The MalwareBytes Anti Malware will automatically start and you can see its main screen like below.
Now click the “Scan” button to start checking your MAC system for the PlusAbout adware. This procedure can take quite a while, so please be patient.
Once finished, you’ll be displayed the list of all found threats on your machine. Next, you need to click “Remove Selected Items” button. The MalwareBytes Anti Malware will remove PlusAbout adware.
How to stay safe online
If you browse the Web, you can’t avoid malvertising. But you can protect your web-browser against it. Download and run an ad blocking application. AdGuard is an ad blocking that can filter out a large number of of the malvertising, blocking dynamic scripts from loading harmful content.
Please go to the link below to download AdGuard.
3677 downloads
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: January 17, 2018
After the downloading process is done, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen. Follow the prompts.
Each time, when you launch your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and stop annoying pop-up ads, block malicious and misleading web sites.
Finish words
Now your MAC should be free of the PlusAbout adware software. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop up ads and annoying malicious web pages) and MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) (to periodically scan your MAC system for new adwares and other malware).
If you are still having problems while trying to remove PlusAbout ads from the Safari, Firefox and Google Chrome, then ask for help here here.
