Remove Genieo Search – Mac

Genieo, also known as Go.searchgenieo.com,  is a browser hijacker that it will change the homepage and search engine for your web browser (via Safari, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or other) to Genieo Search. Is a dubious application that usually infiltrates systems without permission, since developers proliferate it using download/installation set-ups. Genieo’s main purpose is to promote a fake search engine and record information. For these reasons, Genieo is categorized as a browser hijacker and a potentially unwanted application (PUA).

Is probably one of the most prevalent adware programs in recent years. It was introduced by a well-known Israeli company who distributed it on the web.

Genieo is a “content recommendation engine,” which is installed on a local system to allow custom searches and targeted advertising to be presented on a homepage, managed through a browser extension. In essence, it tracks what you do and guides your searches and activity to relevant commercial sites and deals.

When the Genieo Search browser hijacker is installed, common symptoms include:

• Changing the web browser’s default homepage to Genieo
• Ability to modify the ‘new tab’ functionality to launch the modified search portal page
• Changing the browser’s search provider to Genieo Search
• Loads into the web browser via the Genieo extension or add-on

How to remove Genieo Search (Virus / Trojan) on Mac

According to in-depth research of this issue, simply resetting the infected web browsers is to no avail as long as you’re using a Mac computer, although this works wonders for Windows. In this part of the guide we will therefore focus on the technique for locating and manually deleting the files associated with Genieo malware. Please follow these steps:

1. Make sure you are logged in to the administrator account.

2. On the Apple menu bar, in the top-right corner, click the Genieo icon and then select Quit.

3. Move the file named launchd.conf to trash. The location path for this file is as follows: /private/etc/launchd.conf. If you succeeded in finding and deleting this file, make sure you do NOT empty the trash at this point. In case you couldn’t find it, restrain from deleting any of the .dylib files listed in step 4.

4. Look for the files listed below and move the ones found to trash. Again, this process will require that you are logged in as administrator. Also, be advised that not all of these may be there. Importantly, make sure you don’t empty the trash at this stage.

/Applications/Genieo
/Applications/Uninstall Genieo
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.genieoinnovation.macextension.plist
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.genieoinnovation.macextension.client.plist
/Library/LaunchAgents/com.genieo.engine.plist
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.genieoinnovation.macextension.client
/usr/lib/libgenkit.dylib
/usr/lib/libgenkitsa.dylib
/usr/lib/libimckit.dylib
/usr/lib/libimckitsa.dylib

5. Reboot your Mac by selecting Restart from the menu. When the computer is back up and running, make sure you log in to the admin account.

6. Move /Library/Frameworks/GenieoExtra.framework object to trash. When done, empty the trash.

7. Uninstall the troublemaking extension (Omnibar). Depending on which web browser is affected, do the following:

• For Firefox: go to Tools –> Add-ons –> Extensions. Click the Remove option next to Omnibar
• For Chrome: go to Chrome menu –> Tools –> Extensions. Click the trash bin icon next to the Omnibar entry.
• For Safari: access the Preferences interface and select Extensions. Remove Omnibar from there.

8. Restore the right homepage for the web browser that’s acting up. You should now be done fixing the Genieo problem.

Fix Mac browsers affected by the Genieo virus

Settings for the web browser that got hit by Genieo should be restored to their default values.

Remove the Omnibar browser extension in Safari

1. Start the Safari browser.
2. On the Apple menu bar, click Safari, and then click Preferences.
3. On the Extensions tab, in the left pane, select Omnibar and then click Uninstall.

Remove the Omnibar browser extension in Firefox

1. Start the Firefox browser.
2. On the Apple menu bar, click Tools and then select Add-ons.
3. In the Add-ons Manager page, select the Extensions panel.
4. Select the Omnibar extension, and click Remove.

Remove the Omnibar browser extension in Google Chrome

1. Start the Chrome browser.
2. On the Apple menu bar, click Chrome and then select Preferences.
3. In the left-pane of the Settings page, click Extensions.
4. Under the list of Extensions installed, to remove Omnibar, click the Trash icon next to the extension to remove it.