welcome to this video today I will be
going over some basic Mac computer
maintenance and cleaning which will
include the removal of all viruses
malware adware and spyware as well as it
will help optimize your Mac computer and
help it run more efficiently please be
aware that I will be listing all of the
steps down below in the notes down in
the video description as well as the
timestamps and any important links so
please follow along down below in the
notes also I am doing this on Mac OS
Heise area if you are doing it on an
older version of Mac OS the steps are
basically the same so this will still
work for you for step number one what
you'll need to do is come down here to
the bottom and open up the finder and
then once the Finder is open just go to
the very top and click on go and then go
down to where it says utilities and go
ahead and click on utilities and then
from there look for where it says Disk
Utility you'll want to go ahead and open
that up now depending on what version of
Mac OS you're running you may have
multiple options listed in the left-hand
column or you may just have one like you
see here what you'll need to do is if
you see multiple just select the top
option and you'll need to do this for
each option you see in the left-hand
column if you see just one like you do
here you'll just do this once but just
make sure it's selected and then you'll
click on first aid and then you'll click
on run now this is going to slow your
computer down so what I would strongly
recommend that you do is close any and
all other programs that you have open
save what you're working on close them
and then once you've done that go ahead
and click on continue now you'll know
everything has completed once you get a
green checkmark you can go ahead and
click on done again if you see
additional options listed in the left
hand column you will then need to click
on the next option down and then click
on first aid and run it again if you
only have just one option here like you
see on my computer then you are done
with step one for step number two you
will want to go down to the notes below
and click on the link there which will
take you to this page which is a free
anti-malware program from malwarebytes
you'll just want to click on the free
download button to download it once it's
downloaded you'll want to go ahead and
open up the Installer and then you'll
want to go ahead and continue through
the installation process now if any of
you get a message saying that
malwarebytes was blocked from installing
what you will need to do is click on the
Apple icon in the top left corner go to
System Preferences and then click on
security & privacy here at the top of
the menu and then you'll see underneath
the general tab there's an option right
here you'll need to click on allow to
allow mout malwarebytes through if a
message about the Installer pops up go
ahead and click on move to trash now
right now it's in trial mode we do not
want to run the trial we just want to
use the free version so you'll click on
settings on the left-hand side and then
click on my account and then we're going
to deactivate premium trial once it
deactivates you can see that it's been
switched to the free version and then
what we want to do is click up here in
the top left corner where it says
malwarebytes up in the very top left
corner of the screen and then click on
check for updates because we do want to
verify and confirm that it is currently
up to date once you have done that you
can click on close and then you want to
go ahead and click on scan now now once
the scan is completed it will list any
results that it finds you can see that
mine came back clean if yours does find
results just make sure that you remove
them again it will list them and give
you the option to remove them if needed
for step number 3 you will want to go
back down to the notes below and
underneath step number 3 click on the
link there which will take you to this
page which is a free adware removal tool
from BitDefender just go ahead and click
on free download here off to the right
once the Installer has downloaded go
ahead and open it up make sure all other
programs are closed including your
browsers and then once you have done
that you'll just want to go ahead and
click on search for adware now this one
is a very quick scan if it finds
anything it will list it if not you'll
get a message like this if if you get a
message like this you can go ahead and
just close the
we're a removal tool for step number
four we need to run an anti-virus scan
and this will be the last scan that we
run and so if you go back down to the
steps down below in the notes underneath
step number four there are some links to
four different free antivirus programs
that you can run now please keep in mind
never use more than one antivirus
program at the same time so you only
want to pick one
your choices are Avast AVG Avera or
Sophos now my top recommendation would
be Avast my second one would actually be
Sophos whichever one you pick just go
ahead and download it and install it and
then once you have it installed what you
need to do is go ahead and open it up
now every antivirus program has an
update option what you need to do is
locate that update option and go ahead
and just make sure and confirm that it
is currently up to date and we can see
right here that we did get a message
confirming that we are indeed up to date
it's very very important that you always
confirm that your antivirus and
anti-malware programs are up to date
because they will be ineffective if they
are not once you have confirmed that
your antivirus program is up to date you
want to go ahead and do a full system
scan once your antivirus scan is
completed it will list any results if
any are found you can see that mine came
back clean however if yours comes back
with any found results just make sure
that you remove them and then you should
be good to move on to the next step for
step 5 we will need to go through and
clean out the web browsers and so step 5
will have three parts and for Part A
we're going to start with Google Chrome
and so if you have Google Chrome on your
Mac go ahead and open it up the first
thing you'll want to do is come to the
top right corner and click on the three
little dots to open up the menu and go
down to the bottom to where it says help
and then over to about Google Chrome
this will just confirm and verify that
Chrome is up-to-date if yours is not
up-to-date it will automatically start
to update and then it will give you a
relaunch button to relaunch Google
Chrome otherwise you will get a
checkmark like I have right here
after you have confirmed that chrome is
up to date come back to the top right
corner and click on the three little
dots again and this time go down to
where it says more tools and then from
there click on extensions and this is
just going to list any and all
extensions on your Chrome browser now a
couple things about extensions
extensions are fun and convenient but
they are terrible for security and
privacy they're also terrible for
performance and so the goal should be to
remove any and all extensions with the
exception being if you have an extension
for a password keeper password manager
or password vault and so if you
absolutely have an extension that you
cannot part ways with what I would
recommend is that you disable it when
it's not in use
if you see an extension with the title
of tool bar and absolutely must be
removed and so what I'm going to do is
we're going to start with the Google
extensions the default Google extensions
we're going to disable and keep them
disabled unless we need to use them and
then this one has the word toolbar in it
so we're going to go ahead and first
disable it and then I'm going to go
ahead and click on remove to remove it
completely now this one is our password
manager we do want to keep those ones
but I'm going to disable it while that's
not in use and then Pinterest it's a
completely legitimate extension from a
legitimate company but again that
doesn't matter all extensions can be
exploited and they are again terrible
for security privacy and they slow the
browser down so we're going to not only
disable it but we're going to also
remove it now after you've finished
cleaning up the extensions on your
Chrome browser what you'll want to do
next is come back to the top right
corner and click on the three little
dots but this time go down to settings
and click on it now just a couple quick
things here underneath settings that
you'll want to look for first thing if
you want to have the home button there's
the switch right there to turn it on
which adds the home button up here but
it also gives you the option to select
what you want your home page to be and
so if you want to type something in here
we can just type
and for example google if I want Google
to be my home page and so the reason why
I go over this is because if malware
gets on the computer these settings can
be changed and so that's how you set
your homepage if you need to do so and
then also if you need to adjust the
default search engine again malware can
change this setting you just click on
this drop down arrow and you can select
a default search engine we do recommend
either using Google Yahoo or Bing and
then also underneath startup you can
decide what happens when you first open
up Google Chrome you have three options
there that you can choose as well as
here underneath default browser if you
want to set Chrome as your default there
will be a button here that you can click
on chrome is already the default on this
computer so I don't have that button but
if you do want to set it as the default
and it is not already you just click on
the button right here for Part B we're
going to go ahead and clean up Firefox
and so if you have Firefox on your
computer go ahead and open it up and the
first thing we're going to do is come up
here to the top left corner and click
right where it says Firefox and then
click on about Firefox and this will
just confirm and verify that Firefox is
up-to-date if it is not on your computer
it will automatically start to update
and then give you a restart button right
here that you'll want to click on as
soon as it's up-to-date after you have
confirmed that Firefox is up-to-date
you'll come up here to the top right
corner and click on the menu button and
this time go down to where it says
add-ons and click on it and just make
sure extensions is selected here on the
left hand side the left-hand column
and before we do anything just click on
this gear icon up here at the top and
click on check for updates just to
confirm everything is up-to-date I would
also recommend on this same menu just to
make sure there is a checkmark next to
update add-ons automatically now it's
the same principle here as with Chrome
we want to remove as many extensions as
possible because they're they're bad for
security and privacy and bad for
performance because they slow the
browser down the only exception I would
make again would be for your password
related extensions
and so we're going to disable this one
while it's not in use because it is our
password manager and then Pinterest
again we're going to remove it to
increase security privacy and
performance and then this one has the
word toolbar in it again anything with
the word toolbar and it absolutely must
be removed so I'm going to go ahead and
hit remove on that one as well the next
thing that we need to do is come over
here to the left-hand column and click
on plugins and the list of plugins you
have will probably vary from what I have
here on the screen but basically what I
recommend doing is just go through each
listed plug-in and on the right-hand
side just click on the drop down if it
gives you the option to change it to ask
to activate go ahead and select that
option if it does not just leave it as
is that will just help keep it from
running in the background and help
optimize your browser and if it needs it
it will ask you to turn it on otherwise
it will not run but again just go
through each one and send it to ask to
activate if it has the option next
you'll want to click on the menu button
again in the top right corner but this
time go down to where it says
preferences and click on it and then
from here we have some options where if
you want to make Firefox your default
you can just click on the button right
here right here you can decide what
happens when Firefox first opens and
then here in this bar it will give you
the option to set the home page for
Firefox again sometimes malware will
change this setting so I want to make
sure that you know where that is located
in case you need to change it and then
in the left hand column if you click on
search right here it will give the
option to change your default search
engine you just click on the drop down
menu again we do recommend Google Bing
or Yahoo or to increase privacy you
could use DuckDuckGo if you wanted to as
well now for Part C we need to go ahead
and clean up Safari and so go ahead and
open up Safari on your computer and what
you want to do to start off is just come
up here to the top left corner and click
on where it says Safari and then click
on preferences and then click on the
general tab first over here on the left
hand side here you'll have the option to
change your homepage if you need to
there you can type in whatever you want
your home page to be as well as you can
also select what happens when Safari
first opens right here at the top and
then if you want to set Safari as your
default you can do that by clicking on
this button right here as far as the
default search engine if you click on
search right here on this drop down menu
it will give you the option to select
your search engine and so again that
setting can be changed if you were
infected with malware so I just want to
make sure you know where that's located
and then the last thing we want to look
at is right here on the extensions tab
exact same thing that I've been saying
we want to remove any and all extensions
that we can with the exception being the
password keeper password fault
extensions before you get started though
just double-check and make sure that
this little box is checked for updates
and then we just have one here that we
need to remove and so I'm going to first
uncheck it to disable it and then go
ahead and click on uninstall to remove
it off of Safari moving on to step
number six what you'll need to do is
come up here to the very top left corner
and click on the Apple icon and go down
to where it says App Store when the App
Store opens come over here to the top
where it says update and click on it and
this is just going to list any updates
that are available it's also going to
check to make sure everything is up to
date updates are extremely important
because they not only include security
updates but they also include
performance updates as well so you do
want to make sure everything is up to
date if there is an update available for
your computer it will list it here
you'll want to go ahead and do the
update if it is listed as available for
step number seven what you'll need to do
is come back to the top left corner and
click on the Apple icon and go down to
System Preferences and click on it and
then on this menu look for where it says
users and groups and click on that one
and then just make sure you've got your
name selected on the left-hand side in
the left hand column and then you'll
want to click on this padlock to unlock
it it will ask for your password and
then after you've unlocked the padlock
you'll come up here to the top and click
on login items
and this is just going to list all of
the applications that start when you
first turn the computer on what you need
to do is get this down to zero because
there's no reason anything here should
be running when you first turn the
computer on so to remove them all you do
is you click on one at a time and then
click this minus sign and it will remove
it and then you just do the same thing
for the next one
hit the minus sign and just do that for
each one until there's nothing on this
list for step number eight you will need
to go back to the top left corner and
click on the Apple icon and click on
system preferences and this time click
on security and privacy and then just
make sure you have the file vault tab
selected and this option file vault is
an option to encrypt the drive in your
computer to keep your data safe and so
if this is not turned on I would
recommend that you turn it on to do so
you'll just click this padlock to unlock
it and then there will be a button here
to turn it on and then the other thing I
would check for is if you click on
firewall make sure that this is turned
on as well if it is not turned on unlock
the padlock and then click on the option
to turn it on because that will also
help protect your computer for step
number nine we need to go through and
clean out the garbage data and to do so
what you'll want to do is go down to the
notes below
and underneath step number nine just
click on the link there it will take you
to this page to get the free program C
cleaner for mac just go ahead and
download the free version and install it
and so I'm going to go ahead and do so
right now if this page comes up just go
ahead and scroll down and click on
download again and then you'll just want
to go ahead and open up the installer
once it's downloaded we are going to go
ahead and drag it down to the
Applications folder and then once it's
in the Applications folder we're going
to go ahead and open up C cleaner once
you have C cleaner installed and open
you'll have a window like this what you
see on the screen right now I do
recommend that you close all other
applications or programs and then we
have two tabs here if we go first to the
Mac OSX
just make sure that your checkboxes
match what you see on my screen do not
check anything below directory service
cache and then underneath applications
yours might vary a little bit depending
on what browsers you have installed but
do not check saved form information or
save passwords do not check those also I
would not check anything underneath
applications or miscellaneous just leave
those unchecked we're just focusing on
the browsers here and so once you've
confirmed all those boxes match what you
see on the screen you just click on run
cleaner and it will clean the garbage
data out once it reaches a hundred
percent you will know that it is
finished it will also give you a report
of everything that has been removed and
at that point you could go ahead and
close CCleaner for step number ten we
need to go through and remove all of the
bad and garbage applications off of the
computer and so to do so what you'll
want to do is come down here and open up
the finder and just make sure you have
the applications tab selected on the
left hand column and so here it's going
to list all of the applications that you
have on your computer and so just a
couple of rules of thumb that I would
recommend if you see anything listed
here that has the word toolbar in it
remove it if you see anything that
claims to be like a cleaner like a Mac
cleaner or an optimization program
remove those as well I would also
recommend removing the programs that we
just installed so see cleaner as well as
malwarebytes I would go ahead and remove
those and just go through the entire
list remove anything that you no longer
use and remove all the garbage programs
now if you come across something on this
list that you don't recognize if you go
down to the notes below underneath step
10 there is a link there to the
following website which is called should
I remove it com where right here you can
type in the name of an application or
program and it will give you a rating if
the rating is yellow orange or red you
know that you should remember should
remove it now something to keep in mind
this website is generally intended for
PC or Windows users and so not
everything on your Mac is going to be
found here if
it's listed as bad for Windows than you
can bet that it is also bad for Mac but
if there's something that you can't find
here and you still need to know what it
is try going to google.com instead and
you can search for it and you also use
that as a way to figure out whether or
not it is something that you should
remove now for those of you who do not
know how to remove an application or
program when you find something on this
list that you need to or would like to
remove all you do is you click on it
select it and drag it down to the trash
can and that will uninstall it and
remove it off of the computer now after
you've gone through and removed
everything you will want to come up here
to the top left corner and click on the
Apple icon and then go ahead and restart
your Mac computer after the restart you
are now done with all of the steps and
you should be good and ready to go
however if you do have any questions or
comments please post them down below and
thank you very much for watching this
video I hope you have a great day