Remove ElementsCentral adware from the operating system

What is ElementsCentral?

ElementsCentral is software, which is classified as adware. It is endorsed as an app allegedly designed to enhance the browsing experience and supposedly capable of providing fast searches, improved search results, and so on. In fact, it operates by running intrusive advertisement campaigns.

Therefore, it delivers intrusive and even harmful ads. Since most users install ElementsCentral inadvertently, it is also classed as a Potentially Unwanted Application (PUA).

Ads delivered by adware include, but are not limited to, pop-ups, banners, coupons and surveys. Intrusive ads are a threat and can significantly diminish the browsing experience. They limit browsing speed and site visibility by overlaying page content and can also compromise device and user safety.

When they are clicked, they can redirect to sale-based, untrustworthy, compromised, deceptive, scam and malicious websites. Clicking can even trigger them to execute scripts, which download/install unwanted content (e.g. various PUAs) without users' consent.

Other unwanted applications can make unauthorized changes to browsers, limit/deny access to settings and promote fake search engines. Some can force-open harmful web pages. Regardless of their specific capabilities, most PUAs can track data.

They record users' browsing activity (URLs visited, pages viewed, search queries typed, etc.) and gather personal information (IP addresses, geolocations and other details). This sensitive data can then be shared with third parties (often, cyber criminals) seeking to misuse it for financial gain.

To summarize, PUAs can cause a variety of browser/system infiltration and infections and lead to financial loss, serious privacy issues and even identity theft. To protect device integrity and user safety, you are strongly advised to remove all suspicious applications and browser extensions/plug-ins immediately upon detection.

Threat Summary:

Name	Ads by ElementsCentral
Threat Type	Adware, Mac malware, Mac virus.
Symptoms	Your Mac becomes slower than normal, you see unwanted pop-up ads, you are redirected to dubious websites.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers, torrent file downloads.
Damage	Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites, loss of private information.
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.

FormList, PhaseSearch, SwiftEngine, and SystemDistrict are some examples of adware-type apps similar to ElementsCentral. In fact, this applies to PUAs in general - they tend to share common traits. They usually have a legitimate design and appearance, with little or no difference to the genuine software they attempt to imitate.

They entice users into downloading/installing them with a wide array of "useful" functions, however, these features rarely operate as advertised and, in most cases, are nonoperational. The sole purpose of these apps is to generate revenue for the developers - to users, they are useless.

Rather than delivering any real value, PUAs run intrusive ad campaigns, cause redirects to untrustworthy/malicious web pages, hijack browsers and track private data.

How did ElementsCentral install on my computer?

PUAs can be downloaded/installed together with other products. This deceptive marketing tactic of packing regular software with unwanted or malicious content is called "bundling". By rushing through download/installation processes (e.g. by skipping steps and sections, using pre-set options, etc.), many users endanger their devices with potential system infiltration and infections.

Certain PUAs have "official" promotional pages on which they are usually endorsed as "free" and "useful". As mentioned, intrusive advertisements also proliferate PUAs. Once these ads are clicked, they can execute scripts to stealthily download/install unwanted applications.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

Research all content, before downloading/installing. Use only official and verified download sources. Untrustworthy download channels such as P2P sharing networks (BitTorrent, eMule, Gnutella, etc.), free file-hosting sites and other third party downloaders should not be used, as they often offer bundled software.

When downloading/installing, read the terms, explore all possible options, use the "Custom/Advanced" settings and opt-out of supplementary apps, tools, features and so on. Intrusive advertisements typically seem normal and innocuous, however, they can redirect to dubious websites (e.g. pornography, adult-dating, gambling and others).

If you encounter ads/redirects of this kind, inspect the device and remove all dubious applications and/or browser extensions/plug-ins immediately. If your computer is already infected with ElementsCentral, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS to automatically eliminate this adware.

Pop-up window displayed once ElementsCentral installation is complete:

ElementsCentral adware installation folder:

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 ElementsCentral?
• STEP 1. Remove ElementsCentral related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove ElementsCentral ads from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove ElementsCentral adware from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove ElementsCentral ads from Mozilla Firefox.

Video showing how to remove adware and browser hijackers from a Mac computer:

ElementsCentral adware removal:

Remove ElementsCentral-related 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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