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

What is SearchServiceHelper

SearchServiceHelper is an adware application. Adware is a form of malicious software that can cause many troubles such as unwanted ads and pop-ups on the internet browser, irrelevant search results that redirect to scam and unsafe sites, browser crashes and slow loading web-pages. Adware often installs on MAC computers with freeware.

Does SearchServiceHelper adware steal your privacy data? Adware can gather and transmit user data without your knowledge. It has the ability to track information about web-pages visited, browser and system information, and your computer IP address. So, you should remove the adware without a wait. Here, in this post below, you can found the useful guidance on How to remove SearchServiceHelper and intrusive advertisements from your MAC for free.

How does SearchServiceHelper get on your MAC

Adware usually is bundled with certain free software that users download off of the Net. So, think back, have you ever download and run any free programs. In order to avoid infection, in the Setup wizard, you should be be proactive and carefully read the ‘Terms of use’, the ‘license agreement’ and other installation screens, as well as to always select the ‘Manual’ or ‘Advanced’ installation mode, when installing anything downloaded from the Net.

Threat Summary

Name	SearchServiceHelper, SearchServiceHelper 1.0 app, “Search Service Helper”
Type	adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	ApplicUnwnt, Adware/Adload!OSX, Adware.MAC.Generic, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, MacOS.Agent-MT, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload and OSX.Trojan.Gen
Distribution	Freeware installers, fake updaters, torrent downloads and malicious popup ads
Symptoms	When you go to a website, you are constantly redirected to another website that you do not intend to visit, advertising banners appear on web-sites that you are visiting, there is an unexpected program in the ‘Applications’ section of the Finder, new extensions suddenly installed on your browser, your web-browser home page has modified and you are unable to modify it back, your browser slows to a crawl.
Removal	SearchServiceHelper removal guide

How to remove SearchServiceHelper adware

There are a simple manual instructions below that will help you to delete SearchServiceHelper from your Apple Mac. The most effective method to remove this adware is to complete the manual removal guidance and then use MalwareBytes automatic tool (it is free). The manual way will assist to weaken this adware and these malware removal tools will completely delete SearchServiceHelper adware and revert back the Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome settings to default.

To remove SearchServiceHelper, execute the following steps:

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

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

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

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

Remove SearchServiceHelper associated software by using the Finder

Check out the Finder (Applications section) to see all installed applications. If you see any unknown and dubious programs, they are the ones you need to uninstall.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Carefully browse through the list of installed software and remove all dubious and unknown applications.

When you have found anything questionable that may be the SearchServiceHelper adware or other potentially unwanted program, then right click this program and choose “Move to Trash”. Once complete, Empty Trash.

Remove SearchServiceHelper related files and folders

Now you need to try to find SearchServiceHelper 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

Manual SearchServiceHelper removal requires some computer skills. Some files and system entries that created by the adware can be not completely removed. We suggest that use MalwareBytes Free to scan the Mac device. Moreover, this program will help you to get rid of potentially unwanted programs, toolbars, adware and browser hijackers that your computer can be affected too.

Download MalwareBytes Free on your MAC OS by clicking on the following link.

When the downloading process is done, close all windows on your MAC OS. Further, start the saved file. Follow the prompts.

The MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will automatically start and you can see its main window as shown in the following example.

Next, click the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan with this utility for the SearchServiceHelper . Depending on your computer, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. When a threat is found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is done.

After that process is finished, MalwareBytes will display you the results. Next, you need to press the “Quarantine” button.

The MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) will remove SearchServiceHelper and move the selected threats to the program’s quarantine.

Remove SearchServiceHelper from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Remove unwanted addons is a easy solution to remove SearchServiceHelper adware software and revert back browser’s settings which have been replaced by adware.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top right corner, click on Google Chrome’s main menu button, represented by three vertical dots. Select ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to remove SearchServiceHelper 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 problems with SearchServiceHelper 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

If you surf the Web, you cannot avoid malvertising. But you can protect your web-browser against it. Download and run an adblocker program. AdGuard is an ad-blocking that can filter out a lot of of the malicious advertising, stoping dynamic scripts from loading harmful content.

1. Download AdGuard on your MAC from the following link.
   
   

   AdGuard for Mac download
   3677 downloads
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: January 17, 2018
   
2. When the download is complete, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the install is done, click “Skip” to close the setup application and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will assist 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 computer, AdGuard will run automatically and stop unwanted advertisements, block malicious and misleading web sites.

To sum up

Now your computer should be free of the SearchServiceHelper adware. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted pop-up ads and unwanted harmful web-sites) and MalwareBytes (to periodically scan your machine for new malicious software, browser hijackers and adware software). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Mac OS. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new hijackers, malicious software and adware software are released.

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