How to uninstall SimpleProjectSearch app/extension from Mac (Virus removal guide)

What is SimpleProjectSearch

SimpleProjectSearch is a PUA (potentially unwanted app) that falls under the category of Adware. Adware is short for ‘ad supported’ software. Additionally, some malicious software contains adware or behaves similarly to adware software. Adware displays unwanted advertisements that appear in pop ups or in-text links on computer. In order to show unwanted ads as often as possible adware can modify your browser settings. You may even find that your MACOS settings are replaced without your conscious permission. The authors of adware do so in order to earn profit via third-party ad network. Thus every your click on the ads generates profit for them.

Another reason why you need to remove SimpleProjectSearch is its online data-tracking activity. It has the ability to gather your surfing history and confidential data, including passwords and credit card numbers. In the future, marketing-type data about you can be transferred to third parties.

If you want to delete SimpleProjectSearch adware, you will not succeed, because it is very stubborn. But with the help of the following tutorial, you surely can delete SimpleProjectSearch completely from your MAC system.

How does SimpleProjectSearch get on your machine

Many of the free apps out there install unwanted browser toolbars, hijackers, adware software and PUPs along with them without your knowledge. One has to be attentive while installing freeware in order to avoid accidentally installing additional apps. It’s important that you pay attention to the EULA (End User License Agreements) and choose the Custom, Manual or Advanced installation type as it will typically disclose what optional software will also be installed.

Threat Summary

Name	SimpleProjectSearch, SimpleProjectSearch 1.0 app
Type	adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	OSX.Trojan.Gen, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, ApplicUnwnt, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, Adware/Adload!OSX, Adware.MAC.Generic, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A and MacOS.Agent-MT
Distribution	Free software installers, misleading pop up advertisements, torrent downloads and fake updaters
Symptoms	Every time you perform an Internet search, your internet browser is redirected to another web site, browser pop ups appear and recommend fake updates and other unwanted applications, there is an unexpected application in the ‘Applications’ section of the Finder, unexpected web browser plugins or toolbars keep coming back, your web-browser homepage has modified and you are unable to change it back, fast Internet but slow browsing speeds.
Removal	SimpleProjectSearch removal guide

How to Remove SimpleProjectSearch adware (removal guide)

Most commonly adware requires more than a simple uninstall with the help of the Finder in order to be fully removed. For that reason, our team designed several removal solutions which we’ve summarized in a detailed tutorial. Therefore, if you’ve the SimpleProjectSearch adware on your MAC system and are currently trying to have it removed then feel free to follow the few simple steps below in order to resolve your problem. Read this manual carefully, bookmark it or open this page on your smartphone, because you may need to shut down your web-browser or restart your computer.

To remove SimpleProjectSearch, follow the steps below:

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

Remove profiles created by SimpleProjectSearch

SimpleProjectSearch can make changes to the Mac system such as malicious changes to browser settings, and the addition of malicious system profiles. You need to check the system preferences, find and remove malicious profiles and ensure your settings are as you expect.

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

In System Preferences, click Profiles, then select a profile associated with SimpleProjectSearch.

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 deleting PUPs, browser hijackers and adware by yourself is to go into the Finder, then Applications. Take a look at the list of apps on your Mac device and see if there are any questionable and unknown software. If you see any, you need to uninstall it. Of course, before doing so, you can do an World Wide Web search to find details on the program. If it is a potentially unwanted program, adware and browser hijacker, you will likely find information that says so.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Very carefully look around the entire list of programs installed on your computer. Most likely, one of them is the SimpleProjectSearch . Once you have found a dubious, unwanted or unused application, right click to it and choose “Move to Trash”. Another way is drag the program from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Don’t forget, choose Finder -> “Empty Trash”.

Remove SimpleProjectSearch related files and folders

Now you need to try to find SimpleProjectSearch 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.

SimpleProjectSearch creates several files, these files must be found and removed. Below is a list of files associated with this unwanted application.

• /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.SimpleProjectSearch.system.plist
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.SimpleProjectSearch.service.plist
• /Library/Application Support/.(RANDOM)/System/com.SimpleProjectSearch.system
• ~/Library/Application Support/.(RANDOM)/Services/com.SimpleProjectSearch.service.app

Some files created by SimpleProjectSearch are hidden from the user. To find and delete them, you need to enable “show hidden files”. To do this, use the shortcut CMD + SHIFT + . Press once to show hidden files and again to hide them. There is another way. Click Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal. In Terminal, paste the following text: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

Press Enter. Hold the ‘Option/alt’ key, then right click on the Finder icon in the dock and click Relaunch.

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 SimpleProjectSearch 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: com.SimpleProjectSearch.service.plist, search.plist, installapp.plist, com.net-preferences.plist, com.google.defaultsearch.plist, , com.machelper.plist and macsearch.plist. Most often, adware, browser hijackers and potentially unwanted programs create several files with similar names.

Check for SimpleProjectSearch 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 folders and files. Check the contents of suspicious folders, if there is a file with a name similar to com.SimpleProjectSearch.system, then this folder must be deleted. Move all suspicious folders and files to the Trash.

Check for SimpleProjectSearch 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 SimpleProjectSearch 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.SimpleProjectSearch.system.plist, com.machelper.system.plist, com.search.system.plist, com.installapp.system.plist and com.macsearch.system.plist. In most cases, adware, browser hijackers and potentially unwanted programs create several files with similar names.

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We advise using MalwareBytes Anti Malware. You may download and install MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) to look for and get rid of SimpleProjectSearch related software from your Mac computer. When installed and updated, the malware remover automatically finds and deletes all security threats present on the computer.

MalwareBytes Free can be downloaded from the following link.

Once the downloading process is done, close all apps and windows on your computer. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.

The MalwareBytes will automatically start and you can see its main screen as shown in the figure below.

Now click the “Scan” button for scanning your machine for the SimpleProjectSearch adware. This process may take quite a while, so please be patient. During the scan MalwareBytes Free will detect threats exist on your computer.

After the scanning is done, a list of all threats detected is produced. Review the results once the tool has complete the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply click the “Quarantine” button. The MalwareBytes Anti Malware will get rid of SimpleProjectSearch and move the selected threats to the program’s quarantine.

Remove SimpleProjectSearch from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

If you have ‘SimpleProjectSearch adware’ removal problem, then remove unwanted addons can help you. In the steps below we will show you the method to get rid of harmful plugins without reinstall. This will also allow to remove SimpleProjectSearch adware from your web browser.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
Click on ‘three dots menu’ button at the top right corner of the Chrome window. When the drop-down menu appears, choose ‘More tools’ and click on ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to delete SimpleProjectSearch adware by reset Google 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 issues with SimpleProjectSearch adware 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

By installing an ad blocker program like AdGuard, you are able to block malicious web-pages, stop autoplaying video ads and get rid of tons of distracting and annoying ads on web-pages.

1. Download AdGuard by clicking on the following link.
   
   

   AdGuard for Mac download
   3677 downloads
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: January 17, 2018
   
2. After the downloading process is done, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. After the installation is done, click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or press “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 do not need to change anything. Each time, when you run your MAC OS, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop unwanted advertisements, block malicious and misleading web-sites.

Finish words

After completing the few simple steps above, your MAC should be clean from the SimpleProjectSearch adware and other malicious software. The Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Safari will no longer redirect you to unwanted web pages and online ads. Unfortunately, if the steps does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help here.