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

What is SharedAllocate

SharedAllocate is an adware application that targets Mac computers. Adware is a form of malicious software responsible for unwanted advertisements. The SharedAllocate adware can generate popups, display unsolicited advertisements, change browser settings, or redirect web-browser to scam sites. Aside from causing unwanted ads and web browser redirects, it also can slow down the MAC.

The worst is, the adware has the ability to gather lots of your personal information (your ip address, what is a web site you are viewing now, what you are looking for on the Internet, 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 delete it immediately. Follow the few simple steps below to delete SharedAllocate adware. Let us know how you managed by sending us your comments please.

How does SharedAllocate get on your machine

Adware usually is bundled within some free software that users download off of the Internet. So, think back, have you ever download and run any free software. 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 setup screens, as well as to always choose the ‘Manual’ or ‘Advanced’ setup method, when installing anything downloaded from the Net.

Threat Summary

Name	SharedAllocate
Type	adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), Mac virus, Mac malware
Detection Names	ApplicUnwnt, Adware.MAC.Generic, Adware/Adload!OSX, MacOS.Agent-MT, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, OSX.Trojan.Gen, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload and Program:MacOS/Vigram.A
Distribution	Free software installers, fake updaters, torrent downloads and malicious pop-up ads
Symptoms	You keep getting redirected to questionable websites, popup ads won’t go away, there is an unexpected program in the ‘Applications’ section of the Finder, unwanted web-browser toolbars, your browser home page has changed without your permission, fast Internet but slow browsing speeds.
Removal	SharedAllocate removal guide

How to Remove SharedAllocate adware software (removal guide)

To remove SharedAllocate adware from your MAC, you must remove suspicious software and every component that could be related to the adware. Besides, to restore your web browser settings, you should reset the hijacked internet browsers. As soon as you are complete with SharedAllocate removal procedure, we recommend you scan your computer with malware removal utilities listed below. It’ll complete the removal procedure on your Apple Mac.

To remove SharedAllocate, follow the steps below:

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

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

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

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

Remove SharedAllocate associated software by using the Finder

Check the list of installed programs on your Mac computer and remove all unknown and recently installed applications. If you see an unknown program with incorrect spelling or varying capital letters, it have most likely been installed by malicious software and you should clean it off first with malicious software removal tool like MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM).

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

It will show a list of all software installed on your MAC OS. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall any dubious and unknown applications. Right click to questionable application and choose “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, choose Finder -> Empty Trash.

Remove SharedAllocate related files and folders

Now you need to try to find SharedAllocate 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We suggest using MalwareBytes Anti-Malware. You can download and install MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) to detect and delete SharedAllocate associated programs from your Mac device. When installed and updated, the malware remover automatically scans for and removes all security threats exist on the computer.

Download MalwareBytes Free by clicking on the following link.

Once the downloading process is done, run it and follow the prompts. Press the “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the SharedAllocate adware. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the count of files on your Apple Mac and the speed of your computer. While the MalwareBytes is scanning, you can see count of objects it has identified either as being malicious software. Next, you need to click the “Quarantine” button.

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

Remove SharedAllocate from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

If you are still seeing SharedAllocate adware software that won’t go away, you might have harmful plugins installed on your web browser. Check your web browser for unwanted extensions using the steps below.

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. When the drop-down menu appears, choose ‘More tools’ and click on ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to remove SharedAllocate adware software 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 SharedAllocate adware software 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

Enabling an ad-blocking program like AdGuard is an effective way to alleviate the risks. Additionally, ad blocking applications will also protect you from malicious advertisements and web sites, and, of course, stop redirection chain to misleading, scam and similar web-sites.

1. Click the link below to download AdGuard.
   
   

   AdGuard for Mac download
   3677 downloads
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: January 17, 2018
   
2. Once the download is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. Once the installation is finished, click “Skip” to close the install program and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will allow 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 start your MAC, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop unwanted ads, block malicious and misleading websites.

Finish words

We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop-up advertisements and intrusive harmful sites) and MalwareBytes (to periodically scan your computer for new adware and other malicious software).

If you are still having problems while trying to remove SharedAllocate from Firefox, Safari and Chrome, then ask for help here here.