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Remove MacKeeper from Mac (Uninstall Guide)

August 20, 2021 By Norbert Webb Leave a Comment

MacKeeper reviews: some people say they regret installing it

Contents

  • MacKeeper reviews: some people say they regret installing it
  • Guide to Uninstall MacKeeper Completely
    • 1. Get rid of MacKeeper’s icon from Menu Bar
    • 2. Remove MacKeeper app from Mac
    • 3. Remove MacKeeper remains from the system

MacKeeper is advertised as a “one lifesaver app to cover anything Mac,” promising to cleanup, protect and optimize OS X based computers. However, various discussions on online forums suggest that some people question its performance and methods used to advertise it. In some cases, people even call it MacKeeper virus or MacKeeper malware, despite that the software does not fall into these categories. Nonetheless, we can understand why some people may be using these names for the program – it seems that there’s lack of clarity how to uninstall this program from Mac completely.

Although this software used to rely on rather aggressive advertising techniques (such as pop-ups arising from questionable websites), it seems that it slowed down on these nowadays. However, we will not get into further analysis of the operation of this software and why you decided to remove it from your system. Our point is to provide users with a helpful guide on how to remove MacKeeper from Mac. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully and complete all steps in order to ensure smooth and successful uninstall procedure.

how to remove mackeeper from mac completely (free guide 2021)
This guide explains how to remove this program manually.

Guide to Uninstall MacKeeper Completely

AUTOMATIC REMOVAL

See Full Review

Remove MacKeeper using INTEGO ANTIVIRUS for Mac (includes scanning for iOS devices). The one-of-a-kind security suite provides VirusBarrier X9 real-time protection against Mac and Windows-based malware, removes existing threats and scans for malware in popular e-mail clients. Includes NetBarrier X9, an intelligent firewall for home, work and public connections.

1. Get rid of MacKeeper’s icon from Menu Bar

Apparently it seems that people run into issues when trying to force quit MacKeeper, besides, the program’s menu bar doesn’t provide quit option either. Therefore, we suggest you to remove the app’s icon from the menu bar by following these steps:

  1. Go to Finder > Applications folder and double-click MacKeeper app to launch it.
  2. Now, click on the program’s menu and select Preferences.
  3. Navigate to General tab.
  4. Deselect Show MacKeeper icon in menu bar option.
  5. Now, press Command+Q to quit MacKeeper.

Note. In newer versions, the menu bar icon should disappear automatically once you quit the MacKeeper via its menu.

2. Remove MacKeeper app from Mac

  1. Go to Finder > Applications. 
  2. Now, find MacKeeper application and right-click it. Choose Move to Bin.
    move mackeeper app to trash bin on mac
  3. If the system asks for your password, provide it. This is required to remove the app from the computer.
    provide your password to confirm that you want to remove mackeeper
  4. You may get another prompt asking to confirm if you are sure you want to uninstall MacKeeper. Enter your user name and password and confirm by clicking OK.
    provide password once again to allow mackeeper uninstaller to remove all associated files
  5. Once you uninstall MacKeeper, a browser window will open and load “Sad to see you go…” page from the said software vendor. It asks to provide reason why you chose to uninstall the app. However, this is optional, so you can simply close the browser page.
    close mackeeper sad to see you go survey page after uninstall

3. Remove MacKeeper remains from the system

Although you have used the traditional way to uninstall Mac’s apps, this doesn’t mean that absolutely all components of MacKeeper are removed. Therefore, you will need to follow these additional steps to clear all of remaining files from your computer.

  1. Open Finder and click Go in the upper menu, then choose to go to Home directory. Here, right-click MacKeeper Backup folder and choose to Move to Bin. Alternatively, you can simply drag the folder to Trash.
    delete mackeeper backup folder from home directory on mac
  2. Now, you will need to check the following directories and clean them up from the application’s remains. Click Go > Go to Folder… and enter ~/Library/Application Support/ here, then press Go. Here, move folders called MacKeeper Helper and MacKeeper to Trash.
    remove mackeeper helper and mackeeper folders from application support directory
  3. Now, use Go > Go to Folder to access ~/Library/Caches/. Here, delete files called com.mackeeper.MacKeeper, com.mackeeper.MacKeeper.Helper, com.mackeeper.MacKeeperAgent.
  4. Next, use Go > Go to Folder to access ~/Library/LaunchAgents/. Here, delete file called com.mackeeper.MacKeeper.Helper.plist and com.mackeeper.MacKeeperAgent.plist.
  5. Finally, use Go > Go to Folder to access ~/Library/LaunchDaemons/. Here, delete file called com.mackeeper.MacKeeper.plugin.AntiTheft.daemon.plist.
  6. To complete the removal procedure, right-click Trash Bin and choose Empty Bin.

NOTE. If you can’t find some of these folders or files, it means that they have been successfully removed by uninstalling MacKeeper via Applications folder (described in method #2).

Now, in order to get rid of MacKeeper pop-ups and other unwanted extensions in your browser that might be displaying excessive advertising, we strongly recommend you to use this guide down below that explains how to clean every browser on Mac.

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GeeksAdvice.com editors select recommended products based on their effectiveness. We may earn a commission from affiliate links, at no additional cost to you. Learn more.

MacKeeper pop-ups Removal Tutorial

To remove the unwanted program from your Mac, use these instructions below to uninstall associated applications from your Mac computer. Then scroll down for instructions how to clean each affected web browser individually.

Remove MacKeeper pop-ups from Mac

  1. Click on Finder.
  2. Go to Applications folder.
  3. Look for suspicious applications you can't remember installing. Right-click them and select Move to Trash.uninstall unwanted apps from mac
  4. After moving all suspicious apps to Trash, right-click the Trash bin in Mac's Dock and select Empty Trash.
To remove Mac threats automatically, we strongly recommend using robust and well-reviewed antivirus solution INTEGO.
AUTOMATIC REMOVAL

See Full Review

Remove using INTEGO ANTIVIRUS for Mac (includes scanning for iOS devices). The one-of-a-kind security suite provides VirusBarrier X9 real-time protection against Mac and Windows-based malware, removes existing threats and scans for malware in popular e-mail clients. Includes NetBarrier X9, an intelligent firewall for home, work and public connections.

Safari Chrome Firefox

Remove MacKeeper pop-ups from Safari

Uninstall suspicious Safari extensions

  1. Open Safari and click on Safari button in the top left corner. Select Preferences in the menu that appears on the screen.
    how to open safari preferences
  2. Now, go to Extensions tab. Look at the left to see all installed extensions, click on suspicious ones and hit that Uninstall button as shown in the picture. Confirm your choice by clicking Uninstall again. Repeat until you get rid of all unwanted extensions.how to uninstall unwanted safari extensions

Change Safari Homepage and default search engine

  1. In Preferences, open the General tab. Here, check what URL is set as your homepage. Delete it and type in whatever URL you want to set as your Safari Start Page.
  2. Next, go to the Search tab. Here, choose what Search engine you want to set as default.how to change safari homepage and search engine
  3. Next, click on Manage websites... then Remove all... and then Done.
    Manage quick website search in Safari

Remove push notifications on Safari

Some suspicious websites can try to corrupt your Safari by asking to enable push notifications. If you have accidentally agreed, your browser will be flooded with various intrusive advertisements and pop-ups. You can get rid of them by following this quick guide:

  1. Open Safari and click on Safari button in the top-left corner of the screen to select Preferences;
    remove push notifications from safari step 1
  2. Go to Websites tab and navigate to Notifications on the left side toolbar.
    remove push notifications from safari steps 2 3

Reset Safari

  1. Click on Safari > Clear History...
  2. Then choose to clear All history and hit Clear History button to confirm.how to reset safari
  3. Go to Safari > Preferences and then open Privacy tab. 
  4. Click Manage Website Data... then Remove All. To finish, click Done.clear website data from safari
  5. Finally, clear Safari cache. In Safari Menu, click Develop > Clear Cache.clear safari Cache
Safari Chrome Firefox

Remove MacKeeper pop-ups from Google Chrome

Remove suspicious Chrome extensions

  1. Open Chrome and type chrome://extensions into address bar and press Enter.
  2. Here, look for suspicious extensions, and Remove them.
  3. Don't forget to confirm by pressing Remove in the confirmation pop-up.
    Remove suspicious chrome extensions

Change Start Page settings

  1. In Chrome address bar, type chrome://settings and press Enter.
  2. Scroll down to the On startup section. Check for suspicious extensions controlling these settings, and Disable them.
  3. Additionally, you can set browser to Open a specific page or set of pages via these settings. Simply choose this option, click Add a new page, enter your preferred URL (f.e. www.google.com) and press Add.change hijacked start page in chrome

Change default search settings

  1. In Chrome URL bar, type chrome://settings/searchEngines and press Enter. Make sure you type searchEngines, not searchengines. Additionally, you can go to chrome://settings and find Manage search engines option.
  2. First, look at the list of search engines and find the one you want to set as default. Click the three dots next to it and select Make Default.
  3. Finally, look through the list and eliminate suspicious entries. Right-click the three dots and select Remove from the list.change default search engine in chrome

Remove push notifications from Chrome

If you want to get rid of the annoying ads and so-called push-notifications viruses, you must identify their components and clean your browser. You can easily remove ads from Chrome by following these steps:

  1. In Google Chrome, press on Menu (upward arrow) in the top-right corner of the window.
  2. Select Settings.remove push notifications from chrome steps 1 2
  3. Go to Privacy and Security > Site Settings.
    remove push notifications from chrome step 3
  4. Open Notifications.
    remove push notifications from chrome step 4
  5. Here, go to the Allow list and identify suspicious URLs. You can either Block or Remove by pressing on the three vertical dots on the right side of the URL. However, we suggest the Block option, so the site won't ask you to enable the notifications if you ever visit it again.
    remove push notifications from google chrome step 5

Reset Google Chrome browser

  1. The final option is to reset Google Chrome. Type chrome://settings in the URL bar, press Enter  and then scroll down until you see Advanced option. Click it and scroll to the bottom of the settings.
  2. Click Restore settings to their original defaults.
  3. Click Restore settings to confirm.
    how to reset google chrome
Safari Chrome Firefox

Remove MacKeeper pop-ups from Mozilla Firefox

Remove unwanted add-ons from Firefox

  1. Open Firefox and type about:addons in the URL bar. Press Enter.
  2. Now, click on Extensions (in the left section).
  3. Click Remove next to every suspicious browser add-on that you can't remember installing.
    Remove suspicious extensions from Firefox

Change Firefox Homepage

  1. In Firefox address bar, type about:preferences and hit Enter.
  2. Look at the left and click the Home tab.
  3. Here, delete the suspicious URL and type or paste in the URL of a website you'd like to set as your homepage.
    change firefox homepage altered by the unwanted program

Alter preferences in Firefox

  1. Type about:config in Firefox address bar and hit Enter.
  2. Click I accept the risk! to continue.
  3. Here, type in the URL which has taken over your browser without your knowledge. Right-click each value that includes it and choose Reset.
    remove firefox preferences associated with the unwanted program

Remove annoying push notifications from Firefox

Suspicious sites that ask to enable push notifications gain access to Mozilla's settings and can deliver intrusive advertisements when browsing the Internet. Therefore, you should remove access to your browser by following these simple steps:

  1. In Mozilla Firefox, click on Menu (the three horizontal bars) on the top-right corner of the window, then choose Options.disable firefox push notifications step 1
  2. Click on Privacy and Security, then scroll down to Permissions section.
  3. Here, find Notifications and click Settings button next to it.
    disable firefox push notifications step 2
  4. Identify all unknown URLs and choose to Block them. Click Save Changes afterward.
    disable push notifications in firefox step 3

Reset Mozilla Firefox

  1. In Firefox, type about:support in the address bar and press Enter.
  2. Click on Refresh Firefox...
  3. Click Refresh Firefox again to confirm.
    how to reset firefox browser

Disclaimer. This site includes affiliate links. We may earn a small commission by recommending certain products, at no additional cost for you. We only choose quality software and services to recommend.

norbert webb author at geeksadvice.com
Norbert Webb

Norbert Webb is the head of Geek’s Advice team. He is the chief editor of the website who controls the quality of content published. The man also loves reading cybersecurity news, testing new software and sharing his insights on them. Norbert says that following his passion for information technology was one of the best decisions he has ever made. “I don’t feel like working while I’m doing something I love.” However, the geek has other interests, such as snowboarding and traveling.

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