How to Remove Forbrowser from Mac

George Herman

IT Security Expert

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What is Forbrowser

The Forbrowser application may be advertised as helpful and legitimate. In reality, it will begin to show all sorts of advertisements on your screen, which may lead to potentially dangerous third-party websites. Malware researchers categorize Forbrowser as a potentially unwanted application (PUA). The aggressive advertising tactics of this seemingly useful app could damage your browser and even jeopardize your private data.

How it is distributed

Most commonly, PUA such as Forbrowser spreads via software bundles, freeware, unreliable third-party websites, or sketchy ads. It is very important to choose the custom/advanced option when installing software on your Mac, so you can have full control over the process. By doing so, you’ll be able to opt out of any additional software included in the installer. Be diligent and look for any bonus content that may be proposed. If you fail to do this, the hidden programs will get automatically installed without your knowledge.

How it operates

As we already mentioned, as soon as Forbrowser is installed on your machine, it will begin displaying various intrusive ads on your screen, redirect you to dubious websites, and cover your screen with annoying pop-ups. Even if you choose to ignore them, the parasite’s tactics would just get more and more aggressive, until it accomplishes its goal – to obtain your data, wreak havoc on your browser, promote shady software and make you click on unreliable ads and links. The thing is, shortly after it invades, this PUA will start monitoring your online activities, so it can obtain data like browser history, GPS coordinates, search results, etc. Such information will give it the power to create targeted content you’ll be most likely to click on. And, when you fall into its trap, it will be able to generate revenue for its creators with each click you make. The heavy ad attacks will cause your browser to crash on a daily basis, and could even affect your internet speed. The existence of the Forbrowser app may lead to many problems, which is why you need to act as soon as possible and remove it from your Mac the moment you detect it.

Staying safe from Forbrowser

Apart from having a reliable AV software installed on your Mac, there are other things you can do to ensure your device’s safety. We highly recommend you to:

• Pay close attention when you install third-party software, especially torrent files, so you don’t install shady additional applications that you don’t want. In most cases, that’s how malicious parasites are able to infect your computer;
• Read any Terms and Conditions you see, so you know exactly what you agree to. The last thing you want is to unknowingly give permission to a nasty virus to infiltrate your Mac;
• Follow links that lead to trustworthy sites only;
• It is best to visit only reliable and official websites. You never know what dangers might lurk behind an unfamiliar site;
• No matter how attractive an ad is, if you are not familiar with the website it redirects to, it might be best to steer clear of it and not click;
• Always check the sender’s email address before opening a message. If it states that it’s from an official company, compare the email with the one given in their official page. If there is no match, delete the message, since it most likely is fake and has malicious aims;
• Don’t open email attachments from unknown senders. More often than not, such files carry infections that can seriously damage your computer.

How to manually remove Forbrowser from Mac

If you’ve had the misfortune of getting your Mac infected with the Forbrowser PUA, the instructions below can help you to remove it manually. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Go to Utilities. You can do that by using the ⇧+⌘+U key combination, or by going to Finder and choosing Utilities from the Go main menu at the top.

2. Find Activity Monitor and double-click it.

3. A list will be displayed. Find any processes that seem suspicious to you and use the ‘Force Quit‘ option to quit them completely.

4. Open Finder. Click on the Go button from the main menu at the top, and choose Applications. An alternative way is to use the ⇧+⌘+A key combination.

5. Look for any suspicious applications, especially ones with a name similar to Forbrowser. If any are found, right-click on them and select the ‘Move to Trash‘ option.

6. Remove any related left-over files by going to Finder‘s search bar and typing the name of the app you want to remove. Make sure to modify the two drop down menus above to ‘System Files‘ and ‘Are Included‘, so that any hidden files are visible for you to remove. Once you find the files you want to remove, simply drag them to Trash.

7. All that’s left for you to do is remove any related extensions to Forbrowser from your Mac browsers.

For Mozilla Firefox extensions:

• Open the Firefox browser and from the ‘burger’ menu in the top right corner of the window select ‘Add-ons’.
• Select any suspicious extensions that may be related to the virus and click ‘Remove’.

For Google Chrome extensions:

• Open the Chrome browser and select Tools > Extensions from the menu (the three dots in the top right corner of the browser window).
• Locate any suspicious extensions that may be related to the virus and remove them.

For Safari extensions:

• Open the Safari browser. From the Safari menu choose Preferences. Select Extensions from the options at the top.
• Find any extensions you think are related to the virus, select them and click ‘Uninstall’. A new window will show up asking for confirmation. Click Uninstall again, for the extension to get deleted permanently from your browser.