Remove Total Mac Care from the operating system

What is Total Mac Care?

Total Mac Care software is promoted as a MacOS (Mac Operating System) cleaning tool. It is supposedly capable of improving startup times and enhancing system performance by removing unnecessary and potentially harmful content. Total Mac Care is categorized as a Potentially Unwanted Application (PUA), since many users install it inadvertently.

The program is typically distributed within the download/install setups of other products ("bundling").

After installation, users find that they need to activate Total Mac Care for it to become operational. I.e., it must be purchased to perform any functions. Note, however, that PUAs cannot be trusted, since they are generally fake and nonoperational. Despite being activated, their features remain nonfunctional.

Software download/installation set-ups are used to proliferate content such as Total Mac Care and often contain more than one PUA (e.g. adware or browser hijackers). PUAs can have various dubious capabilities, which endanger device and user safety. They can generate redirects to sale-based, untrustworthy, compromised, deceptive/scam and malicious sites.

Some can run intrusive advertisement campaigns, which deliver ads that significantly diminish the browsing experience and carry certain risks. The latter include redirects to dubious and dangerous web pages, and the ability to execute scripts designed to stealthily download/install PUAs.

Other unwanted applications make unauthorized changes to browsers and limit/deny access to their settings. Regardless of their specific capabilities, most PUAs can track data. They record users' browsing activity (URLs visited, pages viewed, search queries typed, etc.) and collect personal information (IP addresses, geolocations and other details).

This sensitive data might be shared with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) seeking to misuse it for financial gain.

In summary, PUAs can cause browser/system infiltration and infections and lead to financial loss, serious privacy issues, or even identity theft. To avoid these risks, remove all suspicious applications and/or browser extensions/plug-ins immediately upon detection.

Threat Summary:

Name	Total Mac Care potentially unwanted application
Threat Type	PUP (potentially unwanted program), PUA (potentially unwanted application), Mac malware, Mac virus.
Supposed Functionality	This application supposedly cleans and optimizes MacOS.
Detection Names	Full List (VirusTotal)
Symptoms	A program that you do not recall installing suddenly appeared on your computer. A new application is performing computer scans and displays warning messages about 'found issues'. Asks for payment to eliminate the supposedly found errors, unwanted items, and so on.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers, torrent file downloads.
Damage	Monetary loss (unnecessary purchase of fake software), unwanted warning pop-ups, slow computer performance.
Malware Removal (Mac)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your Mac with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner for Mac To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

While PUAs offer very different features, they all share certain similarities. Qbit Mac Optimizer, K9-MacOptimizer,and  Mac Clean Pro are some examples of apps akin to Total Mac Care. In fact, MacCleansePro is identical to Total Mac Care.

The unwanted content might seem legitimate, but this is merely to generate revenue for the developers and has no real value for regular users - the features promised rarely work and simply cause problems. PUAs can force-open untrustworthy/malicious websites, deliver intrusive advertisements, hijack browsers and track vulnerable data.

How did potentially unwanted applications install on my computer?

PUAs can be downloaded/installed together with other products. This deceptive marketing tactic of packing normal software with unwanted or malicious content is called "bundling".

Rushing download/installation processes (e.g. ignoring terms, skipping steps, using pre-set options, etc.) increases the risk of unintentionally allowing bundled applications onto devices, thereby endangering systems with potential infiltration and infections. Some of these apps have "official" promotional web pages, on which they are typically advertised as "free" and "useful".

When clicked, intrusive ads can execute scripts to download/install PUAs, without users' permission.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

You are strongly advised to research all content, prior to download/installation. Use only official and verified download channels. Do not use P2P sharing networks (BitTorrent, Gnutella, eMule, etc.), unofficial and free file-hosting sites, third party downloaders or similar, as they untrusted.

These download sources are more likely to offer deceptive or bundled software. When downloading/installing, read the terms, explore all available options, use the "Custom/Advanced" settings and opt-out of additional apps, tools, features, etc.

Intrusive ads usually seem legitimate and harmless, however, they can redirect to dubious pages (e.g. gambling, pornography, adult-dating and so on). If you experience ads/redirects of this kind, check the system and immediately remove all suspect applications and/or browser extensions/plug-ins.

If your computer is already infected with PUAs, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS to automatically eliminate them.

Screenshot of Total Mac Care installation setup:

Appearance of Total Mac Care application (GIF):

Instant automatic Mac malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of Mac malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner for Mac By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

• What is "Total Mac Care"?
• STEP 1. Remove PUA related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove rogue extensions from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove rogue add-ons from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove potentially unwanted plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox.

Video showing how to remove Total Mac Care unwanted application using Combo Cleaner:

Potentially unwanted applications removal:

Remove potentially unwanted applications from your "Applications" folder:

Click the Finder icon. In the Finder window, select "Applications". In the applications folder, look for "MPlayerX","NicePlayer", or other suspicious applications and drag them to the Trash. After removing the potentially unwanted application(s) that cause online ads, scan your Mac for any remaining unwanted components.

Remove adware-related files and folders

Click the Finder icon, from the menu bar. Choose Go, and click Go to Folder...

Check for adware generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: /Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by adware - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for adware generated files in the ~/Library/Application Support/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/Application Support/

In the "Application Support" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious folders. For example, "MplayerX" or "NicePlayer", and move these folders to the Trash.

Check for adware generated files in the ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by adware - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for adware generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons/ folder:

In the "Go to Folder..." bar, type: /Library/LaunchDaemons/

In the "LaunchDaemons" folder, look for recently-added suspicious files. For example "com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist", "com.myppes.net-preferences.plist", "com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist", "com.avickUpd.plist", etc., and move them to the Trash.

Scan your Mac with Combo Cleaner:

If you have followed all the steps correctly, your Mac should be clean of infections. To ensure your system is not infected, run a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus. Download it HERE. After downloading the file, double click combocleaner.dmg installer. In the opened window, drag and drop the Combo Cleaner icon on top of the Applications icon. Now open your launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon. Wait until Combo Cleaner updates its virus definition database and click the "Start Combo Scan" button.

Combo Cleaner will scan your Mac for malware infections. If the antivirus scan displays "no threats found" - this means that you can continue with the removal guide; otherwise, it's recommended to remove any found infections before continuing.

After removing files and folders generated by the adware, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.

Remove malicious extensions from Internet browsers

Remove malicious Safari extensions:

Open the Safari browser, from the menu bar, select "Safari" and click "Preferences...".

In the preferences window, select "Extensions" and look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions. When located, click the "Uninstall" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Safari browser - none are crucial for regular browser operation.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Safari.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Google Chrome.

Remove malicious extensions from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window) and select "Add-ons and themes". Click "Extensions", in the opened window locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, click on the three dots and then click "Remove".

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.

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