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

What is MainOperation

According to security researchers, MainOperation is an Adware application that targets Mac platform. Adware is a form of malicious software that displays unwanted advertisements on the infected computer. Some of these ads are scams or fake ads designed to trick users. Even the harmless advertisements can become really irritating. Adware can be installed unintentionally and without users knowing about it, when users open email attachments or install free software.

Does MainOperation steal your confidential information? It can be used to collect marketing-type data about you such as what websites you are opening, what you are looking for the Web and so on. This privacy information, later, may be sold to third party companies.

So, if you happen to encounter the adware, then be quick and take effort to remove it as quickly as possible. Follow the step-by-step tutorial below to remove MainOperation adware. Let us know how you managed by sending us your comments please.

How does MainOperation get on your computer

Many of the free software out there install unwanted browser toolbars, browser hijackers, adware and potentially unwanted applications along with them without your knowledge. One has to be attentive while installing free software in order to avoid accidentally installing bundled software. It is important that you pay attention to the EULA (End User License Agreements) and choose the Custom, Manual or Advanced install type as it will typically disclose what third-party apps will also be installed.

Threat Summary

Name	MainOperation
Type	adware, potentially unwanted application (PUA), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	MacOS.Agent-MT, Adware/Adload!OSX, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, Adware.MAC.Generic, Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, OSX.Trojan.Gen, Osx.Adware.Cimpli and ApplicUnwnt
Distribution	Freeware installers, fake updaters, malicious popup ads and torrent downloads
Symptoms	Your internet browser is redirected to web-pages you did not want, advertisements appear in places they shouldn’t be, there is an unwanted program in the ‘Applications’ section of the Finder, unwanted web-browser plugins or toolbars keep coming back, your web-browser homepage has changed without your permission, slow browsing Internet.
Removal	MainOperation removal guide

How to remove MainOperation from Mac

In the few simple steps below, we will try to cover the Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox and provide general advice to delete MainOperation adware. You may find some minor differences in your Apple Mac install. No matter, you should be okay if you follow the steps outlined below: delete all suspicious and unknown programs, reset browsers settings, run free malicious software removal tools. Some of the steps will require you to restart your computer or close this web page. So, read this guide carefully, then bookmark this page or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove MainOperation, execute the following steps:

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

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

MainOperation 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 computer. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile related to MainOperation.

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

Delete MainOperation related software through the Finder

Check the list of installed software and delete all unknown or questionable software. This is an important step, it so often happens that adware, browser hijackers and PUPs are built into free software, so by removing these applications you can get rid of web-browser redirects and intrusive advertisements.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Carefully browse through the list of installed programs and get rid of all questionable and unknown apps.

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

Remove MainOperation related files and folders

Now you need to try to find MainOperation 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We recommend using MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM). You may download and install MalwareBytes to detect and get rid of MainOperation related software from your Mac computer. When installed and updated, the malware remover automatically searches for and removes all security threats present on the MAC OS.

1. Please go to the following link to download the latest version of MalwareBytes for Mac OS.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
   20841 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: September 10, 2020
   
2. When downloading is complete, close all apps and windows on your Apple Mac. Open a folder in which you saved it. Run the downloaded file and follow the prompts.
3. Press the “Scan” button for checking your machine for the MainOperation adware. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your MAC system. While the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware application is scanning, you can see number of objects it has identified as threat.
4. When the scan is finished, the results are displayed in the scan report. Review the scan results and then click “Quarantine”.

Remove MainOperation from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

If you have ‘MainOperation adware’ removal problem, then remove unwanted extensions can help you. In the steps below we’ll show you the solution to remove harmful add-ons without reinstall. This will also help to remove MainOperation from your internet browser.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
Click on ‘three dots menu’ button at the top right corner of the Google 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 MainOperation 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 problems with MainOperation adware software 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

To put it simply, you need to use an ad blocking tool (AdGuard, for example). It’ll stop and protect you from harmful webpages, unwanted ads and pop ups. To be able to do that, the ad-blocker application uses a list of filters. Each filter is a rule that describes a malicious web page, an advertising content, a banner and others. The ad-blocker program automatically uses these filters, depending on the web-pages you are visiting.

Download AdGuard on your MAC OS from the link below.

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

Each time, when you run your machine, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop unwanted pop-ups, block harmful and misleading websites.

To sum up

We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted advertisements and annoying malicious websites) and MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) (to periodically scan your MAC system for new malicious software, browser hijackers and adware). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Mac operating system. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new browser hijackers, malicious apps and adware are released.

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