Are you facing problems while trying to uninstall Chromium from Mac? Well, we have got it covered. Here’s how to remove this app and all its corresponding files from your Mac.
After Safari, Chrome is the most popular browser for Mac, and it is based on Chromium open-source web browser project. Because of it being open-source, it is often misused as a platform for malicious web browsers and is categorized as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and adware.
Hence, if you have gotten the corrupted version installed and want to remove it here are the steps.
What is Chromium, and how is it related to Chrome?
The easiest way to get rid of Chromium on Mac, is to use a dedicated Mac Cleaner & Uninstaller like Cleanup My System that can help you delete Chromium and other unwanted Mac apps from one place. Using it, you can also get rid of all of the belonging files associated with Chromium. This is an automatic fix and will save you from all the hassle of doing it manually!
Chromium is a legitimate, open-source web browser project and is closely related to Chrome. In simple terms, Chrome is based on Chromium, and whenever Google releases a new version of Chrome, the stable code is taken from the Chromium project.
The difference between Chrome and Chromium is that Chrome is the finished version, while Chromium is the framework on which it is built. It can be easily downloaded from Chromum.org and run on Mac. But if you downloaded it from some other site, you might get the infected version that steals your data.
Signs of corrupt Chromium Version
If you notice the following changes, you might be using a malware-infected version of Chromium:
- Default home page changes
- The search engine has changed
- Irrelevant search results
- Too many advertisements
- High CPU usage and slow PC performance
- Face problem while using installed applications and programs
So, if you have these signs, you have downloaded a corrupted version of Chromium. To remove it, follow the steps below and uninstall it from your Mac.
Things to keep in mind before deleting Chromium
- All running Chromium processes must be shut down.
- Quit Chromium
- To check if any process is running, launch Activity Monitor look for related process and kill the task.
How to uninstall Chromium on your Mac
Manual ways to get rid of Chromium (Legitimate version)
Right-click the Chromium icon present in the deck and select Quit.
Afterward, close all Chromium processes running in the background. To do so, open Click the menu bar > Go > Utilities.
Here look for Activity Monitor and double click to open it.
Under Activity Monitor look for all entries corresponding to Chromium. Select them one by one and click Quit Process.
In the confirmation dialog box, click Force Quit.
Now click Finder -> Go -> Applications Folder -> right Move to Trash/Bin.
This will uninstall Chromium from the browser.
However, if you have malware-infected Chromium, you might not be able to uninstall it quickly.
How to Uninstall Infected Chromium from Mac
Removing genuine Chromium wasn’t difficult. It was like 1,2,3. But uninstalling the malicious version won’t be this easy. To uninstall it, you will need to head to other file locations. To do so, follow the steps below:
Open Finder
Click the menu bar and select Go > Go to Folder
Here, paste /Library/LaunchAgents string and press Go
This will open the LaunchAgents Here look for the following entry and move it to the Bin:
org.chromium.Chromium.plist
org.chromium.chromoting.plist
Afterward again use the Go to Folder and paste: ~/Library/LaunchAgents
Again, look for following entries and move them to Bin
chromium.Chromium.plist
Now in the Go to Folder paste ~/Library/Application Support
Look for Chromium entry and Move to Bin.
Open Finder > Go > Applications
Locate entry with Chromium.app > right-click > Move to Bin. When asked for an admin password, enter it to move ahead.
Next click Apple logo > System Preferences
Select Account > Login Items. This will show you a list of items that launch at startup. Look for following entries:
Chromium, runChmm, or org.chromium.chromoting.me2me.sh
Once detected, click the “-” button
This will remove Chromium from startup too.
So, these were the manual steps to uninstall Chromium from Mac. However, if you are looking for an easy way to do it, you can use the Uninstall Manager module offered by Cleanup My System.
This fantastic module lists down all running Mac applications and helps to uninstall all the unwanted programs without leaving any traces (including Chromium). This is how the Cleanup My System’s Uninstall Apps module looks
Not only this, the app also helps manage the startup apps and remove the privacy exposing traces. In addition to removing all the Chromium traces, you will also have to reset the browsers you are currently operating on. To do so, follow the steps below:
Resetting Browsers
Malware changes browser settings and installs malicious extensions. In this case, we are not sure if Chromium did that, therefore, to delete Chromium entirely from Mac, you’ll need to reset each browser. To do so, follow the steps below:
Safari
Launch Safari
Click Safari from the menu bar > Preferences.
Next, click the Advanced tab and check the box next to Show Develop menu in the menu bar.
Close this window.
You’ll now see a Develop tab in Safari menu, click it and select Empty Caches.
Afterward, click History tab > Clear History. You’ll now receive a new pop window here click Clear History.
Go back to Safari Preferences and this time, click the Privacy Click Manage Website Data option.
You’ll now see a new window with a list of websites that have stored data about our Internet activities. Click Remove All and restart Safari.
Chrome
Launch Chrome
In the address bar paste chrome://extensions and press Enter
Locate the extensions that you did not install and click Remove.
Now paste Chrome://settings in the address bar.
Scroll down the page until you Reset settings. Confirm by clicking Reset settings
Relaunch Chrome.
Firefox
Open Firefox and paste about: support in the address bar.
This will open Troubleshooting information screen here click Refresh Firefox.
Restart the browser
Using the above steps, you will be able to remove any traces of Chromium added to the browser. This will take care of rogue browser extensions and all the changes made to browser settings.
In addition to this, to keep your Mac optimized and free up storage space occupied by unwanted files use Cleanup My System. Using it, you can uninstall unwanted programs along with their leftovers, clean junk files, mail attachments, old/large files, cache, cookies, and more. This amazing Mac optimizer is worth giving a try. So, what are you waiting for? Try it Today!
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