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

What is SmartTransaction

According to security professionals, SmartTransaction is an adware application that targets Apple computers. Adware’s basic purpose is to display ads. These ads are often displayed as advertising links, popups or various offers and deals, push notifications and even fake alerts. Clicks on the ads produce a monetary payoff for the adware makers. Adware can work like Spyware, since it sends sensitive information such as searches and trends to advertisers.

Another reason why you need to get rid of SmartTransaction is its online data-tracking activity. It has the ability to collect lots of your user information (your ip address, what is a web-page you are viewing now, what you are looking for on the Internet, which links you are clicking), which can later transfer to third parties.

How does SmartTransaction get on your MAC OS

Adware spreads bundled with various free programs. This means that you need to be very careful when installing programs downloaded from the World Wide Web, even from well-known download sites. Be sure to read the Terms of Use and the Software license, select only the Manual, Advanced or Custom installation option, switch off all additional web browser extensions and software are offered to install.

Threat Summary

Name	SmartTransaction
Type	adware, potentially unwanted application (PUA), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	Adware.MAC.Generic, Adware/Adload!OSX, OSX.Trojan.Gen, MacOS.Agent-MT, Osx.Adware.Cimpli, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, ApplicUnwnt and Program:MacOS/Vigram.A
Distribution	Free software installers, fake update tools, torrent downloads and dubious popup ads
Symptoms	Every time you perform an Internet search, your web-browser is redirected to another web-page, advertising links appear in places they shouldn’t be, new entries appear in your Applications folder, unexpected browser extensions or toolbars keep coming back, your browser startpage has modified without your permission, slow Internet browsing speeds.
Removal	SmartTransaction removal guide

How to remove SmartTransaction from Mac computer

Adware is a form of malicious software that you might have difficulty in uninstalling it from your MAC. Thankfully, you have found the effective SmartTransaction removal instructions in this post. Both the manual removal solution and the automatic removal method will be provided below and you can just select the one that best for you. If you’ve any questions or need assist then type a comment below. Some of the steps will require you to restart your computer or close this webpage. So, read this instructions carefully, then bookmark this page or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove SmartTransaction, execute the steps below:

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

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac device

SmartTransaction 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 SmartTransaction.

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.

Uninstall SmartTransaction associated software by using the Finder

Try to identify and uninstall the program that causes the appearance of intrusive ads or browser redirect, using the Applications list which is located in the Finder.

Open Finder and click “Applications” as displayed in the following example.

You will see a list of programs installed on your MAC OS. We recommend to pay maximum attention to the application you installed last. Most probably, it’s the SmartTransaction adware software. If you are in doubt, you can always check the application by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing.

When the application which you need to uninstall is found, simply right click on its name, and choose “Move to Trash”.

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

Remove SmartTransaction related files and folders

Now you need to try to find SmartTransaction 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We advise using MalwareBytes to scan the Apple computer for adware software, potentially unwanted programs and browser hijackers. This free utility is an advanced malware removal application created by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular anti-malware technology. It’s able to help you remove browser hijackers and other security threats from your Mac for free.

Visit the following page to download MalwareBytes Anti-Malware.

Once the download is complete, close all applications and windows on your MAC system. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.

The MalwareBytes will automatically start and you can see its main screen as displayed on the screen below.

Now click the “Scan” button . MalwareBytes AntiMalware program will scan through the whole MAC for the SmartTransaction adware software. Depending on your MAC OS, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware is scanning, you can see count of objects it has identified either as being malicious software.

After that process is done, it will open the Scan Results. You may remove items (move to Quarantine) by simply click the “Quarantine” button. The MalwareBytes will get rid of SmartTransaction adware software and move the selected threats to the Quarantine.

Remove SmartTransaction from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

If you are still seeing SmartTransaction that won’t go away, you might have malicious addons installed on your browser. Check your internet browser for unwanted extensions using the steps below.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top right corner, click on 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 SmartTransaction 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 SmartTransaction 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

In order to increase your security and protect your MAC against new unwanted advertisements and harmful web-sites, you need to run ad-blocker program that blocks an access to malicious ads and web-sites. Moreover, the program may stop the show of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of web sites and reduce the consumption of web traffic.

1. Please go to the link below to download AdGuard.
   
   

   AdGuard for Mac download
   3681 downloads
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: January 17, 2018
   
2. When the download is done, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the setup is complete, click “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or click “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 don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you start your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and stop unwanted ads, block malicious and misleading web-sites.

To sum up

We suggest that you keep MalwareBytes AntiMalware (to periodically scan your MAC for new adware and other malicious software) and AdGuard (to help you stop intrusive pop ups and malicious web-pages). Moreover, to prevent any adware, please stay clear of unknown and third party applications.

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