How to uninstall Сoinminer malware on a Mac (2024)

What is a Coinminer virus?

There is no denying that cryptocurrency is always increasing in value. But that wasn’t always the case. It wasn’t until 2017 when the value of cryptocurrencies exploded almost 2000x.

Ever since then, hackers have been working tirelessly to find ways to mine for crypto. They’ll use malware to take control of other people’s computers and exploit their processors so that they can mine for crypto in the background. The hope being that you won’t notice it and let the malware just lurk on your computer mining for weeks, if not months.

How to avoid Coinminers

Almost 100% of the time, Coinminers are installed through a method called software bundling. That means it’s hidden in the installation package of another app. So, even though you think you’re installing one app, you’re getting a bonus one too. The downside is that the bonus app is actually malware.

Bundling is one of the reasons you should only install apps from sources you absolutely trust. Haphazardly searching for an app on the internet and installing it is a great way to inadvertently install malware. But, if you do have to install an app from somewhere you don’t trust, make sure you do a custom install. What that means is when you’re clicking through the installation wizard, make sure you click Customize so that you can see if there is any optional or additional software that’s going to be installed too.

How to remove Coinminer malware manually

Uninstalling Coinminer malware manually can prove to be a little bit tricky. The hardest part is knowing where the file is stored on your Mac. Typically, it will show up in your Applications folder. You’re probably thinking, “Great. But how do I know what to look for?”

So, the first step to removing any Coinminer malware is to open Activity Monitor using a Spotlight search. Then, if you click on the CPU% tab, you can organize all your apps running by which one is using the most resources. Search for the Coinminer process. Once you identify the problem process in the Activity Monitor, this is all you need to do:

1. Select the malicious process.
2. Click the X to quit it.
3. And then restart your computer.

Delete Coinminer automatically

On the flip side, there is an easier way to automatically delete your malicious software using CleanMyMac X. It was created for people like yourself who want to periodically scan for malware and viruses. But it doesn't stop there. This app can also help optimize your computer's performance.

Once you download CleanMyMac X, this is all you need to scan for Coinminer:

1. On your computer, open CleanMyMac X.
2. In the sidebar, select Malware Removal.
3. Then, click the Scan button.
4. When the scan is done, select the malware it found and click Remove.

You would be in good company if you decided to scan your Mac for mischievous software occasionally. It sneaks in from time to time. But the good news is CleanMyMac X has real-time protection and malware monitoring. So, if something does accidentally sneak in, CleanMyMac will notify you and get rid of it almost immediately.

Here are the steps to enable malware monitoring.

1. Launch CleanMyMac X and go to its menu.
2. Here, click Preferences.
3. Select the Protection tab.
4. Check all of the boxes to turn those features on.

And if you’re looking for a quick way to perform a deep clean of your Mac, CleanMyMac X can help you out. You can scan for system junk like outdated cache files and miscellaneous support files left behind after you deleted some of those apps.

To do that type of scan, all you need to do is:

1. Launch CleanMyMac X.
2. In the sidebar, select System Junk.
3. Now, click Scan.
4. When it’s finished, click either Review Details or Clean.

System Junk and Malware Removal are just two of the modules in CleanMyMac X. There’s a full suite of tools that will help speed up your Mac so that you get the best performance out of it.

By design, Coinminer is supposed to sneak onto your computer, exploit the processors, and make the hacker a ton of money in cryptocurrency. The problem is that it maxes out your CPU and GPU, causing them to overwork and potentially cause physical damage to them from overheating. Periodically scanning your computer with CleanMyMac X is a great way to catch suspicious software whether you realize it’s been lurking on your computer or not.