Key Takeaways:
Mac Malware Removal Made Easy: Macs can be easily recovered from malware by turning off the internet, switching to Safe Mode, and using Activity Monitor to remove suspicious processes.
Complete Cleanup Steps: Deleting temporary files, running a malware scan, and resetting browser settings help eliminate threats and improve system security.
Final Solutions: If malware persists, reinstall macOS after backing up data. For Android devices, reboot in Safe Mode, uninstall suspicious apps, and use antivirus protection.
Apple’s Mac device can be easily recovered from malware. Today’s technology created several malicious vulnerabilities attempts on the internet around the world. Malwares becomes more advanced with the latest technology. However, they can be easily troubleshooted from your devices.
Malwares usually affects the entire structure or functionality of computer networks but still can be traced and deleted easily. Follow a simple way to easily remove them from your Mac device.
Malware is a biggest threat for confidential information of users available in the computer networks and server systems. There are a few simple ways to Remove Malware on Your iOS, Mac and Android Before Factory Reset.
How to Remove Malware on Your Mac device?
Malware can be easily removed on your Mac by following a simple process. There are different procedures according to the different malware types. Make sure to keep a few important things in mind before following the malware removal procedure.
Your Mac device performance gets affected when it is infected by suspicious malwares. Most suspicious vulnerabilities directly came through the internet to your devices so immediately turn-off the internet supply to your Mac before switching into the “Safe Mode” or “Activity Monitor”. Refer to the below procedure to remove malware on your Mac.
1. Turn-Off the Internet:
First of all, quickly turn-off your internet supply to your Mac device which will stop sharing any additional information further with suspicious sites through the internet. It also helps to black the access and immediately stop malware for doing further damages.
2. Switch to “Safe Mode”:
Once you turn-off the internet, switch your Mac device into the safe mode by booting it into Safe Mode. Safe mode runs on a few main processes and it gives your Mac a safe environment. Your Mac device can be cured here without any interruption and can easily troubleshoot the infected contents.
Before proceeding further, make sure to review your Mac Processor by clicking on the Apple icon. You can review the type of your Mac Processor if it is an Intel Processor or Apple’s Silicon Processor. There are different procedures for each type of processor which we will explain further.
A. Intel Processor for Mac devices:
Intel Processors allow users to safely boot their Mac device into Safe Mode by long pressing the “Shift” key. Hold on the Shift key until the Startup window option does not appear on the screen. After that, choose from the given options on the screen to safely boot your Mac into Safe Mode.
B. Apple Silicon Processor for Mac devices:
Apple Silicon Processor based Mac devices can be rebooted into Safe Mode by long pressing the Power button. Press and hold on the Power button until the Startup window option does not display on the screen. Now choose from the given options to safely boot your Mac into Safe Mode.
Malwares are not able to remain active in the safe mode. It gives your Mac an ideal environment to easily find and delete those malicious contents from your Mac system.
3. Review Activity Monitor on the Mac device:
You need to review your Mac activity when your Mac successfully enters into the Safe Mode. It will help you to find out suspicious threats, softwares and malwares on your Mac.
Your Mac’s activity can be reviewed by “Activity Monitor” which comes pre-loaded in the system settings. It is an inbuilt service introduced by Apple in all the MacOS devices.
Activity Monitor provides detailed live statistics along with system usage and other activities of the entire device functionality. It will remove or stop the process, If any abnormal activity is noticed with extra or unnecessary process consumption.
Follow the below steps to open the Activity Monitor on your Mac device:
- Open your Mac device and type “Activity Monitor”.
- Once your “Activity Monitor” is opened, cross-check if there is any suspicious process running and consuming unusual memory usage.
- Ensure the process name and choose “Quit” to eliminate that process.
You can regularly check and calculate each process’s behavior and memory consumption. It will be very easy for you to capture their unusual behavior through a regular check.
4. Remove Temporary Files from Mac devices:
After switching to Safe Mode and eliminating unusual processes through Activity Monitor, you need to remove temporary files on your Mac device. Follow the below steps to remove temporary files on your Mac device:
- Go to the Finder.
- Use “Shift+Command+G” to run it on your Mac.
- Now type “~/Library/ Caches” in the search option.
- Press “Enter”.
- Choose and select all the files you like to remove from the Mac.
- Press “Command+delete” to transfer those files to the Trash folder.
- Now enter your system password to confirm delete them from there.
While moving the deleted files to the Trash folder, keep in mind to delete them from the trash folder as well in the Mac.
5. Run Malware Scan on the Mac:
You must run a malware scan on your Mac after removing all the temporary files from there. Choose a trusted antivirus to scan your Mac device, if there is no existing antivirus available in the system.
Ensure to run a complete scan on your Mac device to detect all the malicious contents. The malicious contents could be like infected files, applications or unusual system process behavior.
Once your Mac device completes the antivirus scan, it will automatically guide you further by recommended action. Follow the recommended steps displayed on your Mac screen.
Now take the necessary actions as per the recommendation given by the antivirus scan results. It will remove the available malwares and other suspicious vulnerabilities from your Mac.
6. Review Web Browser Settings:
Malware could impact your internet browser settings and may also add any suspicious extension. So you must reset your web browser settings on your Mac device. It will also save you from being redirected to malicious websites. Google Chrome and Apple Safari both do not offer any inbuilt theft protection.
Web browsers sometimes get corrupted due to not updating on a regular basis. These are the reasons to take necessary review and reset your web browser settings. Follow the below steps to review and reset your preferred web browsers in the Mac:
A. Reset Google Chrome on Mac Devices:
Google has recently discontinued its Chrome Cleanup Tool in 2023. You need to manually review and reset the browser settings by following below steps:
- Click on the “Three Dots” vertically visible at the top right corner of the browser.
- A drop-down menu will appear, select “Settings” from the menu.
- Now click on “Reset Settings”.
- Select “Restore Settings to their Original Defaults”.
- Click on “Reset Settings”.
It is also recommended that you update Google Chrome browser regularly on your Mac device.
B. Reset Apple Safari on Mac Devices:
Safari browser has different functionality according to the different versions. So, the options may differ from the options available at your end.
Apple has now made this even more typical with seperate sections according to different Safari versions. Here, we will explain how you can clear cache on each Safari version.
Refer to the below steps to reset your Apple Safari browser as per different versions on your Mac device:
C. Safari version 17.4.1 to 11:
- Click on the “Safari Menu” available at the top left corner of your browser screen.
- Here you will find different options according to different Safari versions like MacOS Ventura, MacOS Monterey and older versions etc.
- Click on “Preferences” from the drop-down Safari Menu (in MacOS Monterey and older versions).
- Click on “Settings” from the Safari Menu (in MacOS Ventura version).
- Both versions will navigate to the “Privacy” option.
- Click on “Manage Website Data” available on the “Privacy” tab.
- It will show an entire list of the websites that stored your system data in the form of cookies.
- Click on “Remove All” to delete all the stored websites in your browser.
- Click on “Remove Now” to confirm deletion.
This action will remove all the cookies previously stored for those websites. Now you will need to clear your system cache data on your Mac device. In order to clear the system cache, you need to enable the “Develop” menu first in your Safari browser. Follow the below steps to remove system cache:
- Go to the Safari Menu from the top-left corner.
- Select the “Preferences”.
- Click on the “Advanced” tab section.
- Tick ✓ on the option “Show Develop menu in menu bar” or “Show features for web developers” available at the bottom of the “Advanced” tab. This option may vary according to the different Safari versions.
- Once the “Develop” menu is enabled, click on it.
- Click on the “Empty Caches” available at the bottom of the “Develop” menu.
D. Safari version 10 & 9:
- Go to “Safari Menu”.
- Click on “Preferences”.
- Select the “Privacy” from the newly appeared screen.
- Click on the “Remove All Website Data”.
- Click on “Remove Now” to confirm deletion of your stored data on those websites.
- Now enable the “Develop” menu to clear the system cache.
- To enable the Develop menu, go to Safari Menu, click on “Preferences”.
- Select the “Advanced” tab and click ✓ on the “Show develop menu in menu bar”.
- Click on the “Develop” menu and “Empty Caches”.
E. Safari versions 8 to 5:
- Go to “Safari Menu”.
- Click on “Reset Safari”.
- Opt-in ✓ the items you want to reset on your browser.
- Click on “Reset”.
This action will reset your Safari browser settings to its default. You can now make preferred changes as per your suitability.
What to do if Malware was still not removed properly from Mac?
In case malware is still there in your Mac device, then we suggest you reinstall your operating system from starting. This action will eliminate the root cause of the Malwares availability in your Mac.
This action will delete all the data from the drives, so make sure you back-up the whole data before reinstalling the MacOS.
We recommend that you take back-up on a regular basis in the external hard-disc or online cloud storage. Taking regular backup will keep you safe from such sudden mis-happenings in the future.
In case you have reinstalled the MacOS and want to restore the backup to your Mac, make sure the pre-backup data is not corrupted. The backup must be before the time when your Mac got affected by malwares. Restoring this malicious backup to your Mac device may again result in Malware infection.
How to Remove Malware from Android?
Android devices can also be infected from various Malwares. There are a few signs to check whether your Android phone is infected or not.
Once your Android gets infected from Malwares, your phone will perform very slow and Apps will take time to load, battery spend time will also get reduced as compared to before.
There are many other things which must be kept in mind like constant popup ads, heavy usages of the internet, auto download of unnecessary Apps, etc.
In case your Android device is infected from Malwares, follow the below steps to protect them:
1. Reboot Your Android into Safe Mode:
First you need to Switch-Off your Android using power buttons. When your phone will restart and Logo will display on the screen, press and hold the power button again to boot it into Safe Mode.
2. Uninstall Malicious App:
Once your phone booted into Safe Mode, you will find a list of all installed Apps on your phone settings. Select and uninstall suspicious apps from the list.
3. Review Other Infected Apps:
Also review other infected Apps to prevent future loss to your Android device. In case any App has been found quickly uninstall the App. Make sure to force stop the App and clear App data before uninstalling.
4. Install Trusted Mobile Security App:
Once you are done with all the above steps, try installing a trusted Mobile Security App from the trusted App Store such as Google App.
5. Start a Full Scan on Your Android:
When you installed a trusted Mobile Security App or Antivirus on your Android phone, run a full scan. Once scanning is completed, follow the recommended instructions given in the scan results.
In case you still face further issues with the phone, we recommend you to contact your nearest Service Center.
Winding Up
The internet is now accessible to most of the people around the world. This is the reason, it will result in malware’s reach to maximum internet users. However, there are some possible ways to Remove Malware on Your iOS, Mac and Android Devices.
Many other users do not know about them due to less knowledge. They are not even literate enough to follow all the guidelines. It makes this issue even more serious. Well, time will tell what happens next in the future. Till then, stay connected for more updates. Have a great day.
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