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

What is AlgorithmFormula

According to security researchers, AlgorithmFormula is an adware application that targets Mac computers. Adware is a type of malicious software designed to throw advertisements up on your internet browser screen. AlgorithmFormula generates profit for its author by automatically showing a large number of ads and pop-up deals. You might experience a change in your homepage or search engine, new tabs opening or even a redirect to misleading web-sites.

Even worse, AlgorithmFormula cab monetize its functionality by collecting privacy info from your browsing sessions. This privacy information, subsequently, can be easily used for marketing purposes. This puts your privacy info at a security risk.

In this blog post we will discuss how can you remove AlgorithmFormula from the Apple Mac manually or with free adware removal tools compatible with compatible with modern operating systems.

How does AlgorithmFormula get on your computer

Most often, adware software is bundled within the install packages from file sharing and torrents web-sites. So, install free applications is a a good chance that you will find a bundled adware. If you don’t know how to avoid it, then use a simple trick. During the installation, choose the Custom or Advanced installation option. Next, press ‘Decline’ button and clear all checkboxes on offers that ask you to install optional applications. Moreover, please carefully read Term of use and User agreement before installing any applications or otherwise you can end up with another unwanted application on your computer such as the AlgorithmFormula adware.

Threat Summary

Name	AlgorithmFormula, AlgorithmFormula 1.0 app
Type	adware software, potentially unwanted program (PUP), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	Adware.MAC.Generic, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, Adware/Adload!OSX, MacOS.Agent-MT, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, OSX.Trojan.Gen and ApplicUnwnt
Distribution	Free software installers, fake updaters, shady pop up ads and torrent downloads
Symptoms	You keep getting redirected to suspicious web-pages, you experience a large amount of of unwanted advertising pop-ups, new entries appear in your Applications folder, unwanted internet browser addons or toolbars keep coming back, your web browser start page has replaced without your permission, fast Internet but slow browsing speeds.
Removal	AlgorithmFormula removal guide

How to remove AlgorithmFormula from Mac

There are a simple manual steps below that will assist you to get rid of AlgorithmFormula adware from your Mac. The most effective method to delete any adware is to perform the manual removal guide and then run MalwareBytes automatic tool (it is free). The manual method will help to weaken this adware software and these malicious software removal utilities will completely remove AlgorithmFormula adware and restore the Google Chrome, Safari and Mozilla Firefox settings to default.

To remove AlgorithmFormula, perform the following steps:

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

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

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

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, PUPs and browser hijackers can be removed using the Move to Trash tool that can be found in the Finder. So, if you’re running any version of Apple Mac and you have noticed an unwanted program, then first try to get rid of it through the Finder.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

It will show a list of all software installed on your Apple Mac. Scroll through the all list, and remove any suspicious and unknown apps. Right click to suspicious program and select “Move to Trash”. Another solution is drag the application 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 AlgorithmFormula related files and folders

Now you need to try to find AlgorithmFormula 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

If you are still having issues with the AlgorithmFormula removal or just wish to check your Mac occasionally for adware and other malware, then download MalwareBytes AntiMalware. It’s free for home use, and searches for and removes various undesired apps that attacks your MAC or degrades Apple Mac performance. MalwareBytes can remove browser hijackers, PUPs, adware software and toolbars as well as malware, including ransomware and trojans.

Visit the page linked below to download MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM).

After downloading is done, close all windows on your computer. Further, run the saved file. Follow the prompts.

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

Next, press the “Scan Now” button to look for AlgorithmFormula adware. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the count of files on your MAC system and the speed of your MAC OS. While the utility is scanning, you can see how many objects and files has already scanned.

Once the scan is done, you may check all items detected on your MAC OS. Once you have selected what you wish to delete from your Apple Mac click the “Quarantine” button.

The MalwareBytes AntiMalware will start to delete AlgorithmFormula .

Remove AlgorithmFormula from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

If you have ‘AlgorithmFormula adware’ removal problem, then remove unwanted extensions can help you. In the steps below we will show you the solution to remove malicious extensions without reinstall. This will also allow to get rid of AlgorithmFormula adware from your web browser.

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 AlgorithmFormula 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 AlgorithmFormula 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

It’s also critical to protect your web-browsers from harmful web sites and advertisements by using an ad blocking program such as AdGuard. Security experts says that it will greatly reduce the risk of malware, and potentially save lots of money. Additionally, the AdGuard can also protect your privacy by blocking almost all trackers.

Download AdGuard on your Apple Mac by clicking on the following link.

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

Each time, when you run your MAC, AdGuard will start automatically and stop unwanted popup ads, block harmful and misleading web-sites.

To sum up

Now your MAC should be free of the AlgorithmFormula adware. We suggest that you keep MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (to periodically scan your machine for new adware softwares and other malicious software) and AdGuard (to help you stop annoying pop ups and malicious web-sites). Moreover, to prevent any adware, please stay clear of unknown and third party applications.

If you need more help with AlgorithmFormula related issues, go to here.