Were you looking for system optimization/security tools and ended up getting Mac Tonic but now you cannot remove it? Or was it just a random out of the blue pop-up on your Mac saying ‘Let’s get started with Mac Tonic’, asking to press the button to start using the mysterious program? If any of these sound familiar to you, we must deliver some bad news — your system is infected with a rogue optimizer, which can be a real misery to get rid of. But before you rush to reset the whole operating system, please, give the 2-viruses team a chance to help you one more time to delete the unwanted application without you having to start on your Mac from scratch.
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Mac Tonic Virus quicklinks
(Win)
(Mac)
Although Mac Tonic is often called a virus because of its features that seem malicious, it is not as notorious as some other malware and technically is not even a real cyber threat. You could call it a rogue application or potentially unwanted program (PUP) more than anything else because it is not very useful and tends to install on people’s computers secretly without a warning or permission. And when people try to remove it, they realize that the program is extremely persistent and refuses to leave your Mac be — certainly not the behavior of an ethical and honest application.
You should not fear using your Mac, yet it would be safest if the Mac Tonic virus was not allowed to stay there anymore and, in this article, you will find out why, so please keep on reading.
In short about the Mac Tonic rogue application virus:
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What is Mac Tonic
Bottom line up front, Mac Tonic is not a virus, but we call it like this because it is not a legitimate program either. It does not fulfill the promised features which pushed users to put their trust in the product and download it. As the program’s main website claims, Mac Tonic is supposed to provide security for your Mac computer, preventing all types of malware from entering and even removing them afterwards, while also working as a maintenance tool – system optimization application which has tons of useful utilities (Duplicate Finder, Memory Optimizer, Unwanted file Remover, Startup Apps Manager and Uninstaller). However, the VirusTotal.com analysis tells a different story, marking it as PUP.PCVARK threat, just like Hybrid-analysis.com, which calls it ADWARE/OSX.GT3Geeks.
Mac Tonic virus is developed by the famous Indian company called Pcvark Software Pvt. Ltd. that has tons of other similar rogue applications, like Advanced Mac Cleaner, Identity Protector and TuneupMyMac. All these programs do, including Mac Tonic, is display fake alerts and show bogus non-existent viruses that are supposedly harming your Mac, later asking to buy the premium version for 39,95 USD in order to fix them all. If you are good at spotting online scams and realize that your computer is actually not in a critical state as the PUP claims, then this may seem ridiculous, yet many less informed users fall for it and pay the shady company, believing that their issues will be solved.
The Mac Tonic virus is literally like a toy security-optimization tool that just shows visual effects but actually doesn’t do anything. If you really are looking for a true security tool check our Reviews section and pick some sophisticated program made by real cybersecurity specialists rather then continuing to use the fake one. What’s really unfortunate is that those who paid for the full version come into the danger of not only not getting their money back (because the payment is processed by the third-party gateway, which most likely doesn’t support refunds), but also can get their banking details and other personally-identifiable data breached and misused. Take a look at Mac Tonic’s Privacy Policy:
We collect information through active as well as passive manners.Passive Information: Information that your computer and your browser send automatically while you are browsing our website. Active Information: We collect email addresses when you subscribe to our newsletters & updates.
If you purchase one of our products, the payment will be handled by a 3rd party payment gateway. The payment gateways will collect information about you, such as your name, address, phone number, email and credit card details. A very limited amount of information acquired from this is shared with us, which enables us to setup your account as a customer with us. Financial details such as credit card information, etc. are not shared with us.
You acknowledge that Mac Tonic collects certain information regarding the users of the Software, including certain personally identifiable information. You hereby consent to Mac Tonic for collection and use of such information, and agree that Mac Tonic’s collection and use of such information will be governed by Mac Tonic’s Privacy Policy and that Mac Tonic may revise the same from time to time.
Clearly, this program is collecting some information about you even when you haven’t made the payment, but imagine what can they do once they get more sensitive data, that you provided yourself. Make sure to have tips on what to do after your identity is stolen and get ready to remove Mac Tonic once and for all. Predictably, this virus will get really stubborn and impossible to uninstall by typical methods like dragging the icon to Trash or via launchpad, therefore take a look at our removal tips at the end of this post.
How did Mac Tonic install on your system
Mac Tonic’s developers are true professionals at this scamming game. They have tons of other tools that they have been using before to gain money from gullible users, therefore they know how important it is to create a beautiful and trustworthy-looking design for Mac Tonic and other rogue applications not only to stay longer in systems’ but also to distribute better. This deceitful appearance and great self-advertising make victims fall for the beautiful lies and install virus voluntarily. On the other hand, if you are here, just like others, you may have witnessed Mac Tonic appearing on your computer unexpectedly, or right after some other software installation.
If you do not remember downloading Mac Tonic yourself then it just proves another malicious feature – spreading secretly in Bundles or Fake updates. There were some reports that Mac Tonic PUP was attached to Adobe Shockwave upgrades, which is rather typical. During installations, most compiled malware is hiding in the Setup Wizards as additional default programs that will get installed if you will not choose differently, yet all of us forget that and go with the Recommended/Simple installation, later wondering how some strange looking apps appear on our computers. But in order to avoid this from happening again, please take a look at Effective defenses against malware and other threats.
How to remove Mac Tonic permanently
Some people might remove Mac Tonic and forget about it, but others have reported that this rogue application is extremely persistent. Pop-ups appear even after the program is removed and it’s nearly impossible to find all the files where malicious components may have been hidden.
The easiest solution for Mac Tonic virus that worked for the majority of people was automatic removal or a combination of automatic and manual removal, deleting the leftover folders that stayed after the system cleansing. While there are plenty of antivirus/anti-malware tools for Mac, it’s important to choose one that’s genuine and not just another rogue application with a shiny facade. We have tested Malwarebytes and Combo Cleaner, and can guarantee that they are real and reputable tools that can be your first and last resort because they indeed work (though some users had to run their anti-malware tool a couple of times to get rid of Mac Tonic definitively).
Very simply, you will have to run a scan which should end up discovering PUP.PCVARK or ADWARE/OSX.GT3Geeks, which are just technical names. Then choose to remove it and restart the system. After that you can check the Library folders mentioned in the removal instructions below, just to make sure that these anti-spyware security tools did not leave anything behind.
Automatic Malware removal tools
(Win)
Note: Spyhunter trial provides detection of parasites and assists in their removal for free. limited trial available, Terms of use, Privacy Policy, Uninstall Instructions,
(Mac)
Note: Combo Cleaner trial provides detection of parasites and assists in their removal for free. limited trial available, Terms of use, Privacy Policy, Uninstall Instructions, Refund Policy ,
How to uninstall Mac Tonic without a program
The manual removal of the Mac Tonic virus not always can be successful and depending on the persistence degree it can reoccur again, therefore if you will try the steps below, but won’t see any result we advise to just simply go with Malwarebytes and make your situation easier. It is imperative that you follow all the instructions accordingly or else you might damage your system.
The very first step that you should start the Mac Tonic PUP termination is to delete the installer file named ‘mtc_site.pkg’ from your downloads and uninstall it from Applications so that it would not appear on the Dock or anywhere else. Then go to the Activity Monitor and look for any tasks that could be related to Mac Tonic (won’t be too hard to distinguish since it will probably have the same name or parts of it) and then select it and delete it by clicking ‘x’ on the left side. After all of that empty the Trash.
Once you remove the visible parts of Mac Tonic virus, let’s get to the leftover parts of the threat. For that, you will need to open the user’s Library. You can do that by clicking on the Desktop and then top left Finder > Go > Go to Folder and look for ~/Library. When you open Library, you will see tons of important system folders. This is where the virus will be hiding its secretive files, that might be responsible for annoying you. In order to get rid of this application, you will have to remove some related files from various directories.
- Folder ‘hlprmtc’ or/and ‘Mac Tonic’ in the opened Library itself.
- Application Support > folders ‘mtc’ and/or ‘Mac Tonic’.
- Caches > folders ‘com.techyutil.Mac – Tonic’ and ‘com.techyutil.tonic.tasks’.
- Cookies > folders ‘com.techyutil.Mac’ and ‘Tonic.binarycookies‘.
- LaunchAgents > folder ‘com.techyutil.tonictasks.plist’.
- Logs > folders ‘Mac.Tonic.tasks.log’ and ‘tonictasks.log’.
- Saved Application State > folder ‘com.techyutil.Mac – Tonic.savedState’.
After the removal of all these folders, you may want to restart your Mac and check if Mac Tonic is finally gone and if any of the folders came back.