How to remove ActiveChannel (Mac)

What is ActiveChannel

ActiveChannel is classified as adware, which stands for “advertising-supported software.” Its primary function is to generate revenue for its creators by displaying unwanted advertisements on the infected computer. These ads can take various forms, such as pop-ups, banners, and redirects to sponsored or malicious websites. Once installed, ActiveChannel can significantly affect the performance and browsing experience on a Mac. It can slow down the system, generate frequent and intrusive pop-up ads, redirect users to suspicious websites, and add unwanted browser extensions or toolbars. Moreover, ActiveChannel can collect personal information such as IP addresses, browsing habits, search history, and geolocation data, posing a risk to user privacy. ActiveChannel adware is a malicious program that can disrupt your Mac’s performance, invade your privacy, and expose you to security risks. It is essential to take preventive measures to protect your Mac from such threats and to know how to remove them effectively if they do infiltrate your system. Using reliable antivirus software and following detailed removal guides can help you maintain a secure and adware-free Mac environment.

How ActiveChannel infects Mac computers

ActiveChannel typically infiltrates Macs through software bundles or deceptive downloads. It can be offered through advertisements or bundled with other software, often without clear disclosure that other software will also be installed. Users may inadvertently install ActiveChannel when installing free software installers (bundling), downloading torrent files, or clicking on deceptive pop-up advertisements.

1. Download ActiveChannel Removal Tool
2. Remove ActiveChannel from Login Items
3. Remove/Uninstall ActiveChannel from Applications
4. Remove ActiveChannel from browsers
5. Reset browser settings
6. Remove ActiveChannel files and folders
7. Block ActiveChannel ads and pop-ups
8. How to protect from threats, like ActiveChannel

Remove ActiveChannel manually for free

Note: ActiveChannel sets up to start on macOS startup. Therefore, before starting the removal, perform these steps:

1. Open System Preferences, choose Users & Groups.
2. Choose your account (set up as Current User).
3. Click Login Items tab.
4. Find “ActiveChannel” entry. Select it, and click the “-“ (minus) button to remove it.

Note 2: ActiveChannel won’t quit just by closing it, therefor use Force Quit to end the process.

1. Press 3 buttons at the same time: Option, Command, and Esc (Escape). This is similar to Control-Alt-Delete on a Windows PC.
2. Choose ActiveChannel in the list.
3. Click Force Quit button.

Here is a manual step-by-step tutorial for full ActiveChannel removal from your computer. This works 99% and was checked with the latest versions of ActiveChannel installer on operating systems with the latest updates and browser versions.

Remove ActiveChannel from Applications

Remove ActiveChannel from Mac:

1. In the Finder sidebar, click Applications.
2. ActiveChannel might have an Uninstaller. If you see Uninstall ActiveChannel or ActiveChannel Uninstaller, double-click it and follow the onscreen instructions.
3. Otherwise, drag ActiveChannel from the Applications folder to the Trash (located at the end of the Dock).
4. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash.

Cannot uninstall ActiveChannel

If you can’t uninstall ActiveChannel using instructions above, or it keeps coming back, you can use free AppCleaner for Mac to remove all residual data and libraries of ActiveChannel. Follow instructions below:

1. Download free AppCleaner.
2. Drag ActiveChannel from Applications folder to AppCleaner window.
3. Choose files and folders you want to remove along with ActiveChannel.
4. Click Delete button.

Remove ActiveChannel add-on from your browsers

Removing ActiveChannel from Applications often does not bring the desired effect. It is a browser extension, and it may still be active in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove the ActiveChannel extension from your browsers manually.

Safari:

1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Click Extensions tab.
3. Find ActiveChannel extension.
4. Click Uninstall button to remove it.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://extensions.
3. Find ActiveChannel extension.
4. Click the trash can icon to remove it.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:addons.
3. Choose ActiveChannel extension.
4. Click Disable or Remove button.

Reset browser settings

To finish ActiveChannel removal, reset your browser settings to make sure, there are no leftover items in browser folders.

Reset Safari:

1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Go to the Privacy section of Safari’s preferences.
3. Click Remove All Website Data button.
4. In the opened window, click Remove Now button to remove data stored by websites in Safari.
5. Go to the Advanced section of Safari’s preferences.
6. Click the Show Develop menu in menu bar option.
7. In the menu, click Develop and select Empty Caches from this menu.
8. Again, go to Safari menu and choose Clear History….
9. Choose to clear all history and click Clear History button.

Reset Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://settings.
3. Scroll down and find Show advanced settings link.
4. Click on it and scroll down to the bottom again.
5. Click Reset settings button and click Reset to confirm.

Reset Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:support.
3. Click Refresh Firefox… button.
4. Click Refresh Firefox to confirm.

Remove following files and folders of ActiveChannel


~/Library/Application Support/.[random_string]/Services/com.ActiveChannel.service.app
~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.ActiveChannel.service.plist
/Library/Application Support/.[random_string]/System/com.ActiveChannel.system
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ActiveChannel.system.plist


Download AdGuard for Mac to block malicious pop-ups, that promote ActiveChannel

AdGuard is the best ad-blocker, internet filtering, and internet security application for macOS. It can cut out unwanted banners from site pages, block pop-ups, stop redirects, and prevent users from visiting potentially dangerous resources. Use it to stop ads promoting ActiveChannel in browsers.

How to protect Mac OSX from adware, like ActiveChannel

Mac OSX is known to be one of the safest operating systems, and for a long time, there was no need for antivirus products for Mac. But with the growing popularity of Mac computers and notebooks and evolving technology, viruses, trojans, adware, toolbars, hijackers, and other malware paved the way for Mac users. We recommend you to use one of the best anti-malware for Mac available — Malwarebytes for Mac.