How to remove Shlayer Mac malware

What is Shlayer malware on Mac?

Apple has gone to great lengths to try and secure macOS from malware. But, a family of malware scripts has found a way to bypass this check and install it on Macs without you ever being prompted.

Shlayer is part of that malware family exploiting Mac computers. It commonly acts as a Flash download. And once a user downloads the “Flash” file, it automatically starts to install. Then, before you know your web browser starts acting up, you’ll probably see a bunch of pop-up ads, and when you try to search for anything, it probably redirects you to another website altogether.

How to remove Shlayer malware manually

The tricky thing about Shlayer is that it doesn’t always go by that name. So, removing it can be a bit tedious. You’ll need to navigate to a few different folders to delete malicious files. The easiest way to do it is:

1. Open a new Finder window.
2. Click Go > Go to Folder.
3. Then, paste in the following folder paths and delete the files listed within each:

/Applications/

• Advanced Mac Cleaner
• MyMacUpdater
• MyShopcoupon
• mediaDownloader

/Library/LaunchAgents/

• com.MyMacUpdater.agent.plist
• com.MyShopcoupon.agent.plist
• mm-plugin.dylib
• myshopcoupon.safariextz

~ /Library/Application Support/

• amc

~ /Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/Extensions/

• chumsearch.safariextz

~ /Library/LaunchAgents/

• com.pcv.hlpramcn.plist

~ /Library/Safari/Extensions/

• chumsearch.safariextz

The other thing you’ll want to check for is any new profiles Shlayer may have created on your Mac. Follow these instructions to check:

1. Click the Apple logo > System Preferences > Profiles.
2. Select any unfamiliar profiles listed in the sidebar.
3. Then, click – at the bottom of the window.

How to delete Shlayer automatically

Instead of manually going folder by folder to remove Shlayer files, you could automatically eliminate all those files with just one click. Using the app CleanMyMac X, you can do just what its name suggests. You’ll be able to scan your Mac for malware and adware, like Shlayer, and remove any suspicious files.

Running the apps is so easy, once you download CleanMyMac X, just follow these steps:

1. Open CleanMyMac X.
2. Click Malware Removal in the sidebar.
3. Then, click Scan.
4. When the scan is finished, select any malware the app found and click Remove.

Because malware is sneaky by design, it’s a good idea to periodically scan your computer for any additional threats lurking on your hard drive. Sure, you could follow the instructions you just read to do that. But, CleanMyMac X is meant to optimize your Mac’s performance, not just delete adware. And it does that by running a handful of other scans and scripts to get your Mac back to where it should be performing.

1. Open CleanMyMac X.
2. Make sure Smart Scan is selected on the left.
3. Click the Scan button.

When the scan is done, you can choose to review the details of the cleanup scan it found or click Run to run the available performance tasks.

And if you’re concerned about inadvertently downloading malware of any kind, CleanMyMac X even has real-time monitoring to scan the files you save on your computer — just enable malware monitor in CleanMyMac X’s Preferences.

Shlayer, although it takes on many other names, can still wreak havoc on your Mac. The worst part is that you may never know what’s going on or how to diagnose it properly. It might just look like a slow and sluggish performance. But, hopefully, after reading this article, you have a better idea of what to look for and how to find and delete those malicious files.