Potentially unwanted applications, or PUA like VigLink, don’t just slow down your computer. They can also redirect you to the wrong websites and leave a door open for an unbearable amount of pop-up ads making it impossible to surf the web on your computer.
Below, you’ll read about what adware is and learn how to get rid of VigLink on your Mac. And don’t worry, I promise it will be easy enough for you to do it yourself.
| Name | VigLink |
| Category | Adware |
| Symptoms | Invasive pop-ups, poor performance |
| Infection method | Software bundling |
System damage | Bogs down your computer, intrusive ads, link redirects, stolen credentials |
| Removal |
What is VigLink?
Before we can get into the steps to remove VigLink, you should know what exactly it is. VigLink is a legitimate advertising network that places banner ads on various websites. The problem is bad actors and hackers also use the network for advertising their fake apps and nefarious websites. They do this to trick people into clicking on the ad and downloading the malicious software they made.
And when you have the adware installed on your Mac, it will actually start redirecting your browser to those ads. For instance, you’ll click on a link, and instead of taking you to the desired website, it will show you another ad instead.
How the VigLink virus can be installed on a Mac
It usually surprises people when they hear that their Mac has adware or a virus installed. And if that’s you, then what I’m about to tell you will probably surprise you even more. If your Mac has the VigLink adware on it, it’s because of something you installed.
The way adware like VigLink spreads around is through software bundling. That’s when you download a free app from the internet, but hidden in the installation is completely unrelated software. Sometimes it’s just another useless app, and other times, it can be malware or adware.
That’s why you should only install apps from trusted sources. But that can’t always be avoided. So, whenever you do install something, make sure to click the Advanced Options or Customize Installation button to see what else is bundled with this particular piece of software.
How to get rid of VigLink manually
You can remove and disable VigLink manually — without any additional help. But, there are two steps and it can take a little bit of time to do.
The first thing you’re going to do is look for any apps installed related to VigLink.To do that, you’ll just need to follow these steps:
- Open a new Finder window.
- Click Go > Applications.
- Find and select any suspicious apps.
- Then, drag it to the Trash icon in your dock.
Once you have the app(s) in your Trash, you can right or Control-click on the Trash icon and select Empty to permanently remove it.
After any apps have been deleted, you’ll need to remove browser extensions. And this step can get a bit tedious because you can’t just do it on your default browser. You have to do this for every browser you have installed. But, don’t worry. I’ve got you covered with instructions for the three most common ones: Safari, Firefox, and Google Chrome.
Safari
- Open Safari.
- Click Preferences > Extensions.
- Select anything that looks like it might be affiliated with VigLink.
- Then, click Uninstall.
Firefox
- Open Firefox.
- Click on the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
- Then, click Settings > Extensions & Themes.
- Click the … next to anything suspicious.
- Finally, click Remove.
Chrome
- Open Chrome.
- In the top-right corner, click the three dots.
- Hover over More Tools and click Extensions.
- Find anything that might be affiliated with VigLink and click Remove.
After you’ve done all of this, it’s a good idea to restart your entire computer. It gives all of your software a chance to start fresh and make sure none of it reads or writes to infected files anymore.
How to prevent installing adware
Preventing adware sounds like it can be a long and arduous process, but it’s not at all. You can use the app CleanMyMac X to help with it. CleanMyMac X is an application that has been designed to help optimize your computer’s performance and safeguard it against any adware.
The even better news is that you can download CleanMyMac X for free and try it out for yourself. After it’s installed, just follow these steps.
- Open CleanMyMac X.
- Click Malware Removal.
- Then, click Run.
Now just let CleanMyMac X do its thing. When it’s done, it will tell you if it found anything nefarious on your computer and give you the option to immediately remove it.
Using CleanMyMac X regularly is a great way to verify you haven’t accidentally installed anything malicious. But I’m sure you agree, the steps above are so simple, it won’t be a hassle to set a reminder and scan your computer at the beginning or end of each week.
Adware and PUAs can be such a headache, but once you’ve seen how easy it is to get rid of VigLink, you hopefully won’t have to live with it any longer. Having a browser that doesn’t navigate you to the websites you’re trying to go to is pretty useless. Although, between the manual steps mentioned above and CleanMyMac X, your computer should be back up and running in peak condition in no time.
