AreaProduct - How to remove

AreaProduct is malware that attacks Mac computers and causes browsers to start behaving erratically. This browser extension causes unwanted pop-up ads, redirects, and changes how web search results are displayed. Besides that, AreaProduct can collect data about your browsing activities, putting your privacy in danger.

AreaProduct needs to be uninstalled as soon as possible:

Type of threat	Adware, spyware, browser hijacker, VirusTotal link.
AreaProduct symptoms	Annoying and dangerous ads displayed by the hijacker, slower computer, misleading pop-ups that promote junkware and malware.
Problems with the hijacker	Gets installed without asking, reads your browsing history and passes it on to advertisers, can’t be uninstalled normally.
How to remove AreaProduct	Delete related files and uninstall AreaProduct manually, remove malware automatically (Combo Cleaner), restore browser settings, change your passwords.

AreaProduct hijacking symptoms

This hijacker usually only affects one browser in a Mac – the default one. If you use it, you will notice some obvious adware effects:

• ads displayed on pages where they don’t belong,
• random pages open for no reason,
• the Mac slows down or hangs,
• security pop-ups and Mac warnings that link you to third-party software sites.

Ads shown by AreaProduct aren’t safe. Many of them have content intended to scam people, like Prize Email 2019 and 0fficial.info. Some have malicious scripts that can download even more malware. That’s not exactly the fault of AreaProduct, it’s just that criminals use adware viruses because legitimate ad-networks don’t accept malicious content.

On top of that, AreaProduct can see all of your data in the websites that you visit, which includes what you search for, what ads you click on, personal conversations, and even your usernames and passwords. If AreaProduct recorded that data and it was leaked to malicious actors (more malicious than the people who made AreaProduct), it could be used to hack your accounts, scam you, and do real damage.

Even if you don’t use the infected browser, if AreaProduct is in your system, it can still be a nuisance. It might display pop-up windows that ask you to complete installations when you weren’t installing anything and you might experience Mac stability issues.

Some problems might be due to other, unrelated malware that gets installed together with AreaProduct.

Installation of AreaProduct

You likely didn’t install AreaProduct intentionally. This browser hijacker is distributed using deceptive ads and bundling, which are great for smuggling unwanted software in computers.

Adobe Flash Player updates seem to be commonly used to spread adware like AreaProduct to Macs. Plus, fake updates have been increasing lately. Fake Flash updates can look pretty convincing, including draggable windows that are modeled to look like Mac system windows. But if you agree to the fake update and download the “update”, it just installs a bunch of adware.

AreaProduct could have also been installed with some freeware. Free programs sometimes install unwanted software that they don’t warn you about and that. If you were being very careful, scanning every download file, reading all the terms and conditions, you would have caught AreaProduct, but the problem isn’t you. The problem is the unscrupulous fraudsters that use underhanded tactics and skirting on the edge of legality to trick as many people as possible to install their junkware.

 

How to remove AreaProduct

One commonality among victims of AreaProduct and its sister hijackers is how it refuses to be uninstalled normally. Maybe you try to drag AreaProduct from Applications to Trash, and it comes back the next day. You might have removed it in your browser settings and seen it reinstalled later – maybe under a different name, like Topiclookup, TechSignalSearch, or StudyDisplay, but still mostly the same hijacker. And you might have even deleted AreaProduct from Profiles (in System Preferences), and it still came back.

The infection usually leaves a few files in Library folders that are allowing AreaProduct to return repeatedly. The best places to look are the /Library/LaunchAgents, ~/Library/LaunchAgents, and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders. You can enter these folders by using the “Go to Folder” option. It’s found by right-clicking on the Finder icon in the Dock and in the Go menu option. Just look up each file in those folders (there shouldn’t be too many) and if you find one that belongs to AreaProduct, delete it. Then manually remove AreaProduct.

You can also use an anti-malware program or an uninstaller program to do this automatically. Besides getting rid of AreaProduct’s files, you should also scan your computer for other malware. Use any competent anti-malware program, like Combo Cleaner.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to remove AreaProduct from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall AreaProduct and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings(older versions) If you are still experiencing any issues related to AreaProduct, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari…
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

TopHow To remove AreaProduct from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to AreaProduct, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How To remove AreaProduct from Firefox:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything AreaProduct related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Options → General. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Restore to Default.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to AreaProduct, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• ChooseTroubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on theReset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.