Chromium is Google’s open-source web browser project. It’s not a full-blown web browser like Chrome, but a platform that allows third-party developers to build their own code and create their own browser. Unfortunately, not all of those developers are interested in creating a great browser. Instead, their goal is to infiltrate your computer with malware to steal your data. 

What is Chromium browser?

Chromium browser is any browser built on Chromium — a legitimate Google-funded project developers can use to write code. The difference between Chrome and Chromium is that Chrome is the finished Google’s web browser when Chromium is the framework used to build it.

Important

To avoid being infected with malware, only download Chromium from the official download site — chromium.org. Or better still, download reputable browsers built on Chromium rather than the source build itself.

How to uninstall Chromium from Mac

The easiest way that I found to uninstall Chromium once and for all is to use the Uninstaller tool in CleanMyMac. It deletes not just Chromium but all its parts and pieces across the entire system. This is how it works:

  1. Download and install CleanMyMac — get a free edition here.
  2. Click Applications > Scan > Manage My Applications.
  3. In the Uninstaller tab, find Chromium in the list of apps or search for it in the search box.
  4. Select the box next to it.
  5. Click Uninstall.

That will remove every trace of Chromium from your Mac.

How to get rid of Chromium on Mac manually

Removing a legitimate version of Chromium is a piece of cake. Just find it in your Applications folder, drag it to the Trash, and then empty it. Obviously, that won’t uninstall it completely due to other related files located in folders, such as:

/Library/LaunchAgents

~/Library/Application Support

So, check these folders and drag anything Chromium-related to the Trash. Then, empty it and restart your browser. If you think you may have missed some leftover files, check out this article on how to completely delete apps from Mac.

    If the version of Chromium you’ve installed contains malware, the process is a bit more complicated. But no worries, you can fix that, too. The next piece of this article will teach you how to accomplish that.

    Remove Chromium and apps that it was bundled with

      1. Go to your Applications folder and look for the app you downloaded just before Chromium appeared on your Mac.
      2. Drag it to the Trash and then empty it.

      You might also try removing Chromium from your Library.

      1. Click Finder, then choose Go in the top menu.
      2. Choose Go to Folder... Now, paste the following locations:

      /Library/LaunchAgents
      ~/Library/Application Support
      /Library/LaunchDaemons

      Open these folders and look for files that have been added recently — you can use Column view in Finder and sort by Date Added to find them. If you find any suspicious recently added files, drag them to the Trash and empty it.

      Delete the app from your Login items

      Now, choose System Settings from the main Apple menu and click General > Login Items.

      Look for any login items that look suspicious. If you see one, select it and click the “-” button.

      System Preferences - Login Items

      How to delete Chromium from browsers

      To delete Chromium from browsers, you will have to reset them. Steps differ for different browsers. If you have several browsers on your Mac, you need to go through each browser in use and reset it. Find the instructions you need below.

      Safari

      1. Open Safari, go to the Safari menu, then choose Settings.
      2. Click the Extensions tab and look for any extensions that seem dubious and choose Uninstall.

      3. Choose the Search tab next and if your default search engine has been altered, change it back to your preference.

      4. Now, click the General tab and change the homepage settings back to what they should be.

      Chrome

      1. Open Chrome and paste the following into the address bar: chrome://extensions
      2. Select any extensions that you didn’t install and click Remove.


      3. Now, paste this into the address bar: chrome://settings
      4. Click Reset Settings > Restore settings to their original defaults.

      Firefox

      1. Open Firefox and click the three lines to the right of the address bar.
      2. Choose Add-ons and themes and then Extensions.

      3. Look for any extension you don’t recognize, click the ellipsis next to it, and choose Remove.
      4. Click the three lines again and this time choose Help > Troubleshoot mode.
      5. Click Restart > Refresh Firefox and confirm the reset.

      How to protect Mac from the Chromium virus?

      Now that you’ve removed Chromium from your Mac, you may want to ensure that no other malware sneaks onto it. The easiest way to do this is to run a full Mac virus scan. Basically, it is a good idea to run such checks every once in a while.

      And guess what? You can quickly do it with the same app we mentioned earlier — CleanMyMac. The application is equipped with the Malware Removal feature in its Protection tool that blocks infected apps and “backdoor viruses” currently functioning on your Mac.

      All you need to do is download the app for free and navigate to the Protection tab in the sidebar. Then, click Scan to start the virus-removal process. If it finds anything, just click Remove, and you’re safe.

      Removing threats

      A quick recap: Chromium is not a virus. It’s not even malware. However, some scammers use fake Chromium builds to spread malware. To avoid installing a malware version, you should only download Chromium from the official website. But if you’ve already installed an infected version of Chromium, you can get rid of it by taking the steps we outlined in this article. Or you can use CleanMyMac as an alternative solution. Stay safe!

      FAQs

      Is Chromium a virus?

      No, it is not; it is a platform developers can use to build their own browsers. However, some of them use it to spread malicious code.

      How to stop Chromium from starting automatically?

      The easiest way to do it is to check Login Items in System Settings > General and remove it from there. Also, disable any Chromium-related apps under Allowed in the background.

      Why did Chromium install itself?

      Most likely, you’ve downloaded malicious software to your computer. In this case, you’ll need to scan your Mac for malware.

      Why does Chromium keep installing on my computer?

      Like with the cases when it installed itself, it may be that your Mac has been infected with malware to which Chromium was attached. If you don’t find and remove this malicious app, it will keep installing on your computer.