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

What is NetImprovment

According to security researchers, NetImprovment app is an adware. Adware is a term that originates from ‘ad supported’ software. Most commonly, ‘adware’ is considered by many to be synonymous with ‘malicious software’. Its purpose is to earn revenue for its developer by presenting unwanted advertisements to a user while the user is browsing the World Wide Web. The NetImprovment app can display ads in form of popups, discount offers, promos or even fake alerts. It can seriously affect your privacy, your computer’s performance and security.

Another reason why you need to remove adware software is its online data-tracking activity. The NetImprovment adware can monetize its functionality by gathering user info from your surfing sessions. This privacy information, later, can be easily sold to third party companies. This puts your user info at a security risk.

Thus, the NetImprovment does not really have beneficial features. So, we advise you remove it as quickly as possible. This will also prevent the adware from tracking your online activities. A full NetImprovment removal can be easily carried out using manual or automatic solution listed below.

How does NetImprovment get on your MAC

Adware spreads with a simple but quite effective way. It is integrated into the installer of various freeware. Thus on the process of installation, it will be installed onto your Mac and/or web-browser. In order to avoid adware software, you just need to follow a few simple rules: carefully read the Terms of Use and the license, select only a Manual, Custom or Advanced installation option, which enables you to make sure that the program you want to install, thereby protect your Apple Mac from adware.

Threat Summary

Name	NetImprovment, NetImprovment 1.0 app
Type	adware software, PUP (potentially unwanted program), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	Adware.MAC.Generic, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, ApplicUnwnt, MacOS.Agent-MT, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, Adware/Adload!OSX and OSX.Trojan.Gen
Distribution	Free software installers, torrent downloads, misleading popup advertisements and fake updaters
Symptoms	You keep getting redirected to unfamiliar web sites, popups and new tabs are loaded without your request, new entries appear in your Applications folder, unwanted web browser addons or toolbars keep coming back, your web browser startpage has modified without your permission, slow Internet or slow browsing.
Removal	NetImprovment removal guide

How to Remove NetImprovment (removal guide)

Adware is a form of malware that you might have difficulty in removing it from your MAC OS. Happily, you’ve found the effective adware software removal guidance in this article. Both the manual removal solution and the automatic removal method will be provided below and you can just select the one that best for you. If you have any questions or need help then type a comment below. Some of the steps below will require you to exit this web site. So, please read the steps carefully, after that bookmark it or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove NetImprovment, execute the steps below:

1. Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device
2. Remove NetImprovment associated software by using the Finder
3. Remove NetImprovment related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove NetImprovment from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

NetImprovment 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 Apple menu ( ) > System Preferences.

In System Preferences, select Profiles. if there is no Profiles in the list of preferences, that means there are no profiles installed on the Mac. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile associated with NetImprovment.

To delete a malicious profile, click on the minus button ( – ) located at the bottom-left of the Profiles screen.

Remove NetImprovment associated software by using the Finder

Check the list of installed applications and uninstall all unknown or questionable applications. This is an important step, it so often happens that browser hijackers, adware and PUPs are built into freeware, so by removing these applications you can get rid of annoying ads and browser redirects.

Open Finder and click “Applications” like below.

You will see a list of apps installed on your MAC. We recommend to pay maximum attention to the application you installed last. Most probably, it is the NetImprovment . If you are in doubt, you can always check the application by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing.

After the program which you need to uninstall is found, simply right press on its name, and select “Move to Trash”.

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

Remove NetImprovment related files and folders

Now you need to try to find NetImprovment 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We advise using MalwareBytes Anti-Malware to scan the Mac for PUPs, adware software and browser hijackers. This free utility is an advanced malicious software removal program created by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular antimalware technology. It is able to help you get rid of browser hijackers and other security threats from your Mac device for free.

Please go to the link below to download MalwareBytes Free.

After the downloading process is complete, close all software and windows on your MAC. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.

The MalwareBytes AntiMalware will automatically start and you can see its main screen like below.

Now press the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the NetImprovment . This task may take quite a while, so please be patient. While the MalwareBytes utility is scanning, you may see number of objects it has identified as being affected by malware.

When the checking is complete, you may check all items detected on your computer. You may delete threats (move to Quarantine) by simply click the “Quarantine” button. The MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will get rid of NetImprovment and move the selected threats to the program’s quarantine.

Remove NetImprovment from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Remove unwanted addons is a easy way to get rid of NetImprovment adware software and return internet browser’s settings that have been modified by adware software.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
Click on ‘three dots menu’ button at the top right corner of the Chrome window. 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 remove NetImprovment 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 issues with NetImprovment adware software 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

If you surf the Internet, you can’t avoid malvertising. But you can protect your web browser against it. Download and use an adblocker program. AdGuard is an ad-blocker that can filter out lots of of the malvertising, blocking dynamic scripts from loading malicious content.

AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link.

After the downloading process is complete, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen. Follow the prompts.

Each time, when you launch your MAC system, AdGuard will run automatically and stop intrusive pop up advertisements, block harmful and misleading web sites.

To sum up

After completing the steps shown above, your MAC OS should be clean from this adware and other malicious software. The Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Chrome will no longer display any unwanted ads when you surf the Net. Unfortunately, if the few simple steps 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 NetImprovment adware.