How to uninstall ProductiveUnit adware?
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is ProductiveUnit adware?
ProductiveUnit is designed to generate advertisements and hijack a browser by changing some of its settings. This application has qualities of adware and a browser hijacker. Users rarely install apps like ProductiveUnit knowingly, for this reason, they are called potentially unwanted applications (PUAs).
ProductiveUnit adware in detail
Adware generates revenue for its developer when users click on the ads displayed by it. Typically, adware-type applications show pop-up ads, coupons, banners, surveys, and other ads. It is important to mention that ads displayed by apps like ProductiveUnit can be designed to open untrustworthy websites.
A couple of examples of websites that ads generated by ProductiveUnit may open are "Hackers Hijacked Your Calendar, Infected Your Battery" and "Receive iPhone 12". Usually, these websites are designed to trick visitors into installing some questionable software or providing personal information.
Also, ProductiveUnit may display advertisements designed to cause unwanted downloads or installations by running certain scripts. In one way or another, it is strongly recommended not to trust advertisements generated by ProductiveUnit or any similar adware-type application. Another problem with ProductiveUnit is that it functions as a browser hijacker.
ProductiveUnit is designed to promote a fake search engine by changing settings such as the address of a default search engine, homepage, and new tab. These changes cannot be undone while ProductiveUnit is installed on a browser. It is strongly recommended not to use fake search engines to browse the Internet.
Usually, fake search engines show results generated by Google, Yahoo, or questionable search engines. Also, they can show misleading results - they can be used to promote questionable websites (for example, download pages for potentially malicious applications) and show dubious advertisements.
Additionally, it is possible that ProductiveUnit is designed to collect personal information such as credit card details, passwords (or other sensitive data). Information collected by apps like ProductiveUnit could be misused to hijack personal accounts, make unauthorized purchases, transactions, steal identities, and so on.
| Name | Ads by ProductiveUnit |
| Threat Type | Adware, Mac malware, Mac virus |
| Detection Names (ProductiveUnit.service) | Avast (MacOS:Adload-AM [Trj]), AVG (MacOS:Adload-AM [Trj]), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of OSX/TrojanDownloader.Adload.AE), Kaspersky (Not-a-virus:HEUR:AdWare.OSX.Cimpli.m), Full List (VirusTotal) |
| Additional Information | This application belongs to Adload malware family. |
| Symptoms | Your Mac becomes slower than normal, you see unwanted pop-up ads, you are redirected to dubious websites. |
| Distribution methods | Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers, torrent file downloads. |
| Damage | Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites, loss of private information. |
| Malware Removal (Mac) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your Mac with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
ProductiveUnit in general
ProductiveUnit is a potentially unwanted application designed to show advertisements and promote a fake search engine. Typically, apps of this type are useless to their users - their main purpose is to generate revenue for their developers. More adware examples are AdminRemote, MainSearchBoard, and WebBoostSeach.
How did ProductiveUnit install on my computer?
ProductiveUnit is distributed via a fake installer that is designed to look like the installer for Adobe Flash Player. Usually, fake installers are promoted on deceptive websites. Another important detail about fake installers is that they can be malicious (they can be designed to install malicious software).
It is worth mentioning that PUAs often can be found in downloaders and installers for free programs as optional offers. Users download and install PUAs together with those programs when they do not change settings that can be used to deselect unwanted offers. Usually, downloaders and installers used to distribute PUAs have "Custom", "Advanced", or similar settings.
Also, PUAs can be distributed through advertisements. More precisely, by designing advertisements to run certain scripts. Users unintentionally download or install potentially unwanted applications by clicking those advertisements. Typically, ads of this kind appear on questionable websites.
How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?
Unwanted downloads, installations can be avoided by checking downloaders, installers for bundled applications and deselecting unwanted offers. Typically, downloaders and installers used to promote PUAs have "Custom", "Advanced", "Manual", or other settings, or ticked checkboxes.
Another way to avoid unwanted downloads (and installations) is to download apps and files from official websites and via direct links. Other sources for downloading them (for example, Peer-to-Peer networks like torrent clients, eMule, third-party downloaders, unofficial pages), and third-party installers can be used to distribute PUAs.
Additionally, it is recommended not to trust advertisements that appear on questionable websites. Those ads can be designed to open other pages of this kind or cause unwanted downloads, installations. If there are unwanted extensions, plug-ins, or add-ons installed on a browser, or programs of this kind installed on the operating system, then they should be uninstalled. If your computer is already infected with ProductiveUnit, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS to automatically eliminate this adware.
Pop-up window displayed when ProductiveUnit adware is present on the system:
Text in this pop-up window:
"ProductiveUnit" will damage your computer.
This file was downloaded on an unknown date.
OK
Show in Finder
Delusive application installer promoting ProductiveUnit adware (first installation step):
Delusive application installer promoting ProductiveUnit adware (second installation step):
Files related to the ProductiveUnit adware that need to be removed:
- ~/Library/Application Support/.[random_string]/Services/com.ProductiveUnit.service.app
- ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.ProductiveUnit.service.plist
- /Library/Application Support/.[random_string]/System/com.ProductiveUnit.system
- /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ProductiveUnit.system.plist
IMPORTANT NOTE! In some cases malicious applications like ProductiveUnit alter system proxy settings, thereby causing unwanted redirects to a variety of questionable websites.
The redirects are likely to remain even after removing the application itself. Thus, you'll have to restore them manually.
Step 1: Click on the gear icon in the Dock to navigate to the system settings. If the icon is not present in the Dock, you can find it in the Launchpad.
Step 2: Navigate to the Network settings.
Step 3: Select the connected network and click "Advanced...".
Step 4: Click on the "Proxies" tab and untick all the protocols. You should also set the settings of each protocol to default - "*.local, 169.254/16".
Instant automatic Mac malware removal:
Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of Mac malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner for Mac
By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.
Quick menu:
- What is ProductiveUnit?
- STEP 1. Remove ProductiveUnit related files and folders from OSX.
- STEP 2. Remove ProductiveUnit ads from Safari.
- STEP 3. Remove ProductiveUnit adware from Google Chrome.
- STEP 4. Remove ProductiveUnit ads from Mozilla Firefox.
Video showing how to remove ProductiveUnit adware using Combo Cleaner:
ProductiveUnit adware removal:
Remove ProductiveUnit-related potentially unwanted applications from your "Applications" folder:
Click the Finder icon. In the Finder window, select "Applications". In the applications folder, look for "MPlayerX", "NicePlayer", or other suspicious applications and drag them to the Trash. After removing the potentially unwanted application(s) that cause online ads, scan your Mac for any remaining unwanted components.
Remove adware-related files and folders
Click the Finder icon, from the menu bar. Choose Go, and click Go to Folder...
Check for adware generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:
In the Go to Folder... bar, type: /Library/LaunchAgents/
In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by adware - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the exact same string.
Check for adware generated files in the ~/Library/Application Support/ folder:
In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/Application Support/
In the "Application Support" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious folders. For example, "MplayerX" or "NicePlayer", and move these folders to the Trash.
Check for adware generated files in the ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:
In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/
In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by adware - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the exact same string.
Check for adware generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons/ folder:
In the "Go to Folder..." bar, type: /Library/LaunchDaemons/
In the "LaunchDaemons" folder, look for recently-added suspicious files. For example "com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist", "com.myppes.net-preferences.plist", "com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist", "com.avickUpd.plist", etc., and move them to the Trash.
Scan your Mac with Combo Cleaner:
If you have followed all the steps correctly, your Mac should be clean of infections. To ensure your system is not infected, run a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus. Download it HERE. After downloading the file, double click combocleaner.dmg installer. In the opened window, drag and drop the Combo Cleaner icon on top of the Applications icon. Now open your launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon. Wait until Combo Cleaner updates its virus definition database and click the "Start Combo Scan" button.
Combo Cleaner will scan your Mac for malware infections. If the antivirus scan displays "no threats found" - this means that you can continue with the removal guide; otherwise, it's recommended to remove any found infections before continuing.
After removing files and folders generated by the adware, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.
Remove malicious extensions from Internet browsers
Remove malicious Safari extensions:
Open the Safari browser, from the menu bar, select "Safari" and click "Preferences...".
In the preferences window, select "Extensions" and look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions. When located, click the "Uninstall" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Safari browser - none are crucial for regular browser operation.
- If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Safari.
Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
Click the Chrome menu icon 
(at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".
- If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Google Chrome.
Remove malicious extensions from Mozilla Firefox:
Click the Firefox menu 
(at the top right corner of the main window) and select "Add-ons and themes". Click "Extensions", in the opened window locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, click on the three dots and then click "Remove".
- If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.
Outstanding!
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