How to uninstall ConsumerSurvey app/extension from Mac

What is ConsumerSurvey

According to security experts, ConsumerSurvey is an adware program. Adware’s basic purpose is to present ads. These advertisements are often presented as sponsored links, popups or different offers and deals. Clicks on the ads produce a monetary payoff for the adware authors. Adware can work like Spyware, since it sends user data such as searches and trends to advertisers.

Another reason why you need to delete the ConsumerSurvey adware is its online data-tracking activity. Adware can gather your Net surfing activity by recording URLs visited, IP addresses, web browser version and type, cookie information, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and web-pages visited. Such kind of behavior can lead to serious security problems or privacy information theft. This is another reason why the ConsumerSurvey should be uninstalled as quickly as possible.

In the step-by-step guidance below, we will explain best possible solutions on how to delete ConsumerSurvey adware from your MAC system and free your browser of unwanted advertisements.

How does ConsumerSurvey get on your Apple Mac

Adware usually come together with free applications which downloaded from the Internet. Which means that you need to be proactive and carefully read the Terms of use and the License agreement properly. For the most part, adware and PUPs will be clearly described, so take the time to carefully read all the information about the software that you downloaded and want to install on your MAC.

Threat Summary

Name	ConsumerSurvey, ConsumerSurvey 1.0 app
Type	adware software, potentially unwanted program (PUP), pop-up advertisements, pop-up virus, pop ups
Symptoms	ads appear in places they shouldn’t be web page links reroute to webpages different from what you expected your computer starts automatically installing unwanted apps unwanted internet browser extensions or toolbars keep coming back unwanted changes in your browser such as displaying new tabs you did not open slow Internet or slow browsing CPU usage seems unusually high
Removal	ConsumerSurvey removal guide

How to remove ConsumerSurvey

There exist several free adware removal utilities. Also it is possible to get rid of ConsumerSurvey adware manually. But we recommend to combine all these methods below into the one removal algorithm. Follow the steps of the guide. Read it once, after doing so, please bookmark this page (or open it on your smartphone) as you may need to exit your web-browser or reboot your MAC.

To remove ConsumerSurvey, execute the steps below:

1. Remove profiles created by ConsumerSurvey
2. Check the list of installed applications
3. Remove ConsumerSurvey related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove ConsumerSurvey from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online
7. Finish words

Remove profiles created by ConsumerSurvey

ConsumerSurvey can install a configuration profile on the Mac system to block changes made to the browser settings. Therefore, you need to open system preferences, find and delete the profile installed by the adware software.

Click the System Preferences icon ( ) in the Dock, or choose Apple menu ( ) > System Preferences.

In System Preferences, click Profiles, then select a profile related to ConsumerSurvey.

Click the minus button ( – ) located at the bottom-left of the Profiles screen to remove the profile.
Note: if you do not see Profiles in the System Preferences, that means there are no profiles installed on your Mac, which is normal.

Check the list of installed applications

The next step in uninstalling PUPs, adware and browser hijackers by yourself is to go into the Finder, then Applications. Take a look at the list of apps on your Mac computer and see if there are any questionable and unknown software. If you see any, you need to delete it. Of course, before doing so, you can do an World Wide Web search to find details on the application. If it is a PUP, browser hijacker and adware software, you will likely find information that says so.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

It will display a list of all programs installed on your Apple Mac. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall any questionable and unknown applications. Right click to questionable application and select “Move to Trash”. Another solution 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 ConsumerSurvey related files and folders

Now you need to try to find ConsumerSurvey related files and folders, and then delete them manually. You need to look for these files in certain directories. To quickly open them, we recommend using the “Go to Folder…” command.

Click on the Finder icon. From the menu bar, select Go and click “Go to Folder…”. As a result, a small window opens that allows you to quickly open a specific directory.

Check for ConsumerSurvey generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchAgents

This will open the contents of the “/Library/LaunchAgents” folder. Look carefully at it and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files: macsearch.plist, installapp.plist, com.machelper.plist, ConsumerSurvey.plist and search.plist. Most often, PUPs, adware and browser hijackers create several files with similar names.

Check for ConsumerSurvey generated files in the /Library/Application Support folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/Application Support

This will open the contents of the “Application Support” folder. Look carefully at its contents, pay special attention to recently added/changed folder. Move all suspicious folders to the Trash.

Check for ConsumerSurvey generated files in the “~/Library/LaunchAgents” folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
~/Library/LaunchAgents

Proceed in the same way as with the “/Library/LaunchAgents” and “/Library/Application Support” folders. Look for suspicious and recently added files. Move all suspicious files to the Trash.

Check for ConsumerSurvey generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchDaemons

Carefully browse the entire list of files and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files to be deleted: com.macsearch.plist, com.machelper.plist, com.search.plist, com.installapp.plist and com.ConsumerSurvey.plist. In most cases, browser hijackers, adware and potentially unwanted programs create several files with similar names.

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We suggest using MalwareBytes Anti Malware to scan the Mac device for adware, potentially unwanted programs and browser hijackers. This free utility is an advanced malware removal program developed by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular antimalware technology. It is able to help you remove malware and other security threats from your Mac computer for free.

Installing the MalwareBytes Free is simple. First you’ll need to download MalwareBytes Free from the link below.

After the downloading process is finished, close all applications and windows on your MAC. Open a directory in which you saved it. Run the saved file and follow the prompts.

Once install is finished, you’ll see window as displayed on the screen below.

Now click the “Scan” button . MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) tool will start scanning the whole Apple Mac to find out ConsumerSurvey adware. A scan may take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your Apple Mac and the speed of your computer. While the MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) is checking, you may see count of objects it has identified either as being malware.

After the scan get completed, a list of all threats detected is produced. Make sure all threats have ‘checkmark’ and click “Quarantine” button.

The Malwarebytes will now remove ConsumerSurvey adware.

Remove ConsumerSurvey from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Annoying ConsumerSurvey adware software or other symptoms of adware in your web-browser is a good reason to find and remove harmful extensions. This is an easy method to restore web browsers settings and not lose any important information.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
Click on ‘three dots menu’ button at the top right corner of the Google Chrome window. Select ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to delete ConsumerSurvey adware by reset Chrome settings.	Click on ‘menu’ button and select ‘Add-ons’. Go to ‘Extensions’ tab. To uninstall an add-on, click on ‘Remove’ button next to it. If you are still experiencing problems with ConsumerSurvey removal, you need to reset Firefox browser.
Safari
On the top menu select ‘Safari’, then ‘Preferences’. Select ‘Extensions’ tab. Select an extension you want to delete and click ‘Uninstall’ button next to it.

How to stay safe online

The AdGuard is a very good ad-blocker application for the Mozilla Firefox, Chrome and Safari, with active user support. It does a great job by removing certain types of annoying advertisements, popunders, pop-ups, unwanted newtabs, and even full page advertisements and webpage overlay layers. Of course, the AdGuard can block malicious web sites automatically or by using a custom filter rule.

1. AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link.
   
   

   AdGuard for Mac download
   3677 downloads
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: January 17, 2018
   
2. Once the downloading process is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. After the setup is done, press “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will help you get to know AdGuard better.
4. In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you start your MAC OS, AdGuard will run automatically and stop annoying ads, block harmful and misleading web-sites.

Finish words

Now your Apple Mac should be free of the ConsumerSurvey adware. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop up ads and annoying malicious web-pages) and MalwareBytes Free (to periodically scan your machine for new adware softwares and other malware).

If you are still having problems while trying to delete ConsumerSurvey from the Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome, then ask for help here here.