How to Remove Ask You Mac Adware (Updated 2023)

What is Ask You?

AskYou is a dubious application designed for installation on the Macintosh operating system. Its primary purpose revolves around configuring the browser settings and displaying unwarranted pop-up advertisements through the notification panel.

After inspecting Ask You, we have concluded that it is a malicious application that has to be deleted immediately to prevent malicious actions to the computer system.

This malware only targets Mac devices and it has infected many users every day. It has hundreds of different names and it changes from time to time, but the adware can be easily identified since it never changes their app image.

The given adware program was developed by malicious hackers to extort money from users by forcing them to see advertisements.

As a result, this will bring a lot of money for the creators, but users who are infected by the virus will have to put up with seeing a lot of undesirable content. In addition to that, not all displayed advertisements are safe; some may contain offensive or harmful content that could damage the computer.

It modifies browser settings and displays advertising across the whole computer. Users may experience browser slowdowns and frequent crashes. In addition, you might notice that your browser’s homepage has changed and see unwanted web plugins recently installed.

The most frequent methods for Mac users to acquire Ask You are opening malicious email attachments, downloading fake Adobe Flash players, and accessing drive-by downloads websites.

Ask You and any associated .plist files must be deleted to remove the adware from the system. You can follow the removal instructions below.

Ask You Removal Instructions

This procedure will assist you in removing Ask You as well as any dangers related to the virus infection. You can rest assured that the information provided below has been tried and tested.

Our team has recently tested this procedure and has confirmed that it is still working and up-to-date. Learn More

We made the instructions below easy to understand so non-tech-savvy users can still remove the threat without needing help from tech support or a computer technician.

Step 1: Remove Ask You and Associated Files

The first step is to address the source of the problem, which is removing the adware from the system. Since this sort of malware takes the form of an application, it can be removed easily with only a few clicks.

It's also worth noting that leftovers and files related to the adware should be deleted as well.

Remove Ask You Applications

1 Open the Finder application from the Dock.

2 Select Applications from the left sidebar.

3 Find Ask You then right-click its icon then select Move to trash. (We will be using the MacKeeper application as an example.)

Remove Files Associated with Ask You

1 Click the Go from the Finder toolbar and select Go to the folder from the expanded menu.

2 Search the following paths for files associated with the Ask You app. These files will have the .plist extension and will look similar to com.Ask You.plist. (Note: Do not delete files that come from legit applications)

~/Library/LaunchAgents
~/Library/Application
/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons

3 Once you have found them, right-click and select Move to Trash to get rid of those files.

Empty the Trash Bin

1 From the Dock, right-click the Trash application and select Empty Trash to delete the files permanently.

2 A confirmation window may appear asking if you want to delete the files on the Trash, go ahead and proceed to delete them.

Now, the Ask You application as well as files related to the adware threat are now permanently deleted from the Mac system.

Step 2: Remove Profiles Created by Ask You

Ask You can prevent users from reverting to their default browser settings. As a result, when users attempted to alter their preferences back, they were either unable to do so or their preferences were turned back after a few minutes.

Removing the profiles added by Ask You is required to ensure that configurations are not altered again once they have been reverted. (Note: If the device does not have any profiles related to the adware, you may proceed to the next step.)

1 Click the Apple logo on the upper left corner of the screen then select System Preferences from the drop-down menu.

2 On the System Preferences window, find and click Profiles. (If you cannot find Profiles, then it means you do not have profiles on your Mac. You may skip this procedure and head over to the next step.)

3 Find and remove profiles that may be associated with the adware. Click the minus button on the lower left part of the window to remove the profile.

Step 3: Reset the Infected Browser

Your browsing program is most likely tainted by Ask You since this type of malware rely solely on the usage of internet contents which is why resetting it will undo the changes done by the adware.

If you do not wish to reset your browser, you can undo the changes manually by removing the extension and changing the default homepage and search preferences back to normal. However if you are not much of a techy person, resetting the browser will be the easier approach.

For Google Chrome:

1 Open Google Chrome and click the three dots in the upper right corner of your screen to access the Google Chrome menu.

2 Click the Settings button, then click the Advanced menu on the left side of the screen from the settings screen.

3 On the drop-down menu, select Reset settings.

4 Click on the Restore settings to their original defaults.

5 When a small window will appear and click the Reset Settings.

For Safari:

We will be using the utilization of the Terminal application to reset the Safari browser because, unlike Chrome or Firefox, it does not have an auto-reset feature for the browser.

1 To use the Terminal application, open Finder and navigate to the Applications/Utilities folder.

2 Copy and paste each code line separately in the Terminal. Some of the first codes will have a confirmation line, type y to continue. (Note: Make sure the Safari application is closed while proceeding with working with the codes.)

rm -Rf ~/Library/Cookies/*;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Cache/*;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Safari/*;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Caches/Apple\ -\ Safari\ -\ Safari\ Extensions\ Gallery;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Caches/Metadata/Safari;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.WebKit.PluginProcess;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Cookies/Cookies.binarycookies;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/Apple\ -\ Safari\ -\ Safari\ Extensions\ Gallery;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.LSSharedFileList.plist;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.RSS.plist;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.WebFoundation.plist;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.WebKit.PluginHost.plist;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.WebKit.PluginProcess.plist;
rm -Rf ~/Library/PubSub/Database;
rm -Rf ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/com.apple.Safari.savedState;

After running all the codes to the Terminal application, the Safari browser should look good as new.

For Mozilla Firefox:

1 Launch Mozilla Firefox browser then open the menu by clicking on the three horizontal lines located in the upper right corner.

2 Navigate down and click Help then select More Troubleshooting Information from the options given.

3 Select the Refresh Firefox button.

4 A confirmation window will appear, click Refresh Firefox.

Step 4: Scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is one of the most powerful anti-malware programs available for the Mac OS. They have one of the most advanced threat detection tools and it has blocked many known computer threats as shown from our tests, ensuring that any malicious malware on your computer is completely removed.

Download Malwarebytes

1 Using your web browser, go to the official anti-malware website or click the button above to download the most recent version of the program. When you first download the application, you will also receive a 14-day trial of the premium software.

2 After the file has finished downloading, click on the installation package and run the file to start installing the application.

3 Follow the installation procedure shown on the setup and wait for it to finish.

4 Your password may be required to continue installer from installing the new software. Permit it and click Install Software.

5 Wait for Malwarebytes Anti-malware to finish installing on the Mac system.

6 Once the process is complete, the application will open. Click on the Get Started button and follow the procedure to start using Malwarebytes.

7 When prompted to choose between personal and organizational use, click the personal option unless you are downloading it within your company.

8 After the initial start-up, proceed to run your first scan. The scanning may take a while depending on how many files you have on your system.

9 Malwarebytes will show all malware identified on the machine after the scan, and you can remove the detected threats by pressing the quarantine button. (Note: Some threats may require a restart of the computer.)

The Ask You adware, as well as any other potential threats identified on the Mac system, should be removed once the process is finished. We also recommend turning on Malwarebytes Real-Time Protection, which will secure your computer and detect threats as soon as they appear.