One of the most common scams online are pop-up adverts for tools that claim to be able to ‘clean’ your Mac and improve its performance. Unlike legitimate Mac cleaning tools, these programs start scanning your Mac without your consent, claim to have found problems and then demand payment. Advanced Mac Cleaner is one such program.
- Dec 01, 2017 Detox My Mac is the number one solution for cleaning and maintaining your Mac! It gets rid of all the useless clutter you have collected while browsing the internet, downloading music,.
- Get rid of Advanced Mac Cleaner virus with the help of reliable security software. First of all, if you aim to remove Advanced Mac Cleaner, do not use the official uninstaller tool offered by the developers. Instead, download a reputable antivirus system and let it scan your data thoroughly.
- Oct 08, 2018 How to Remove Advanced Mac Cleaner Virus Unfortunately, Advanced Mac Cleaner is not an app that can be uninstalled by simply dragging it to the Trash. If you want to remove the Advanced Mac Cleaner unwanted software from your Mac machine in full we recommend that you use a specific anti-malware for Mac machines.
- Jul 26, 2019 Advanced Mac Cleaner is one among the most harmful and deceptive computer infection that is categorized as adware. It has been recently launched and belongs to family of malicious add-on. It may enter your system with the help of junk emails, peer to peer file sharing, social media networking, free download and hacked websites.
This is a post, created to explain what is Advanced Mac Cleaner how you can effectively remove it from your computer. Advanced Mac Cleaner a browser hijacker that takes over your web browser and begins to create multiple different settings and sites to automatically pop-up on your browser.
What is Advanced Mac Cleaner?
It’s an application that claims to clean and protect your Mac by scanning it for potential problems. However, the problems it finds are fake and it offers no protection or performance improvement for your Mac. It is a category of software known as ‘potentially unwanted programs’ (PUPs) that are downloaded to your computer by stealth and launch themselves without your consent.
In the case of Advanced Mac Cleaner, it is usually bundled with other applications, so that you have no idea that you’ve downloaded it until it pops up on your screen. When it does, it claims to be scanning your Mac so that it can clean it and protect you from malware. Of course, it finds lots of ‘problems’ and then tries to sell you a ‘solution’ by persuading you to part with your cash. In addition to trying to persuade you to pay for a full version of the app, it also tries to upsell other supposedly helpful utilities.
Can it harm my Mac?
Advanced Mac Cleaner is not a virus, and there’s no evidence it will do any lasting harm to your Mac. However, the Advanced Mac Cleaner pop-ups are an irritation and it can slow down the performance of your computer while it’s running.
If you take the bait and pay for it, you will have spent money for nothing. But you will also have given your credit card details to people who use scam tactics to take money and so your financial security would be at risk.
How can I avoid Advanced Mac Cleaner?
Advanced Mac Cleaner Virus Apple
The simplest way is to leave your Mac security settings for downloading applications at their default. That way, if you try to download an app that’s not either from the App Store or a trusted developer, you will see a warning and will be required to manually override the security settings. As Advanced Mac Cleaner comes bundled with other tools, when you try to download one of those tools you’ll see the warning. If you’re worried, don’t give permission for it to download.
As a general rule, avoiding malware is accomplished by being vigilant about not clicking links in emails or messages your receive or on websites, unless you are absolutely sure where those links lead. Also, there are some websites that are more likely to host malware, such as PUPs bundled with apparently legitimate applications, than others. These include sites that offer access the latest movies, TV programs, games and software for free, and some free porn sites. You should avoid those if you want to minimize the chances of downloading malware.
Tip: If you want a tool that can free up disk space on your Mac by getting rid of unnecessary files, we recommend CleanMyMac X. This is a legit app that is notarized by Apple, meaning it doesn't contain any malicious components.
How can I uninstall Advanced Mac Cleaner?
First of all, launch Activity Monitor from Applications>Utilities and look for a process called “Advanced Mac Cleaner”, select it and press the Quit Process button in the toolbar, then close Activity Monitor.
1. In the Finder, click on the Go menu and paste this: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
2. In that folder, look for a file called “com.pcv.hlpramc.plist”
3. When you find it, drag it to the Trash
4. Click on the Go menu in the Finder again and paste this: /Library/Application Support
5. Look for a file called “amc” and drag it to the Trash
6. Again in the Go menu, paste this: ~/Library/
7. Find the file “AdvancedMacCleaner” and drag it to the Trash
Don't give up just yet, we're almost there!
8. Go to the Applications folder and drag the Advanced Mac Cleaner application to the Trash
9. Empty the Trash
10. Launch System Preferences from the Apple menu and choose the Users & Groups pane
11. Click your user name and choose Login items
12. If there is an entry for Advanced Mac Cleaner, click the “-“ sign next to it to remove it.
Take a shortcut: Destroy it with a legit cleaning app
If all steps above seem like a lot of effort, there is an easier way. CleanMyMac X is a real cleaning tool for your Mac. CleanMyMac X has been notarized by Apple meaning it doesn't contain any malicious components. Unlike Advanced Mac Cleaner, it does actually scan your Mac and identify files that can be safely deleted to free up disk space. It also uninstalls applications at the click of a button, including removing all the files associated with the application, including those in the Library and Application Support folders. So you can use it to remove Advanced Mac Cleaner.
1. Download CleanMyMac X (a link to free version) and install it
2. Click on the Uninstaller utility
3. Look through the list of applications, or type “Advanced Mac Cleaner” into the search box
4. Check the box next to the Advanced Mac Cleaner icon
5. Press Uninstall
What if I’ve already paid for Advanced Mac Cleaner?
Inform your credit card company immediately. Tell them you think you may have been scammed and that your details are at risk. They will cancel your card and issue with a new one. Then, follow the steps above to remove Advanced Mac Cleaner from your Mac.
Advanced Mac Cleaner is potentially unwanted program that seeks to persuade you there is a problem with it that it can fix, as long as you hand over money in the form of credit card details. In reality, it has downloaded itself to your Mac without permission, hasn’t scanned it and hasn’t found any problems. Of course, if you hand over money you won’t improve the performance or security of your Mac but will have exposed your credit card details to someone with a bad intent.
You can remove Advanced Mac Cleaner using the steps outlined above, and you should also inform your credit card company, if you’ve paid for the ‘full’ version of the application.
These might also interest you:
Remove Advanced Mac Cleaner rogue program from your computer at once before it can further harm the system. Scan the computer with effective anti-virus and anti-malware tools provided below.
Advanced Mac Cleaner is a dubious computer and Mac OS X system tool. It claims to optimize the computer and fix issues on the Operating System. This potentially unwanted program normally arrives on the computer via third-party software like freeware or shareware. A bundling technique is being used by malware author to spread programs like Advanced Mac Cleaner. With this scheme, any programs are packed to downloadable applications and also installs on the computer without taking permission from user.
Once Advanced Mac Cleaner is installed, it can run a diagnostics on the computer without user’s intervention. Afterwards, user will get alerted by certain issues that it found. The only way you can activate the repair function is by purchasing the full working version of Advanced Mac Cleaner. It is completely a fraudulent tactics which aims to alert victims of non-existent troubles in order to market the product.
Victims of Advanced Mac Cleaner also assert that uninstalling the program is almost impossible. Using the usual uninstall feature of Mac system is inadequate to totally get rid of Advanced Mac Cleaner. Some left over files are capable of reviving the unwanted program.
Advanced Mac Cleaner is technically not a virus. It is more appropriate to be called PUP (potentially unwanted program). Its nature may be as aggressive as computer virus, however, it never replicates once installed on the computer. Also, Advanced Mac Cleaner requires to be fully installed on the system carry out its function. This is why authors of this program are employing the bundling technique as a method of distribution.
If you cannot remove Advanced Mac Cleaner using the typical way as you would uninstall any program, we have prepared a simple guide on this page to get rid of it. This will require anti-malware scanner to find and delete hidden malicious files concealed on the system.
Screenshot Image:
Advanced Mac Cleaner Removal Procedures
Below are several steps that you should carry out to delete Advanced Mac Cleaner unwanted program from Mac computer.
We highly recommend executing both manual removal and thorough scanning of the system using the provided tool.
Fast and Easy Removal with Combo Cleaner
To quickly find and delete rogue programs from Mac system, we highly recommend scanning the computer with Combo Cleaner. This comprehensive and complete tool for Mac is equipped with an advanced virus, malware, and adware scan engines.
1Download Combo Cleaner from the link below.
2Double-click on the file to install the program. As show in the image below, drag the Combo Cleaner.app to Applications folder.
3 Open Launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon to run the tool.
4Click on Start Combo Scan button to begin checking the computer for malicious objects.
Free virus scanner of Combo Cleaner checks and detects various kinds of threats. To remove them from the infected computer, you will have to purchase the full version of Combo Cleaner.
Manual Removal and Additional Scan
Close Advanced Mac Cleaner Application
1 Close Advanced Mac Cleaner opened window or running application.
2 On your keyboard, press Command + Option + Esc to open Force Quit Applications window. Alternatively, you can go to Finder > Go > Utilities > Activity Monitor.
3 Select Advanced Mac Cleaner from the list of running processes and click on Force Quit button.
Delete Advanced Mac Cleaner Login Items
4 Go to Apple menu and choose System Preferences from the drop-down list.
5 Open Users and Groups and click on Login Items button to show the list of applications that launches automatically.
6 Please select Advanced Mac Cleaner and click on minus button (-) at the bottom of the window to remove this unwanted item.
Manually delete Advanced Mac Cleaner items
7 Navigate the Apple Finder and click on 'Go'. Then, select 'Go to Folder'. Alternatively, use keyboard shortcut Command + Shift + G.
8 Copy and paste, or type the following line in the field and press Enter on your keyboard:
/Library/LaunchAgents
9 LaunchAgents folder should open at this point. Look for items with the following names or similar entry:
- com.AdvancedMacCleaner.agent.plist
- com.AMC.agent.plist
- com.AMC.amchlpr
10 Move each file to the Trash. This action may require administrator privilege. If you are not logged in as administrator, you need to provide required password.
11 Using the same 'Go to Folder' procedures, open this location:
~/Library/LaunchAgents
12 Look for the same files and folders and move it to Trash.
13 Next, we need to look at Application Support folder. Using the same method as above. Go to this location:
~/Library/Application Support
14 Locate the following items and move it to Trash:
- Advanced Mac Cleaner
- helperamc
- hlpramc
- hlprawc
- hlpramcn
- hlpradc
- Mac Adware Cleaner
15 Go back to Apple Menu, click Go, and then select Applications from the drop-down list.
16Delete the following folders just in case they do exist.
- Advanced Mac Cleaner
- helperamc
- hlpramc
- hlprawc
- hlpramcn
- hlpradc
- Mac Adware Cleaner
Scan with MBAM to check for Advanced Mac Cleaner remaining objects
17Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac from the link below.
18 Drag the downloaded file MBAM-Mac-[version].dmg to Applications folder.
19 Under Applications folder, right-click on Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and select 'Open' from the given choices.
20 After opening the tool, click on the 'Scan' button to start checking the computer for presence of Advanced Mac Cleaner and other malware.
21 When scanning is done, the tool will display all identified threats. Be sure to select malicious items.
22 Click on 'Remove Selected Items' to delete the threats.
Macbook Advanced Mac Cleaner Virus
We hope that the procedures and removal tool on this page was able to help you in removing Advanced Mac Cleaner. Your computer should now be malware free.