How can you remove malware and viruses from your Mac?

Malware is prevalent on Mac as well, not only on Windows. That’s why you need to know what are the most common ways to remove malware and implement them efficiently. Thankfully, removing viruses and malware from a Mac has become much easier over the years. Here are some things to focus on if you have any malware on your computer.

Boot into safe mode

In some cases, viruses and apps or files can’t be removed because the hackers locked them in some way. Booting into safe mode by pressing and holding Shift as your Mac starts up can be a great idea. It will allow you to remove pretty much anything and even run apps without worrying about background processes. Make sure you remove the apps and files that were infected and then you can revert to the regular mode.

Delete any unused browser extensions

It always helps if you check the browser extensions and remove those that you’re not using. Most people don’t realize it, but unused browser extensions might also have malware. As always, you only want to keep the stuff that you want to use. Otherwise, you are better off removing them completely. 

Stop pop-ups

Every browser has its way to stop pop-ups. You don’t need a separate app to do that for you. In Safari, you go to the Settings, websites, and then scroll down to Pop Up windows. Block that option for all websites. Once you do that, you never have to worry about any other pop-ups coming at all.

Remove any random login items

Your Mac will need login items in order to remember what apps need to start with the device. Sometimes maleficent apps and viruses will mask as login items to start background processes and steal your data. Go to the System Settings/General and here you want to enter the Login Items tab. Delete all the login items that you don’t need or don’t use at all. Doing that will prevent any random login items from starting up at their own pace. It’s a very good idea to do that because you never know what they can do.

Uninstall apps

A great thing about uninstalling apps is that some of them might have malware and you don’t even know that. Delete the apps normally, although do use an uninstaller if some of them have one. Once you uninstall apps, you also want to go to the Library folder where you want to remove any remaining stuff from the app. Deleting any of the launch agents and launch demons that remained is also going to help.

Aside from these ideas, you can also use the Activity Monitor to check and see what apps have a behavior out of the ordinary. You always want to figure out any potential attacks before they are too late. Doing that is always helpful because you can prevent any virus attacks or at least stop them before they become very dangerous!