How to remove ElementSignal (Mac)

What is ElementSignal

ElementSignal is classified as an adware app with hijacking abilities that targest Mac-based systems. In other words, the application is able to generate intrusive ads and hijack browser settings to replace the default search engine, homepage address, and other segments with ElementSignal. As a rule, newly-assigned engines are fake and do not generate any unique results. In most cases, they act as a visual layer over legitimate engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing, which are actually used by adware and browser hijackers to display results. Such a trick enables developers to falsify traffic of visits and generate profit. ElementSignal has been categorized by experts to be adware for good reason. It uses unreliable campaigns to create unwanted content like banners, pop-ups, notifications, and other types of advertisement to stimulate traffic as well. Interacting with such may lead to suspicious or dangerous resources that expose your PC to various threats. It is also important to mention that unwanted software may gather your browsing data and abuse it to exclude financial benefits. ElementSignal may work in alliance with some other unwanted program installed on your PC. Third-party video players (like NicePlayer, MPlayerX), file-conversion tools, and other apps may be the culprit of promoted changes, so they are the first to look for whilst deleting ElementSignal completely. You will find more information on how to delete unwanted software and reset your browser to normal settings in our guide below.

How ElementSignal infected your computer

Mac is notoriously better protected and less susceptible to various infections, however, it is still a big market of users which many developers strive to cover as well. Just like in Windows, one of the most effective ways to deliver unwanted software into a PC is along with other programs. This is likely to be the case if you rely on downloading a lot of pirated, cracked, or freeware software from different resources. Unfortunately, such software is not always reliant and tends to include unwanted software as additional offers. Developers make it look like they do not convince users to download unwanted programs by force. They place additional offers to “Advanced”, “Custom” or similar sections which are up to personal choice. The presence of such promotional software may be disclosed in the Agreements section which is rarely read. Many users get infected with potentially unwanted apps exactly this way because they skip over additional offers and leave them untouched. As a result, many end up puzzled about where such software could come from. To be more protected against similar threats in the future, we encourage you to read our tutorial below. There is plenty of useful information on that topic.

1. Download ElementSignal Removal Tool
2. Remove ElementSignal from Login Items
3. Remove/Uninstall ElementSignal from Applications
4. Remove ElementSignal from browsers
5. Reset browser settings
6. Remove ElementSignal files and folders
7. Block ElementSignal ads and pop-ups
8. How to protect from threats, like ElementSignal

Remove ElementSignal manually for free

Note: ElementSignal sets up to start on Mac OS startup. Therefore, before starting the removal, perform these steps:

1. Open System Preferences, choose Users & Groups.
2. Choose your account (set up as Current User).
3. Click Login Items tab.
4. Find “ElementSignal” entry. Select it, and click the “-“ (minus) button to remove it.

Note 2: ElementSignal won’t quit just by closing it, therefor use Force Quit to end the process.

1. Press 3 buttons at the same time: Option, Command, and Esc (Escape). This is similar to Control-Alt-Delete on a Windows PC.
2. Choose ElementSignal in the list.
3. Click Force Quit button.

Here is a manual step-by-step tutorial for full ElementSignal removal from your computer. This works 99% and was checked with the latest versions of ElementSignal installer on operating systems with the latest updates and browser versions.

Remove ElementSignal from Applications

Remove ElementSignal from Mac:

1. In the Finder sidebar, click Applications.
2. ElementSignal might have an Uninstaller. If you see Uninstall ElementSignal or ElementSignal Uninstaller, double-click it and follow the onscreen instructions.
3. Otherwise, drag ElementSignal from the Applications folder to the Trash (located at the end of the Dock).
4. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash.

Cannot uninstall ElementSignal

If you can’t uninstall ElementSignal using instructions above, or it keeps coming back, you can use free AppCleaner for Mac to remove all residual data and libraries of ElementSignal. Follow instructions below:

1. Download free AppCleaner.
2. Drag ElementSignal from Applications folder to AppCleaner window.
3. Choose files and folders you want to remove along with ElementSignal.
4. Click Delete button.

Remove ElementSignal add-on from your browsers

Removing ElementSignal from Applications often does not bring the desired effect. It is a browser extension and it may still be active in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove the ElementSignal extension from your browsers manually.

Safari:

1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Click Extensions tab.
3. Find ElementSignal extension.
4. Click Uninstall button to remove it.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://extensions.
3. Find ElementSignal extension.
4. Click the trash can icon to remove it.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:addons.
3. Choose ElementSignal extension.
4. Click Disable or Remove button.

Reset browser settings

To finish ElementSignal removal reset your browser settings to make sure, there are no leftover items in browser folders.

Reset Safari:

1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Go to the Privacy section of Safari’s preferences.
3. Click Remove All Website Data button.
4. In opened window click Remove Now button to remove data stored by websites in Safari.
5. Go to the Advanced section of Safari’s preferences.
6. Click the Show Develop menu in menu bar option.
7. In the menu click Develop and select Empty Caches from this menu.
8. Again, go to Safari menu and choose Clear History….
9. Choose to clear all history and click Clear History button.

Reset Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://settings.
3. Scroll down and find Show advanced settings link.
4. Click on it and scroll down to the bottom again.
5. Click Reset settings button and click Reset to confirm.

Reset Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:support.
3. Click Refresh Firefox… button.
4. Click Refresh Firefox to confirm.

Remove following files and folders of ElementSignal


~/Library/Application Support/.[random_string]/Services/com.ElementSignal.service.app
~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.ElementSignal.service.plist
/Library/Application Support/.[random_string]/System/com.ElementSignal.system
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ElementSignal.system.plist


Download AdGuard for Mac to block malicious pop-ups, that promote ElementSignal

AdGuard is the best ad-blocker, internet filtering, and internet security application for macOS. It can cut out unwanted banners from site pages, block pop-ups, stop redirects, and prevent users from visiting potentially dangerous resources. Use it to stop ads promoting ElementSignal in browsers.

Download AdGuard for Mac

How to protect Mac OSX from adware, like ElementSignal

Mac OSX is known to be one of the safest operating systems, and for a long time, there was no need for antivirus products for Mac. But with the growing popularity of Mac computers and notebooks and evolving technology, viruses, trojans, adware, toolbars, hijackers, and other malware paved the way for Mac users. We recommend you to use one of the best anti-malware for Mac available – Malwarebytes for Mac.

Download Malwarebytes for Mac