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

What is OptimizationLaunch

According to security experts, OptimizationLaunch is an adware application that targets Mac computers. Adware is type of malicious software which displays unwanted advertisements, redirects search results to advertising web sites and collects personal information for marketing purposes. OptimizationLaunche can display banner advertisements, full-screen advertisements, pop-ups, videos, or other varieties of online advertising. It can attack your MAC’s internet browsers like the Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari. Maybe you approve the idea that the advertisements or pop-ups is just a small problem. But these intrusive ads eat the system resources and slow down your computer performance.

Another reason why you need to get rid of OptimizationLaunch is its online data-tracking activity. It can be used to gather user info about you (your ip address, what is a website you are viewing now, what you are looking for on the Web, which links you are clicking), which can later transfer to third parties. So, if you happen to encounter the adware, then be quick and take effort to remove it immediately. Follow the step-by-step instructions below to delete OptimizationLaunch adware. Let us know how you managed by sending us your comments please.

How does OptimizationLaunch get on your MAC OS

Adware gets onto MAC computers by being attached to some freeware. So always read carefully the installation screens, disclaimers, ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Software license’ appearing during the install procedure. Additionally pay attention for additional apps that are being installed along with the main program. Ensure that you unchecked all of them! Also, use an ad blocking tool that will allow to block dubious and illegitimate websites.

Threat Summary

Name	OptimizationLaunch, OptimizationLaunch 1.0 app
Type	adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	Adware/Adload!OSX, OSX.Trojan.Gen, ApplicUnwnt, Adware.MAC.Generic, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, MacOS.Agent-MT, Osx.Adware.Cimpli and Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload
Distribution	Free software installers, torrent downloads, fake software updaters and misleading popup ads
Symptoms	Your web-browser is redirected to web-pages you did not want, unclosable window appear and recommend fake Flash updates, your machine starts automatically installing unexpected programs, unwanted web-browser toolbars, your web-browser startpage has changed and you are unable to modify it back, slow Internet browsing speeds.
Removal	OptimizationLaunch removal guide

How to remove OptimizationLaunch from Mac device

Without a doubt, the OptimizationLaunch app is harmful to your computer. So you need to quickly and completely remove this adware software. To remove the adware, you may use the manual removal guide that are given below or free malware removal utility such as MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) (it is free). We suggest you use automatic removal way that will help you to delete OptimizationLaunch adware easily and safely. Manual removal is best used only if you are well versed in MAC system or in the case where adware is not uninstalled automatically. Some of the steps will require you to reboot your MAC OS or exit this web-site. So, read this guidance carefully, then bookmark this page or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove OptimizationLaunch, perform the steps below:

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

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

OptimizationLaunch 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 related to OptimizationLaunch.

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.

Check the list of installed programs

The next step in removing adware, PUPs and browser hijackers by yourself is to go into the Finder, then Applications. Take a look at the list of apps on your Mac computer and see if there are any suspicious and unknown software. If you see any, you need to delete it. Of course, before doing so, you can do an Internet search to find details on the program. If it is a potentially unwanted program, adware software and browser hijacker, you will likely find information that says so.

Open Finder and click “Applications” as shown on the screen below.

You will see a list of applications installed on your MAC system. We recommend to pay maximum attention to the application you installed last. Most likely, it’s the OptimizationLaunch . If you’re in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing.

When the program which you need to remove is found, simply right click on its name, and select “Move to Trash”.

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

Remove OptimizationLaunch related files and folders

Now you need to try to find OptimizationLaunch 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

Manual OptimizationLaunch removal requires some computer skills. Some files and system entries that created by the adware software can be not fully removed. We advise that use MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) to scan the Mac. Moreover, this program will help you to delete toolbars, potentially unwanted programs, browser hijackers and adware that your MAC OS can be affected too.

MalwareBytes can be downloaded from the following link.

After the download is complete, run it and follow the prompts. Click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this utility for the OptimizationLaunch . While the MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) utility is checking, you can see number of objects it has identified as being infected by malware. You may delete threats (move to Quarantine) by simply press the “Quarantine” button.

The MalwareBytes AntiMalware is a free program that you can use to remove all detected folders, files, malicious services and so on.

Remove OptimizationLaunch from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

If you have ‘OptimizationLaunch adware software’ removal problem, then remove unwanted add-ons can help you. In the steps below we will show you the solution to remove malicious extensions without reinstall. This will also help to delete OptimizationLaunch from your web-browser.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top-right corner, expand the Chrome menu. Select ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to get rid of OptimizationLaunch 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 OptimizationLaunch 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

One of the worst things is the fact that you cannot stop all harmful webpages using only built-in MS Windows capabilities. However, there is a program out that you can use to stop annoying web-browser redirects, ads and pop-ups in any modern web browsers including Safari, Firefox and Google Chrome. It is called Adguard and it works very well.

1. Visit the page linked below to download the latest version of AdGuard for Mac.
   
   

   AdGuard for Mac download
   3677 downloads
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: January 17, 2018
   
2. When downloading is done, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the installation is complete, click “Skip” to close the install application and use the default settings, or click “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 don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you start your MAC, AdGuard will start automatically and stop annoying ads, block malicious and misleading web pages.

To sum up

Once you have done the step-by-step guidance shown above, your Apple Mac should be clean from the adware and other malicious software. The Firefox, Safari and Chrome will no longer display the OptimizationLaunch ads when you browse the Web. Unfortunately, if the step-by-step guide 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 OptimizationLaunch adware.