macOS - Remove SearchMine malware script
SearchMine hijacks Chrome by installing an admin profile and changing your homepage/search settings. Here’s how to remove it.
- Save these steps somewhere safe and close Chrome.
- Click the Preferences (System Preferences) icon in your Mac’s menu bar and select Profiles.
- Select all AdminPrefs profile(s) and delete them by clicking the minus (−) icon at the bottom.
- Once you’ve removed the unwanted “adminprefs” profile(s), open the Terminal app (
Go > Utilities > Terminalor press⌘Spaceand search Terminal). - Enter the commands below and hit Enter after each one (or put them into a
.shscript and run assudo):
#!/bin/bash
defaults write com.google.Chrome HomepageIsNewTabPage -bool false
defaults write com.google.Chrome NewTabPageLocation -string "https://www.google.com/"
defaults write com.google.Chrome HomepageLocation -string "https://www.google.com/"
defaults delete com.google.Chrome DefaultSearchProviderSearchURL
defaults delete com.google.Chrome DefaultSearchProviderNewTabURL
defaults delete com.google.Chrome DefaultSearchProviderName
Now restart Chrome and the issue should be resolved. If not, you may need to restart your Mac.