How to remove PositiveUser (Mac)

What is PositiveUser

PositiveUser is considered an unwanted program that tends to install without users’ consent on Mac. Its capabilities are most similar to browser hijackers and adware – both of which are types of unwanted software meant to promote suspicious browser changes and generate low-quality ads. Some of the symptoms can be a replacement of the homepage and a new search engine. Note that many search engines employed by hijackers are fake and unable to generate any unique results. Instead, they execute their features on the basis of legitimate engines like Yahoo, Google, or Bing to generate illegal traffic and gain some revenue. PositiveUser can be installed in the form of a browser extension, but may also be backed by a desktop application. Having such software installed may lead to various security risks, ranging from malware infection through promoted ads/pages or even surveillance of sensitive data (passwords, IP-addresses, geolocations). If you are struggling to get rid of the assigned changes on your own, you can follow our guide to do so fast and correctly. We will also give you some useful information on how to protect yourself against such threats in the future.

How PositiveUser infected your computer

Be careful downloading free software from the web. Potentially unwanted software is mainly distributed via free program installers (quite often cracked or pirated), which may contain additional offers disguised as something “useful”. During installation, such offers get oftentimes skipped, allowing the installation of unwanted software like PositiveUser without your consent. Many cybercriminals use the Pay-Per-Install (PPI) scheme, which brings money to the promoters after each successful installation. This is why it is so important to look out for extra program offers and deselect their installation if that is possible. It is also worth avoiding various ads and notifications that want you to download something. Beware of dubious and unverified pages, and also double-check the domains of websites you visit. Some cybercriminals disguise a fake website under similarly-named domains to make users believe it is the one they wanted to visit.

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

Remove PositiveUser manually for free

Note: PositiveUser sets up to start on Mac OS 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 “PositiveUser” entry. Select it, and click the “-“ (minus) button to remove it.

Note 2: PositiveUser 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 PositiveUser in the list.
3. Click Force Quit button.

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

Remove PositiveUser from Applications

Remove PositiveUser from Mac:

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

Cannot uninstall PositiveUser

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

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

Remove PositiveUser add-on from your browsers

Removing PositiveUser 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 PositiveUser 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 PositiveUser 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 PositiveUser 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 PositiveUser extension.
4. Click Disable or Remove button.

Reset browser settings

To finish PositiveUser 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 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 PositiveUser


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


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

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 PositiveUser in browsers.

How to protect Mac OSX from adware, like PositiveUser

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.