Instructions on how to uninstall AccessibleGuideSearch adware

What is AccessibleGuideSearch?

AccessibleGuideSearch is a potentially unwanted application (PUA) which is designed to function as a browser hijacker and adware: it changes certain browser settings to an address of some fake search engine and serves advertisements. Also, it is possible that this app is designed to collect various information.

Apps like AccessibleGuideSearch are called PUAs because most of the times users download and install them unintentionally (unknowingly). This particular app is distributed through a fake installer which supposed to install Adobe Flash Player.

Some examples of types of ads that apps like are designed AccessibleGuideSearch serve are coupons, pop-ups, surveys, banners. Quite often users who click ads that are displayed by such adware end up on untrustworthy pages.

In some cases by clicking those ads users allow them to execute scripts that cause download and/or installation of some potentially unwanted application. Also, AccessibleGuideSearch is designed to promote address of some fake search engine (it functions as a browser hijacker).

Typically, such search engines are promoted by changing browser settings such as address of a default search engine, homepage and new tan so that users would visit a certain address when they enter search queries into URL bar, open a browser and new tab.

It is common that users cannot modify the aforementioned settings (change the assigned address to any other) unless they uninstall the app that has hijacked a browser. As mentioned in the introduction, apps like AccessibleGuideSearch often are designed to collect various data as well.

For example, addresses of visited websites, entered search queries, geolocations, IP addresses, and other browsing data. However, some of them are capable of accessing personal, sensitive information too. Moreover, their developers can sell gathered information to third parties (potentially cyber criminals) or misuse it to generate revenue in other ways.

PUAs that are designed to gather various information may be the reason behind problems related to online privacy, browsing safety, or other problems like identity theft.

Threat Summary:

Name	Ads by AccessibleGuideSearch
Threat Type	Adware, Mac malware, Mac virus
Detection Names	Avast (MacOS:Adload-AD [Trj]), AVG (MacOS:Adload-AD [Trj]), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of OSX/TrojanDownloader.Adload.AD), Kaspersky (Not-a-virus:HEUR:AdWare.OSX.Cimpli.l), Full List (VirusTotal)
Additional Information	This application belongs to Adload malware family.
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.

To sum up, AccessibleGuideSearch serves ads, promotes some fake search engine and may be designed to collect certain data. In other words, it is designed to generate revenue for its developers and it useless to its users. What is worse, it could be the culprit of various issues.

Therefore, it is advised not to trust (download and install) such apps. A couple of examples of other apps that are similar (or even identical) to AccessibleGuideSearch are SmartFunctionSearch, AccessibleDataLookup and NetModuleSearch.

How did AccessibleGuideSearch install on my computer?

Research shows that AccessibleGuideSearch is distributed through a deceptive installer which is disguised as the installer for Adobe Flash Player. It is common that such installers are used to distribute not only PUAs but also malicious programs like ransomware, Trojans.

Another popular way to distribute PUAs is to use a deceptive marketing method called "bundling". In such cases potentially unwanted apps are included in download and/or installation setups of other programs as additional offers.

Users agree with such offers when they download and/or install programs that have PUAs integrated in their setups without checking and changing "Advanced", "Custom" or other settings (or unticking certain checkboxes) in those setups. Sometimes unwanted downloads and/or installations can be caused by clicking deceptive ads that are designed to execute certain scripts.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

Programs and files should not be downloaded from questionable, unofficial pages, via third party downloaders, Peer-to-Peer networks (e.g., torrent clients, eMule), and other sources, tools of this kind. The same applies to installations via third party, fake installers. Everything should downloaded from official pages and via direct download links.

Download and/or installation setups that contain settings like "Custom", "Advanced" should be checked for offers to download and/or install unwanted apps. Those offers can and should be declined before finishing downloads and/or installations. Additionally, ads that appear on shady, unofficial websites should not be clicked as well.

Quite often they are designed to open other websites of this kind or cause downloads, installations of some unwanted, potentially malicious apps. If there are any suspicious, unwanted extensions, add-ons or plug-ins installed on a web browser, then they should be removed from it.

The same should be done with programs of this kind that are installed on the operating system/computer. If your computer is already infected with AccessibleGuideSearch, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS to automatically eliminate this adware.

Files related to the AccessibleGuideSearch adware that need to be removed:

• ~/Library/Application Support/com.AccessibleGuideSearch/AccessibleGuideSearch
• ~/Library/Application Support/com.AccessibleGuideSearchDaemon/AccessibleGuideSearch
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.AccessibleGuideSearch.plist
• ~/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.AccessibleGuideSearchDaemon.plist

IMPORTANT NOTE! Rogue setups/apps that promote the AccessibleGuideSearch adware are designed to create a new device profile. Therefore, before taking any further removal steps, perform these actions:
1) Click the "Preferences" icon in the menu bar and select "Profiles"

2) Select the "AccessibleGuideSearch" profile and delete it.

3) Perform a full system scan with Combo Cleaner anti-virus suite.

After performing these actions, you can proceed with further removal steps for this adware/browser hijacker.

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

Video showing how to remove AccessibleGuideSearch adware using Combo Cleaner:

AccessibleGuideSearch adware removal:

Remove AccessibleGuideSearch-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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