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

What is MacVPNHelper?

According to security specialists, MacVPNHelper is an adware application that targets Mac computers. Adware sometimes called ‘ad software’ is a form of malicious software designed to display unwanted advertisements in form of pop up windows, coupons, push notifications, promos or even fake alerts on the internet browser. It can slow down your computer by displaying endless ads. MacVPNHelper can seriously affect your privacy, your computer’s performance and security.

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• What is MacVPNHelper?
• Protection
• Removal

MacVPNHelper adware in detail

MacVPNHelper is a malicious application designed to display unwanted ads (pop-ups, various offers and deals, unclosable windows, push notifications, and even fake virus alerts) on computers or change search results in browsers to earn money for their creators from user clicks.

MacVPNHelper app/extension can change the browser’s homepage and the default search engine, can inject fake results into search pages and can also inject malicious ads into legitimate websites or trigger unclosable pop-up windows in the browser. The goal of its creators is to earn commission money fraudulently by abusing pay-per-view or pay-per-clickadvertising schemes.

Attackers can use this adware app to redirect users to pornographic content, various diet pills scams, work-at-home schemes, fake virus alerts that trick users to buy or install applications that are not needed and other questionable content. Below are some examples of such sites:

In summary, MacVPNHelper adware can seriously affect your privacy, your computer’s performance and security.

How does MacVPNHelper get on your Apple Mac

Most adware gets on MAC computers by being attached to free or even paid software that users can easily download on the Internet. Installers of such software, most often, directly indicate that they will install third-party applications. Users are given the option to stop the installation of any additional software. So, to avoid installing any adware: carefully read all the disclaimers and installation screens, select only the custom or advanced installation type, and reject any included software that you are not sure about.

The pop-up window that appears after the installation of the MacVPNHelper adware is complete:

Threat Summary

Name	MacVPNHelper, “MacVPNHelper 1.0”
Type	adware software, potentially unwanted application (PUA), Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	Program:MacOS/Vigram.A, OSX.Trojan.Gen, Trojan-Downloader.OSX.Adload, MacOS.Agent-MT, ApplicUnwnt, Adware.MAC.Generic, Adware/Adload!OSX and Osx.Adware.Cimpli
Distribution	Free software installers, suspicious pop up advertisements, torrent downloads and fake update tools
Symptoms	You keep getting redirected to unfamiliar web sites, you experience lots of of unexpected pop up windows, new entries appear in your Applications folder, unwanted web-browser toolbars, your web browser home page has changed without your permission, fast Internet but slow browsing speeds.
Removal	MacVPNHelper removal guide

How can you protect against adware?

There are a number of methods that you can use to protect against malicious adware. It is better to use them together, this will provide stronger protection.

1. Use an ad blocker. Ad blockers allow you to browse sites without ads, thus eliminating the possibility of clicking on something malicious and preventing it from being downloaded to the machine.
2. Pay for premium versions of popular services. The easiest way to avoid adware is to pay for the service you use. Many Internet services make it possible to use them without ads if you purchase a premium subscription. This helps ensure that malicious adware cannot reach you.
3. Buy devices from trusted companies with built-in security. There have already been many cases where people who bought inexpensive Android devices found that adware was already installed on their devices. Cheap Android devices do not receive security updates and are therefore particularly susceptible to infection and should be avoided.
4. Use an antivirus. Most antivirus programs can block malicious adware. Some malicious adware can block antiviruses, in which case a more aggressive method should be used, which is to use adware removal software. This software can detect and remove adware that has a negative impact on the device.

How to remove MacVPNHelper

The following guide will help you remove MacVPNHelper ads from Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. In addition, these simple steps will help you remove malware, browser hijackers, PUAs, and toolbars. Please follow the instructions step by step. If you need help or have any questions, please contact us for assistance or enter a comment below. Read it once and then bookmark this page (or open it on your smartphone) as you may need to exit your browser or restart your computer.

To remove MacVPNHelper, execute the following steps:

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

Remove unwanted profiles on Mac computer

MacVPNHelper 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 related to MacVPNHelper.

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

Delete MacVPNHelper associated software by using the Finder

Some PUPs, browser hijackers and adware can be removed by uninstalling the free applications they came with. If this way does not succeed, then looking them up in the list of installed software in the Finder. Use the “Move to Trash” command in order to remove them.

Open Finder and click “Applications” as displayed in the figure below.

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

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

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

Remove MacVPNHelper related files and folders

Now you need to try to find MacVPNHelper 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.

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

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

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

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

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

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

If you’re still having issues with the MacVPNHelper removal or just wish to scan your Mac computer occasionally for adware software and other malicious software, then download MalwareBytes Anti-Malware. It’s free for home use, and finds and removes various undesired programs that attacks your Apple Mac or degrades MAC OS performance. MalwareBytes Anti-Malware can remove adware, PUPs, browser hijackers and toolbars as well as malware, including ransomware and trojans.

1. Installing the MalwareBytes AntiMalware is simple. First you’ll need to download MalwareBytes Anti-Malware on your MS Windows Desktop by clicking on the following link.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
   20843 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: September 10, 2020
   
2. After the download is complete, please close all programs and open windows on your MAC. Run the downloaded file. Follow the prompts.
3. The MalwareBytes Anti-Malware will launch and show the main window.
4. Further, click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the MacVPNHelper adware software. This process can take some time, so please be patient. When a threat is found, the count of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is complete.
5. When finished, MalwareBytes will open a screen that contains a list of malicious software that has been found.
6. Review the report and then click the “Remove Selected Items” button.
7. Close the AntiMalware and continue with the next step.

Remove MacVPNHelper from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

This step will show you how to get rid of harmful plugins. This can delete MacVPNHelper and fix some surfing issues, especially after adware software infection.

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 delete MacVPNHelper 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 MacVPNHelper 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

The AdGuard is a very good adblocker program for the Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari, with active user support. It does a great job by removing certain types of intrusive advertisements, popunders, popups, annoying new tabs, and even full page advertisements and web site overlay layers. Of course, the AdGuard can stop malicious webpages automatically or by using a custom filter rule.

Visit the following page to download AdGuard.

When the downloading process is finished, run the downloaded file. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen.

Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick instructions. Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick instructions that will help you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you start your Apple Mac, AdGuard will start automatically and stop intrusive pop-up advertisements, block malicious and misleading web-sites.

To sum up

We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted advertisements and intrusive malicious web sites) and MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (to periodically scan your MAC OS for new adwares and other malicious software).

If you are still having problems while trying to delete MacVPNHelper ads from Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Chrome, then ask for help here.