How to remove Search.genieo.com (Mac)

What is Search.genieo.com

Search.genieo.com or Genieo virus is malicious Mac application, that is classified as adware and browser hijacker. Virus installs Genieo app and two extensions: Genieo and Omnibar. With help of this add-ons malware takes control over search settings and homepage in Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. It modifies those settings to search.genieo.com. Also, Genieo will generate intrusive ads in these browsers, that will be marked like “Ads by Genieo”, “powered by Genieo”, “brought by Genieo”. Search.genieo.com hijacker is connected with Infospace advertising network. To be able to restore your browser settings, you need to remove Genieo virus from your Mac. In this generalizing guide we will explain how to remove Search.genieo.com hijacker, get rid of Genieo ads and eliminate all instances of Genieo from Mac OS.

How Search.genieo.com infected your Mac

Search.genieo.com is distributed via “bundled installers” and phishing browser ads and pop-ups. In the first case, users can see offer to install additional software like Genieo, while installing random free application. It is advertised as search enhancement tool. Phishing ads and pop-ups, pretend to be alerts from Adobe or Java, and offer you to “update” your software. In fact, message is fake and Genieo adware will be downloaded. To remove existing infection and protect your Mac from threats like this, use recommended utilities below.

Download Search.genieo.com Removal Tool for Mac

To remove Search.genieo.com completely we recommend you to use CleanMyMac. It can help you remove files, folders and registry keys of Search.genieo.com and uninstall hijackers, toolbars and unwanted add-ons from Safari browser.

Alternative Genieo remover – BitDefender Adware Removal Tool

Free utility to remove wide-spread adware from Mac computers. It can detect and remove Genieo, Vsearch and hundreds of other MacOS viruses. Unzip the file and run utility.

Remove Search.genieo.com manually for free

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

Note 2: Genieo won’t quit just by closing it, therefore 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 Genieo in the list.
3. Click Force Quit button.

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

Remove Search.genieo.com from Applications

Remove Search.genieo.com from Mac:

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

Cannot uninstall Search.genieo.com

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

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

Remove Search.genieo.com add-on from your browsers

Removing Search.genieo.com from Applications often does not bring the desired effect. It is browser extension and it may still be active in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove Search.genieo.com 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 Genieo or Omnibar 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 Genieo or Omnibar 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 Genieo or Omnibar extension.
4. Click Disable or Remove button.

Reset browser settings

To finish Search.genieo.com 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 Search.genieo.com


/Applications/Genieo
/Applications/InstallMac
/Applications/Uninstall Genieo
/Applications/Uninstall IM Completer.app
~/Library/Application Support/com.genieoinnovation.Installer/
~/Library/Application Support/Genieo/
~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.genieo.completer.download.plist
~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.genieo.completer.update.plist
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.genieoinnovation.macextension.plist
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.genieo.engine.plist
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.genieo.completer.update.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.genieoinnovation.macextension.client.plist
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.genieoinnovation.macextension.client
/usr/lib/libgenkit.dylib
/usr/lib/libgenkitsa.dylib
/usr/lib/libimckit.dylib
/usr/lib/libimckitsa.dylib


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

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 Genieo in browsers.

How to protect Mac OSX from adware like Search.genieo.com

Mac OSX is known to be one of the safest operating systems, and for a long time there was no need in antivirus products for Mac. But with 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 most advanced antivirus for Mac available – BitDefender Antivirus.