Menu
Remove Advanced Mac Cleaner rogue optimization tool from Mac OS X to stop its frustrating alerts and undo the concomitant bad effects it calls forth.
Step 2: Get Rid of Associated Files Through Library. Application resources—files which an app needs to function properly— can all be located within the Library folder on your hard drive. Unfortunately, after Mac OS X 10.7, Apple decided to hide this folder on your computer. So let's unlock it first.
Update: October 2019
Advanced Mac Cleaner usually appears on Mac boxes out of the blue and floods the victim’s experience with annoying warning messages. Also known as Mac Cleaner, it dupes the user into thinking that their machine has got numerous problems hindering normal performance. According to the fake alerts, the operating system’s productivity is impacted by junk files, duplicate objects, unneeded login items, crammed up cache, trash and logs, as well as rogue apps that are claimed to occupy excessive hard disk space and thus reduce the processing speed as well as responsiveness to commands. The number of these wrongfully reported items is flagrant, going over 1000 even on a well-tuned or new Mac computer.
It’s not a commonplace distribution practice that’s leveraged by Advanced Mac Cleaner makers to promote their nasty brainchild. A great deal of infected users have caught this pseudo optimizer when installing free tools such as FileZilla or updating Adobe Flash Player via downloads from unofficial sources. In these cases, the setup wizard prompts you that an extra applet will be installed as a bonus to make the Mac run smoother. Some people are prudent enough to avoid such offers, which are generally known to deliver adware programs, but this caution doesn’t always help. Unless the bundle is manually unchecked and thus opted out of from the start, Advanced Mac Cleaner will still be installed in the background.
Furthermore, the culprit may additionally cross-promote affiliated scareware like Mac Adware Cleaner by means of prompts on its GUI. To add insult to injury, it may hijack the victim’s default web browser and redirect their traffic to landing pages pushing its licensed version or a copy of another rogue system utility, such as Mac Tonic or Mac Auto Fixer. The malware is also known to propagate alongside browser redirect viruses and persistent adware apps that affect the victim’s web surfing experience. One of the notorious campaigns pushing the scareware in question relies on sketchy browser alerts that report alleged infection with a combo of 3 viruses called Tapsnake, CronDNS, and Dubfishicv. The victims are redirected to phony web pages that mimic AppleCare and insist on urgent download of Advanced Mac Cleaner to sort out the problem that isn’t there in the first place. It appears that the gang behind the rogue program in question is deploying a well-orchestrated malicious marketing campaign with a distinct flavor of social engineering.
The user may be unaware of this forcible setup from the get-go, but not until a message like the one above pops up. It says that a huge number of issues have been found, specifying this information as follows “Issues may include duplicate files, system & internet junk, rogue software & recoverable drive space. Fix and enjoy a performance boost.” The ‘Start Repair’ button, if clicked, takes you to the junk application’s main interface that displays high improvement potential for each cluster of problems. Obviously, cleaning the purported bugs is a paid service. At that point, it’s reasonable to contemplate over what’s happening: you are being told to pay for rectifying issues that do not exist. It’s certainly the best move to get rid of the Advanced Mac Cleaner scam rather than follow the evildoers’ recommendations.
Another flavor of this scareware problem surfaced in October 2019. It was precipitated by a release of Apple’s macOS Catalina 10.15. After upgrading their operating system to the new version, numerous users started experiencing obnoxious popup activity with Advanced Mac Cleaner at its core. The annoying notifications say, “helperamc will damage your computer. You should move it to the Bin.” The process mentioned on these alerts is spawned by the rogue system tool under scrutiny and can be seen in the Activity Monitor, along with other related executables called “amcuninstall” and “hlpramc”.
Here is what’s happening: the latest macOS build, evidently, leverages an improved algorithm to identify potentially harmful apps. In particular, it will flag a program as a malicious one if it was installed on an unknown date, if its installer was downloaded from an unverified source, or in case some other telltale signs of sketchy activity are spotted. To let the users know about such suspicious objects, the system displays the above-mentioned popup dialogs. In this situation, the infection is probably in a dormant state and doesn’t manifest itself conspicuously. The Catalina update has simply unearthed the issue due to new security perks it delivers. Unfortunately, although the warnings include a “Move to Bin” button, it doesn’t work as intended. Therefore, the victims have to do their homework and find a way to remove Advanced Mac Cleaner despite its persistence.
Advanced Mac Cleaner manual removal for Mac
The steps listed below will walk you through the removal of this application. Be sure to follow the instructions in the order specified.
- Open up the Utilities folder as shown below
- Locate the Activity Monitor icon on the screen and double-click on it
- Under Activity Monitor, find the entry for Advanced Mac Cleaner, select it and click Quit Process
- A dialog should pop up, asking if you are sure you would like to quit the Advanced Mac Cleaner (it can be manifested as an object named helperamc) executable. Select the Force Quit option
- Expand the Go menu in Apple Finder and select Go to Folder
- Type or paste the following string in the folder search dialog: /Library/LaunchAgents
- Once the LaunchAgentsdirectory opens up, find the following entries in it and move them to Trash:
- com.pcv.hlpramc.plist
- com.pcv.helperamc.plist
- com.pcv.amcuninstall.plist
- com.PCvark.AdvancedMacCleaner.plist
- Use the Go to Folder lookup feature again to navigate to the folder named ~/Library/LaunchAgents. When this path opens, look for the same entries (see above) and send them to Trash
- Similarly, go to the ~Library/Application Support folder. Locate and move the following entries to Trash:
- Advanced Mac Cleaner
- amc
- Click the Go button again, but this time select Applications on the list. Find the entry for Advanced Mac Cleaner entry on the interface, right-click on it and select Move to Trash. If user password is required, go ahead and enter it
- Now go to Apple Menu and pick the System Preferences option
- Select Accounts and click the Login Items button. Mac OS will come up with the list of the items that launch when the box is started up. Locate Advanced Mac Cleaner there and click on the '-' button
Use automatic tool to completely uninstall Advanced Mac Cleaner from your Mac
- Download and install MacBooster application (read review). The tool provides both optimization and security features for your Mac. Before you get down to obliterating Advanced Mac Cleaner virus proper, consider checking your machine for other security risks and performance issues by hitting the Scan button. Download Now
- Proceed to the Uninstaller feature, find Advanced Mac Cleaner on the Applications list and have MacBooster completely eliminate all components of the app from your Mac by clicking Uninstall in the bottom part of the GUI. Doing so will ensure all components of the malware and its remainders, which may have not been removed in the manual way, will be thoroughly cleaned up.
FAQ
Unlike benign software, Advanced Mac Cleaner is a stubborn app that attempts to complicate the uninstall process. It means that you need to circumvent its hindrance before deleting the associated components and files. This adds an extra step to the removal logic. In most cases, the following workflow does the trick:
- Open the Activity Monitor, find an entry named “helperamc”, “hlpramc” or another process with “amc” part in its name, and quit the malicious executable.
- Look for related files (com.pcv.hlpramc.plist, com.pcv.helperamc.plist, com.pcv.amcuninstall.plist, com.PCvark.AdvancedMacCleaner.plist, Advanced Mac Cleaner, amc) in the LaunchAgents and Application Support folders. Remove these objects if found.
- Go to the Finder and select Applications. Spot ‘Advanced Mac Cleaner’ app and move it to the Trash. Empty the Trash when done.
Ideally, this technique should eradicate the scareware, but with the caveat that the files may vary as new versions of Advanced Mac Cleaner appear in the wild. Stay tuned for updates in the guide above to make sure your removal efforts are effective.
Advanced Mac Cleaner is a rogue system utility that wrongfully purports to look for and fix Mac performance issues and privacy risks. Instead of carrying through with these promises, it reports non-existent problems and tries to pressure the user into buying its licensed version to unlock the repair features. This scareware is installed behind the user’s back, usually arriving with complex app bundles camouflaged as one useful program.
At first sight, it may seem that the impact of Advanced Mac Cleaner is restricted to annoying scan reports and scary-looking popup alerts. That’s a misconception. This fake optimizer isn’t safe to use, because it can harvest your sensitive information and send it to the cybercriminals in charge of the campaign. Your usernames and passwords, as well as credit card information, are potentially at risk as long as this pest is running on your Mac.
No, it’s not. The huge amount of negative feedback about this program speaks volumes about its dirty practices, not to mention the obvious elements of foul play in its modus operandi. Advanced Mac Cleaner is distributed via covert software bundles and fake virus alerts shown on numerous malicious websites. Once installed, it deluges the host system with deceptive scans and popup alerts reporting hundreds or even thousands of imaginary performance and security issues. The objective of this brainwashing is to coerce the victim to purchase the app’s license, which is supposedly a prerequisite of addressing the detected threats. Another shady quirk is that Advanced Mac Cleaner is harder to uninstall than regular Mac applications. All in all, this scareware is neither legit nor safe.
What Is Advanced Mac Cleaner?
Advanced Mac Cleaner is an optimization software designed specifically to keep your Mac OS X as error-free as possible. The app helps get rid of suspicious or non-functioning software, organize and manage apps, clear your online search history to help maintain privacy, and even remove duplicate files. Using three fundamental tools, Advanced Mac Cleaner aims to easily clean your Mac, speed up your machine, and enhance your experience.
Advanced Mac Cleaner Features
Advanced Mac Cleaner has a variety of robust features and tools that allow it to do its job. Those include managing apps, deleting online search history, and selecting which apps startup when you turn on your Mac. The app also helps you by recovering hard drive space, deleting unnecessary data, and tracking where data is stored. Finally, you’ll appreciate its ability to help you locate and delete accidentally and inadvertently duplicated files.
Advanced Mac Cleaner Pros
After first using Advanced Mac Cleaner, Mac users swiftly get a hang of key features. Its pros also include:
- Easy integration
- Individual app scans and cleanups
- Full system scans and cleanups
Advanced Mac Cleaner Cons
While its paid version is hearty and provides a full range of services, Advanced Mac Cleaner’s free version only scans your system. The following cons have also been reported:
- The app offers no customer support or help option at all, and while it is relatively easy to use, it’s not clear where to address questions if any arise.
- Advanced Mac Cleaner’s popup windows give out malware feel and are generally an irritating practice.
- The app overwhelms you at launch by automatically scanning your system, displaying multiple cautions, following up with audible warnings without giving you a chance to make sense of what’s going on.
- Most of the functions of Advance Mac Cleaner are already available on your Mac.
How to Use the Advanced Mac Cleaner App
To use Advanced Mac Cleaner to remove unwanted items from you Macbook or desktop computer, simply follow the steps outlined below:
- Start by launching the app from your desktop screen
- Click the button labeled Start Scan Now
- The software will search for threats and errors that it considers cause your Mac to move slowly or function sluggishly
- Once the unwanted or corrupted files have been identified, click the Clean Now button
- The files you’ve selected are automatically moved to the Trash bin
To use the app to get rid of duplicate files, follow these steps:
- From the popup window, follow this path: Duplicate Files>Utilities
- Click the button labeled Start Scan Now
- The app will scan your system for duplicate files
- Once the scan for duplicate files is complete, make sure the files you want to delete are checkmarked
- You can also click the check next to the Title button to delete all identified duplicates
- Click the Clean Now button located near the bottom righthand corner of the app’s screen
- At this point, you will be prompted to enter your Mac username and password
- Once you’ve done so, click on the OK button
- The app will automatically delete duplicate files
To use the Advanced Mac Cleaner app to clear your Internet browsing history, follow these steps:
- Launch the app
- Follow this path: Utilities>Internet History
- Click the Start Scan Now button
- Once the scan is complete, click the checkboxes next to the items you want to remove from your search history
- Click the Clean Now button
- At this point, you’ll be prompted to enter your Mac username and password
- Once you’ve done so, click the OK button
- The app will now delete your Internet search history
Advanced Mac Cleaner Pricing
Somewhat steep at $39.95 for its initial six months of use, Advanced Mac Cleaner comes with a 60-day, satisfaction promise, and money back guarantee. After your initial six-month subscription, you’ll continue to pay a recurring subscription fee of $19.97 every 6 months from that point until you cancel.
The developers do offer a free version. The free version, though, has limited, scan-only capabilities, and does not remove any of the scanned files from your Mac.
How to Uninstall Advanced Mac Cleaner
Advanced Mac Cleaner leaves behind a ton of files, which makes the process of fully removing the app from you system a truly frustrating experience:
- Quit Advanced Mac Cleaner
- Go to Finder>Applications and drag Advanced Mac Cleaner app to Trash
- In Finder, press Shift+Command+G to open “Go to the folder” window
- Paste the following directories and manually delete associated files:
- In ~/Library/Preferences remove com.techyutils.cleaner.plist and com.pcv.hlpramc.plist
- In ~/Library/Application Support remove Advanced Mac Cleaner and amc folders
- In ~/Library/Caches remove com.techyutils.cleaner folder
- In ~/Library/ remove Advanced Mac Cleaner folder
- In ~/Library/Logs remove Advanced Mac Cleaner.log
- Open System Preferences>Users & Groups, switch to Login Items tab and remove Advanced Mac Cleaner by hitting the minus (-) button
- Restart your Mac to remove other temporary files
By following these steps, you will be able to remove Advanced Mac Cleaner.
Is Advanced Mac Cleaner Safe?
Many Mac users report that the software is a form of malware that pops up on their Macs when they are sure they haven’t downloaded it. It might seem to be legit software with a six-month-at-a-time subscription fee, but you can find many other apps on the market that do the same thing at no cost. Additionally, it also issues many annoying popup messages disguised as warnings that prompt you to download and use it.
Bottom Line
The non-existent customer service and hefty price tag leave a lot to be desired. Advanced Mac Cleaner is not as advanced as its name would have you believe. While it is relatively user friendly, it uses many of the tools and resources that are already installed on your Mac. An overall complicated uninstallation process and lack of any benefits in the trial version make it extremely difficult to recommend.