How to remove RealAccount (Mac)

What is RealAccount

RealAccount is another representative of large Adload family of malware aiming MacOS systems. It comes in form of small application for Mac and browser extension for Safari browser. Once installed, it starts producing ads and pop-ups, as well as search redirects, often changing your default search engine in Safari, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Visually, its icon looks like a magnifying glass on a gray background, just like any other malware from Adload. Sometimes the icon has a green background. Search hijacks redirect users to Yahoo, Bing or some unknown third-party search engines. Generally, RealAccount can be uninstalled just like any regular extension or application in MacOS, however, many victims complain that it immediately re-installs itself or even won’t allow users to remove it. For such cases, we provided detailed instructions and handy tools to help you remove RealAccount extension and application from Safari on Mac.

How RealAccount infected your computer

RealAccount comes bundled with freeware applications for Mac. It can be installed in background along with small utilities, that Mac users often download, such as media players and converters, PDF readers and converters, ZIP-archivers, fake Adobe flash players or fake Java, etc. Once it infiltrates the machine, it sets up itself to start on MacOS boot-up and installs an extension in Safari browser. It may also constantly restart itself, which gives you an error, when trying to quit the app and remove it. Use the tutorial below to remove RealAccount completely from Mac.

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

Remove RealAccount manually for free

Note: RealAccount 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 “RealAccount” entry. Select it, and click the “-“ (minus) button to remove it.

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

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

Remove RealAccount from Applications

Remove RealAccount from Mac:

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

Cannot uninstall RealAccount

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

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

Remove RealAccount add-on from your browsers

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

Reset browser settings

To finish RealAccount 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 RealAccount


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


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

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 RealAccount in browsers.

How to protect Mac OSX from adware, like RealAccount

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.