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

What is SphinxLookup

According to security professionals, SphinxLookup is an adware program. Adware can make big problem to your computer. Adware also known as ‘ad-supported’ software is a form of harmful programs that displays lots of ads in form of pop-up windows, coupons, banners or even fake alerts on the MAC. Adware can seriously affect your privacy, your computer’s performance and security.

Another reason why you need to remove the SphinxLookup app is its online data-tracking activity. It is able to collect a wide variety of your sensitive information to get profit. Adware software can analyze your surfing, and gain access to your confidential data and, afterwards, can sell it to third parties. Thus, there are more than enough reasons to remove adware software from your MAC.

How does SphinxLookup get on your machine

Adware usually comes on MACs with free applications. Most often, it comes without the user’s knowledge. Therefore, many users aren’t even aware that their MAC has been hijacked with potentially unwanted applications and adware software. Please follow the easy rules in order to protect your MAC from adware and potentially unwanted software: don’t install any suspicious apps, read the user agreement and choose only the Custom, Manual or Advanced setup option, do not rush to click the Next button. Also, always try to find a review of the application on the Net. Be careful and attentive!

Threat Summary

Name	SphinxLookup, SphinxLookup 1.0 app
Type	adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	Adware/Adload!OSX, Adware.MAC.Generic, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, MacOS.Agent-MT, OSX.Trojan.Gen and ApplicUnwnt
Distribution	Free software installers, torrent downloads, malicious pop-up ads and fake updaters
Symptoms	When you go to a web site, you are frequently redirected to another webpage that you do not intend to visit, you experience a large amount of of unwanted advertising popups, your Apple Mac starts automatically installing unexpected software, unwanted browser extensions or toolbars keep coming back, your web browser startpage has replaced without your permission, fast Internet but slow browsing speeds.
Removal	SphinxLookup removal guide

How to remove SphinxLookup adware

Fortunately, it is not hard to remove SphinxLookup adware. In the following instructions, we will provide two solutions to clean your Apple Mac of this adware software. One is the manual removal method and the other is automatic removal solution. You can select the solution that best fits you. Please follow the removal guidance below to delete SphinxLookup right now!

To remove SphinxLookup, perform the steps below:

1. Remove profiles created by SphinxLookup
2. Remove SphinxLookup associated software by using the Finder
3. Remove SphinxLookup related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove SphinxLookup from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online
7. To sum up

Remove profiles created by SphinxLookup

SphinxLookup 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 SphinxLookup.

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 computer, which is normal.

Remove SphinxLookup associated software by using the Finder

Go to the Finder and delete questionable apps, all programs you don’t remember installing. It’s important to pay the most attention to applications you have recently installed. If you do not know what a program does, look for the answer on the Net.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

It will open a list of all programs installed on your computer. Scroll through the all list, and delete any dubious and unknown applications. Right click to suspicious program 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 SphinxLookup related files and folders

Now you need to try to find SphinxLookup 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.

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

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

Some files created by SphinxLookup 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 SphinxLookup 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: search.plist, com.SphinxLookup.service.plist, com.net-preferences.plist, installapp.plist, macsearch.plist, com.google.defaultsearch.plist, and com.machelper.plist. Most often, PUPs, adware software and browser hijackers create several files with similar names.

Check for SphinxLookup 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.SphinxLookup.system, then this folder must be deleted. Move all suspicious folders and files to the Trash.

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

Manual SphinxLookup removal requires some computer skills. Some files and system entries that created by the adware software can be not fully removed. We recommend that run MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) to scan the Mac computer. Moreover, this application will help you to remove toolbars, PUPs, adware software and browser hijackers that your machine can be affected too.

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

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
   20841 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: September 10, 2020
   
2. After downloading is complete, please close all software and open windows on your MAC. Run the downloaded file. Follow the prompts.
3. The MalwareBytes Anti Malware will run and open the main window.
4. Further, click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the SphinxLookup . This procedure can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the tool is scanning, you can see how many objects and files has already scanned.
5. Once the scan is complete, you can check all items detected on your machine.
6. Review the report and then press the “Remove Selected Items” button.
7. Close the AntiMalware and continue with the next step.

Remove SphinxLookup from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

This step will show you how to delete malicious extensions. This can remove SphinxLookup adware and fix some surfing issues, especially after adware infection.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top right hand corner, click on ‘three vertical dots’, and this will open up the main menu on Chrome. In the menu go to ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to get rid of SphinxLookup 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 SphinxLookup removal, you need to reset Mozilla 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

To put it simply, you need to use an ad blocker utility (AdGuard, for example). It’ll stop and protect you from harmful websites, unwanted advertisements and pop ups. To be able to do that, the adblocker program uses a list of filters. Each filter is a rule that describes a malicious web-page, an advertising content, a banner and others. The ad blocker application automatically uses these filters, depending on the web sites you are visiting.

Download AdGuard on your MAC system from the following link.

After the download 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 tutorial. Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick guide which will assist you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you start your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and stop intrusive ads, block malicious and misleading web-sites.

To sum up

Now your machine should be free of the SphinxLookup adware. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted ads and annoying malicious websites) and MalwareBytes Anti Malware (to periodically scan your MAC for new malware, hijackers and adware). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Mac operating system. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new browser hijackers, harmful programs and adware are released.

If you are still having problems while trying to remove adware software from your web browser, then ask for help here.