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

What is TechEnumerator

TechEnumerator is an adware app. Adware is a form of malicious software that delivers unwanted ads and prompts intrusive advertising popups, while you browse the World Wide Web. It can show banner advertisements, full-screen ads, pop-ups, videos, or other varieties of online advertising. Adware may replace the advertisements of other companies with its own.

Another reason why you need to remove TechEnumerator is its online data-tracking activity. It can be used to gather privacy data (your ip address, what is a web page you are viewing now, what you are looking for on the Web, which links you are clicking), which can later transfer to third parties.

Therefore, the TechEnumerator does not really have beneficial features. So, we suggest you get rid of it as soon as possible. This will also prevent the adware from tracking your online activities. A full TechEnumerator removal can be easily carried out using manual or automatic way listed below.

How does TechEnumerator get on your machine

Usually, adware software gets into your computer as part of a bundle with free software, sharing files and other unsafe software that you downloaded from the Web. The creators of adware pays software developers for distributing adware within their programs. So, optional programs is often included as part of the setup file. In order to avoid the installation of any adware software: choose only Manual, Custom or Advanced install method and uncheck all optional apps in which you are unsure.

Threat Summary

Name	TechEnumerator, “TechEnumerator 1.0 app”
Type	adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	MacOS.Agent-MT, Adware.MAC.Generic, OSX.Trojan.Gen, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, ApplicUnwnt, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, Osx.Adware.Cimpli and Adware/Adload!OSX
Distribution	Free software installers, torrent downloads, malicious pop up ads and fake software updaters
Symptoms	You keep getting redirected to dubious webpages, pop ups and newtabs are loaded without your request, unexpected program installed without your say-so, new add-ons suddenly installed on your web-browser, your web-browser startpage has replaced and you cannot modify it back, slow Internet browsing speeds.
Removal	TechEnumerator removal guide

How to Remove TechEnumerator adware (removal guide)

In the steps below, we will try to cover the Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Safari and provide general advice to delete TechEnumerator . You may find some minor differences in your Apple Mac install. No matter, you should be okay if you follow the steps outlined below: remove all suspicious and unknown programs, reset web-browsers settings, run free malware removal utilities. Certain of the steps below will require you to close this web-site. So, please read the step-by-step instructions carefully, after that bookmark it or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove TechEnumerator, follow the steps below:

1. Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device
2. Check the list of installed programs
3. Remove TechEnumerator related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove TechEnumerator from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. How to stay safe online

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

TechEnumerator 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.

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 device. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile associated with TechEnumerator.

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

Check the list of installed programs

Some of adware, browser hijackers and PUPs can be uninstalled using the Move to Trash tool which is located in the Finder. So, if you’re using any version of Mac OS and you have noticed an unwanted application, then first try to delete it through the Finder.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

It will show a list of all software installed on your machine. Scroll through the all list, and delete any suspicious and unknown applications. Right click to dubious application and choose “Move to Trash”. Another method 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, select Finder -> Empty Trash.

Remove TechEnumerator related files and folders

Now you need to try to find TechEnumerator 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

You can remove TechEnumerator related files automatically through the use of MalwareBytes Free. We suggest this free malware removal utility because it can easily remove toolbars, PUPs, adware and browser hijackers with all their components such as files, folders and system entries.

Download MalwareBytes Free on your MAC system by clicking on the link below.

When the downloading process is finished, close all programs and windows on your Apple Mac. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.

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

Now press the “Scan” button to start checking your MAC OS for the TechEnumerator adware. This process can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the MalwareBytes Anti Malware program is checking, you can see how many objects it has identified as threat.

When MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) is done scanning your MAC system, MalwareBytes Free will display a list of detected items. In order to delete all threats, simply click the “Quarantine” button. The MalwareBytes Free will begin to get rid of TechEnumerator .

Remove TechEnumerator from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Remove unwanted extensions is a simple solution to get rid of TechEnumerator adware and return web browser’s settings that have been changed by adware software.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top-right corner, expand the Chrome menu. 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 TechEnumerator 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 TechEnumerator adware 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

One of the worst things is the fact that you cannot block all malicious web-pages using only built-in Windows capabilities. However, there is a program out that you can use to block intrusive web-browser redirects, ads and popups in any modern web browsers including Chrome, Safari and Firefox. It is called Adguard and it works very well.

1. Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you will need to download AdGuard on your machine from 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, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the setup is finished, press “Skip” to close the install 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 system, AdGuard will start automatically and stop annoying advertisements, block harmful and misleading web-sites.

Finish words

Once you’ve done the step-by-step guidance shown above, your MAC system should be clean from this adware software and other malware. The Safari, Chrome and Firefox will no longer show any unwanted ads when you surf the Internet. Unfortunately, if the step-by-step guidance does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, 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 TechEnumerator app.