How to Remove Malware from Mac

Despite what some people think, Macs can and do get viruses and other malware. If it happens to your Apple computer, you might notice it working slower than usual. Mac malware might also cause system instability or other unpredictable behavior, including issues with your web browser.

If your Mac is infected, how do you get rid of malware and give your system a clean bill of health? In this guide, we’ll explore some of the most practical Mac malware detection and removal measures you can take.

How to tell if your Mac has a virus

Sometimes, malware will do its best to remain undetected. Other times it will be more obvious, and that can be by design or a side effect that the virus coders never intended. Either way, there may be warning signs that help you delete viruses on your trusty Macintosh.

Signs of malware on Mac

Whether you have an iMac, MacBook, or Mac mini, malware can result in these kinds of symptoms:

• An unusually slow Mac, particularly if the slowdown happens suddenly
• Your Mac freezes up or restarts unexpectedly
• Your web browser changes its home page and/or search engine
• Files and folders won’t open
• Frequent error messages pop up on your Mac
• One or more processes take up all your RAM and/or CPU resources
• Disk space mysteriously disappears.

These symptoms can be caused by legitimate things, like background downloads or software conflicts. If you’re looking to clean viruses from your Mac, you need a reliable way of checking the cause of unwanted behavior.

A note from our experts: 

 

It's best to prevent a virus or malware from infecting your Mac; if it's already on your computer, remove it as soon as possible. The best way to protect your Mac from viruses and remove those that have already infected your Mac is with MacKeeper Antivirus.

 

Here’s how to protect your Mac with MacKeeper’s Antivirus:

1. Download MacKeeper, and click Antivirus in the sidebar.
2. Click Start Scan.
3. If the scan finds anything suspicious, select it from the results list.
4. Click Delete, and then Delete to confirm.

How to get rid of viruses on Mac

Now that you know about detecting viruses on your Mac, it's time to discuss the best steps for removing malware. Here's how to get rid of viruses on Mac:

1. Disconnect from the internet

Malware is often designed to connect to the internet—sending stolen information to criminals, using your machine to send spam emails, or just spreading itself further. If you’re trying to get rid of a potential threat detected on your Mac, it’s a good idea to disable your internet connection.

Here’s how to disable Wi-Fi on a Mac:

1. In System Settings, click Network.
2. Select Wi-Fi.
3. Click the toggle to turn off Wi-Fi.

How to disable Ethernet on Mac:

1. In System Settings, click Network > Ethernet.
2. Click Make Inactive.

To be doubly sure you’re not connected to the internet, you could unplug your Ethernet cable.

2. Reboot into safe mode

Sometimes, malware is difficult to remove, because it loads up as soon as macOS starts. But if you boot into safe mode, you might be able to remove this malware, because it’s designed to load only the files and apps macOS needs to run. Safe mode also deletes some system caches, so they can be rebuilt again automatically.

How to boot into safe mode on an Intel Mac:

1. Hold down Shift as soon as your Mac turns on or restarts.
2. When you see the login window, take your finger off the Shift key.
3. Log in using your usual details.
4. You should see Safe Boot in the top-right corner of the login screen.

How to boot into safe mode on an Apple Silicon Mac:

1. Shut down your Mac. Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds.
2. Release it when you see the startup options window.
3. Choose your startup disk, then hold down Shift.
4. When prompted, click Continue in Safe Mode and release the Shift key.
5. Log in, and you should find your Mac in safe mode.

Hint from our team:

 

To check safe boot is on, follow these steps:

1. Click the Apple logo in the top-left of your screen
2. Go to About This Mac > More Info > System Report > Software
3. Check Boot Mode says Safe. Be aware, this process is slightly different in older versions of macOS like Catalina.

If your Mac is now running normally, then there’s either malware on it that doesn’t load in safe mode, or you have some other kind of software-related problem. If you know what you’re looking for, you can try deleting suspicious files, extensions, and so on. Reboot your Mac normally and see if your problem has been fixed.

3. Find suspicious processes in Activity Monitor

If you suspect malware on your Mac, start by checking Activity Monitor. This built-in macOS tool shows you what’s running on your Mac, including in the background. If anything is taking up a lot of CPU cycles or RAM, it could be malware, and Activity Monitor can help with finding it.

Here’s how to check Activity Monitor for macOS malware:

1. Open Activity Monitor from Applications > Utilities. Click the CPU tab, then click the % CPU column to sort processes by most CPU used. Look for processes you don’t recognize that are using a lot of processing power
2. Do the same with the Memory column in the Memory tab, Bytes Written in the Disk tab, Sent Bytes in Network.
3. Take note of anything that seems suspicious and Google it. If it’s malware or something else you don’t want, double-click on it in Activity Monitor and click Quit. Then click Force Quit to kill the process.

Stopping a process doesn’t eliminate it. It might start up again immediately or when you restart your Mac.

4. Remove malicious programs

If an app is causing suspicious activity on your Mac, you should remove it by uninstalling that app. This might not remove malware from a Mac completely, but it's an important step. If you suspect an app is unsafe, check out our guide on how to remove a trojan virus.

This is the normal way of uninstalling apps on a Mac:

1. In Finder, navigate to your Applications folder. If you see anything suspicious, right-click it and select Move to Trash.
2. Now right-click your trash, and select Empty Trash.

A nuance to know: 

 

You can also uninstall apps with MacKeeper’s Smart Uninstaller. Our tool will also delete files that would normally be left behind, which is vital when doing a virus cleanup. Download MacKeeper and try it yourself.

A warning on manually removing malware

Be very careful when manually deleting malware from your Mac—you may delete the wrong thing and make your Mac worse.

If in doubt, you may want to contact Apple support. You can also get support from MacKeeper’s Premium Services—as an alternative to quickly solve your user's concern.

5. Delete Mac malware from your Login Items

Malware is often designed to launch when computers start up. On a Mac, you may find these are listed in the Login Items part of System Settings. Follow these steps to check:

1. Open System Settings, and select General > Login Items
2. Look through the list for anything suspicious. Select what you want to remove, and click the minus button
3. Restart your Mac, and then check to see if the suspicious Login Item didn’t reinstall itself.

Unfortunately, the standard Login Items tool doesn’t show absolutely everything that starts with macOS. To find and stop these hidden items, use MacKeeper’s Login Items tool to find a wider variety of startup processes.

6. Run an antivirus app

A good antivirus app can scan your entire Mac quickly and check every single file against a vast database of threats and suspicious behavior. MacKeeper Antivirus is one such app, which makes it easy to find and get rid of Mac malware.  

How to clean viruses from Mac automatically

Although it’s possible to manually identify and remove malware from your Mac, it’s not the best way to deal with the problem. It’s time-consuming and difficult, and there’s a chance you might delete something you need. With the right tools, you can find and remove malware automatically in just a few minutes.

7. Verify your browser’s homepage

A favorite trick of malware creators is taking over people’s web browser homepages. Doing so, they can serve you ads or notifications that they get paid for—or in worse cases, direct you to other sites, which may install even more malware.

Using Safari, there are a few things you can do to check your homepage hasn’t been affected:

1. Click the address bar to reveal the full URL and make sure it’s accurate.
2. In the menu bar, select Safari > Settings.
3. In the General tab, check what it says next to the Homepage. If it’s wrong, change it.

Checking your homepage with Chrome is similar:

1. Double-click the address bar to reveal the full URL, and verify it.
2. Select Chrome > Settings from the menu bar.
3. Click Appearance, and under Show Home button, check the URL.

In cases of serious infection, your homepage may still get redirected, and it won’t be fixed until you delete the virus from your Mac.

8. Clear your cache

There are various caches on your caches. Individual apps and web browsers have their own caches, but there’s also system cache. Clearing these temporary files out can help you remove all traces of malware from your desktop or laptop Mac.

Follow these steps to manually clear caches on your Mac:

1. In Finder, select Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar.
2. Type in ~/Library/Caches/ and press return.
3. You can now see cached files for many of the apps on your Mac.
4. Delete the contents of a folder to clear the cache.

While manually deleting cached files manually may work, it’s not always clear what you’re deleting, so there’s a risk you could mess something up. Avoid that risk with MacKeeper’s Safe Cleanup—in just a few clicks process to find and remove cached data.

9. Delete suspicious browser extensions

If you’re experiencing problems with your web browser, they could be caused by a rogue extension. Remove any recently installed extensions and any that don’t come from reputable sources. Here, we’ll look at removing extensions from Safari and Chrome, but the process is similar for other browsers like Firefox.

How to remove extensions in Safari:

1. In Safari, click Safari, from the top menu, and select Settings. In the Extensions tab, select an extension, then click the Uninstall button.
2. Click Show in Finder.
3. Delete the extension like would any other file.

How to remove extensions from Chrome:

1. In Chrome, select Window > Task Manager.
2. Sort the CPU column to see if any extensions are using a lot of processing power. Do the same with the Memory footprint and Network columns.
3. Now select Window > Extensions from the menu bar.
4. Look through the installed extensions, and click the Remove button on any that seem suspicious.

MacKeeper’s Smart Uninstaller doesn’t just remove apps—it’ll also delete extensions, including those installed by malware.

10. Get rid of pop-up ads on Mac

Another symptom of malware infection is an increase in unwanted pop-ups, which can affect browser performance. Thankfully, you can do something to get rid of these annoyances.

To prevent pop-ups in Safari:

1. In Safari, select Safari > Settings in the menu bar, and go to the Websites tab. In the sidebar, click Pop-up Windows.
2. Use the drop-down menus to block pop-ups.

Follow these steps to block pop-ups in Chrome:

1. In the menu bar, go to Chrome > Settings, and then Privacy and security > Site settings.
2. Scroll down and select Pop-ups and redirects.
3. Look through the list under Allowed to send pop-ups and use redirects. Click the three dots next to an entry, and select Block.

MacKeeper’s Adware Cleaner makes it even easier to remove the malware that causes unwanted pop-ups. In just a few minutes, this adware remover can get your Mac free of unwanted apps.  

11. Resettle the system and restore from a backup

When you’re trying to remove a virus from a Mac, you may want to restore from a backup. Using the Time Machine function built into macOS, you can return your machine to a previously saved snapshot, taken before you picked up the malware.

Assuming you already have Time Machine activated, here’s how to restore from a backup:

1. Go to System Settings > General > Transfer or Reset.
2. Click Erase All Content and Settings, then follow the on-screen instructions to erase all your user data.
3. When your macOS has been reset and restarted, open Applications > Utilities > Migration Assistant. Click Continue, and enter your system password.
4. Select From a Mac, Time Machine backup or Startup disk, and click continue.
5. Select your Time Machine backup and click Continue.
6. Choose a backup to restore from, and click Continue. Follow the on-screen instructions to finish the restore.

12. Wipe your Mac and reinstall macOS

If all else fails, you can wipe your Mac and reinstall macOS. Certainly if you’re unable to boot into macOS at all, this may be the only solution left to you to get a virus off your Mac. To reinstall the OS, you’ll need to get into macOS Recovery.

Enter Recovery on an Apple silicon Mac like this:

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Press and hold the power button until you see Loading startup options.
3. Choose Options > Continue, and follow the instructions.

Use these steps to get into Recovery on an Intel Mac:

1. As soon as you turn your machine on, press Cmd + R.
2. In the Recovery app, select Reinstall for your macOS release, then Continue.
3. Follow the instructions to reinstall macOS.

Check out our guide on factory resetting your Mac for more information.

How to protect Mac from malware

Prevention is, of course, better than cure. If you take the right precautions, you might never have to get rid of viruses on your Mac.

Here are a few ways to protect your Mac from viruses and other malicious software:

• Don’t open email attachments from people you don’t know
• Don’t visit websites you don’t trust
• Avoid piracy websites and services
• Use unique, strong passwords
• Buy apps from the App Store where possible
• Use antivirus with real-time malware protection for Mac
• Use an ad blocker to stop your web browser downloading dangerous files
• Just in case, back up your important files regularly.

Best way to remove malware from Mac

Without a doubt, the best way to remove malware is with an automated checker like MacKeeper’s Antivirus. Removing viruses manually is slow, and you need to know what to look for.

With MacKeeper, you can scan your entire Mac quickly and safely delete malware, while keeping the rest of your data untouched. Thanks to its real-time protection, our tool can also help you prevent malware from ever getting on your Mac in the first place.