SearchAdditionally Adware - How to remove

SearchAdditionally is a Mac adware virus that attaches itself to the Safari browser and interferes with it. SearchAdditionally adware shows pop-up ads, redirects, and spies on the user’s actions. It gets installed without the user’s consent and starts up every time the browser is opened, its green and white icon appearing in the dock. While it’s not a very serious infection, it can still cause problems and should be uninstalled. Unfortunately, removing this adware isn’t always straightforward.

SearchAdditionally adware

Type of threat	Adware, spyware, browser hijacker
Problems caused by SearchAdditionally	Ads and redirects in the infected browser, browsing habits exposed to fraudsters and advertisers, unstable system (crashes, freezes, etc.)
How adware gets installed	Malicious and deceptive ads (for example, fake update prompts), freeware bundling
How to remove SearchAdditionally adware	Uninstall SearchAdditionally, delete related files, delete malware (Combo Cleaner)

SearchAdditionally is just one name used by this adware virus, it can also appear as ProductEvent, TopicLookup, AssistEngine, TaskFresh, and others. All these adware viruses are related to the MacPerformance adware and might be detected as Pirrit by anti-malware programs. Having one of these infect your computer means that it’s somewhat likely that other adware is also present on it.

If you use the browser that this adware infects (most of the time, that’s Safari), you will see pop-up ads and your web search results will have more ads than usual. SearchAdditionally can include ads on any webpage and redirect links. Ads shown by it include normal ads, scams, and scareware.

In addition to the ads, SearchAdditionally can see everything you do online, including:

• what websites you visit,
• what you search for,
• which links and ads you click,
• what text you type (including passwords and credit card numbers).

Whether all that information is collected is up to the managers of the SearchAdditionally browser extension. Hopefully, it’s only used for interest-based advertising and not for any criminal purposes. Still, you might want to change your passwords after you uninstall SearchAdditionally and all other adware.

Besides the ads, redirects, and spying, SearchAdditionally might cause other, much more visible effects. This is not guaranteed – different victims of this adware have different experiences. For example, some victims of SearchAdditionally’s sister adware have reported things like their Mac crashing, freezing, your mouse cursor being hijacked to trick you to press certain buttons, and the screen being locked.

How adware gets installed

Adware like SearchAdditionally gets downloaded with fake software updates. One popular variant is various Adobe Flash Player offers. You might find yourself on a webpage that tells you that you need to install Flash to play a video or to access content, but often, these are just malicious sites that download adware for you. SearchAdditionally might be only one of a few adware infections in the package.

Such malicious advertisements are popular on pirating, streaming, and other not-exactly-legal websites. Adware viruses also display that type of ads.

Another way that SearchAdditionally can spread is when it’s included in other software. SearchAdditionally might be installed together with some free application, sometimes delayed by a few days.

However SearchAdditionally is installed, it happens without the user’s informed consent. You might be able to avoid these if you scan all downloaded files before opening them. Using a reliable anti-malware program would help. Don’t believe the myth that Macs are immune to malware; cyber-criminals are innovating all the time.

How to remove the SearchAdditionally adware

First of all, try uninstalling SearchAdditionally from the Applications folder. The icon should just be the default Mac Application icon.

Unfortunately, some people see the adware come back. It might not be with the name SearchAdditionally, but it would be the same application. So, it’s a good idea to remove the files that SearchAdditionally might have left on your Mac. Look for these files in folders like /Library/LaunchAgents, ~/Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/LaunchDaemons, and check every file there. Malicious files won’t be named “SearchAdditionally”, so you might need to scan or check every one of them. Also, make backups before you delete any of them in case you remove the wrong one.

You can also scan your Mac with anti-malware programs like Combo Cleaner or use an uninstaller to get rid of all the unwanted settings files. At the same time, it’s important to get rid of all other adware that might be hiding on your Mac. SearchAdditionally can be distributed with other adware, and that adware will infect your Mac again given enough time.

After all that, change your passwords if you suspect they might have been exposed.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to remove SearchAdditionally Adware from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall SearchAdditionally Adware 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 SearchAdditionally Adware, 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.