What Is Google LLC on my mac a virus? Find out how the Google LLC process gets on your Mac’s background items list, what it does, how to deal with it, and if it’s risky for your security or privacy.
What is Google LLC on My Mac?
- 1 What is Google LLC on My Mac?
- 2 Google LLC on Mac – not a choice you made.
- 3 Security issues are also a concern.
- 4 Should you worry?
- 5 Google LLC background item manual removal for Mac
- 6 Remove Google LLC background item from your web browser on Mac.
- 7 To get rid of Google LLC background item using Combo Cleaner removal tool, do this.
If you want to start a heated discussion on a web forum, just mention how big internet companies collect a lot of user data. You will get different opinions, from “if you don’t pay for a product, you are the product” – to “these services are very dangerous”. Whatever the truth is, we can’t deny that tech giants know a lot about what we do online, what we like, and who we are. Now, let’s focus on the topic of this article. Many Apple users have recently been annoyed by a thing called Google LLC in the Login Items list on their Macs.
This has made them curious about what this thing is, how it got there, and if it’s bad or not. Let’s try to clear things up about this story. The Google LLC thing seems to be related to the services of the same company. When it’s on the list in the System Preferences app (System Settings in macOS 13 Ventura and later), it can do some things like checking for updates or syncing data when the main program is closed. This is fine as long as the things it does are harmless, which looks like the case here.
The thing we’re talking about often works with Google Updater, which is a normal thing for the very popular – and surely safe – Chrome browser. But the way this change happens is not very nice.
Google LLC on Mac – not a choice you made.
Some users who found the Google LLC thing on their Macs say they don’t remember agreeing to add it. This seems like a bad move, but it’s not rare in the online world. It could be that a new version of Chrome, Google Drive, Google Docs, Gmail, or another service from the same company changed the rules of using it. Let’s be honest: no one really reads the details, and so we might click “OK” without thinking, and then give the access we don’t like. Another chance – but not very likely – is that the bad service skipped the asking part.
Read: –Google LLC Running in Background on Mac
It’s very easy to remove any Login Item on a Mac with a few clicks, but the problem with the Google LLC thing is that it asks for your admin password to do it. Let me explain why this is not a conspiracy: the Users & Groups part in macOS 12 Monterey and before needs you to click the lock icon and type your password to change the startup programs. But this seems to have changed in newer versions of the system. So, if you see a password request on your Mac with Ventura or Sonoma, that might be suspicious.
Security issues are also a concern.
You might have guessed that this issue could also be used for bad purposes. It seems hard to believe, but some harmful programs, even the ones that can change their shape, can pretend to be trusted programs. This way, they can avoid being detected by normal security systems.
If you want to try it yourself, you can do a simple test: choose a program from your Applications list, right click on it, and choose the Rename option. Type “Google LLC”, and there you go, you can now add it to the Login Items with that name and even make the fake app show up in the “Allow in the Background” section with the switch turned on. The only thing that gives it away is the icon of the real program next to the item, but clever hackers can fix that so that the imposter looks real.
Should you worry?
The big question is whether the Google LLC background item is a virus. I think, probably not. It’s just a result of a good software maker’s update and sync methods. The fact that it starts when you turn on your computer and runs without you knowing or agreeing seems wrong, but it’s very unlikely to be harmful. If you still feel uneasy about it, you can safely click on the minus sign and remove it from the list, even if you have to type in your password to do it. But to be extra careful, you might want to check your Mac for possible threats that could copy or abuse the trusted service. The next tutorial will help you.
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Google LLC background item manual removal for Mac
The steps below will show you how to remove this harmful application. Make sure you follow the instructions in the right order.
- Open the Go menu in your Mac’s Finder bar and choose Utilities as shown below.
- Find the Activity Monitor icon on the Utilities screen and double-click on it.
- In the Activity Monitor app, look for a process that looks weird. To make your search easier, focus on unfamiliar entries that use a lot of resources on the list. Remember that its name might not match how the threat behaves, so you’ll have to use your own judgement. If you find the problem, select it and click on the Stop icon in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.
- When a new window pops up asking if you are sure you want to quit the problem process, choose the Force Quit option.
- Click on the Go menu icon in the Finder again and choose Go to Folder. You can also use the Command-Shift-G keyboard shortcut.
- Type /Library/LaunchAgents in the folder search window and click on the Go button.
- Look at the contents of the Launch Agents folder for items that look fishy. Keep in mind that the names of files created by harmful programs may not give any hints that they are bad, so you should look for new items that seem out of place. For example, here are some examples of Launch Agents related to common Mac infections: com.google.GoogleUpdater.wake.plist, com.avickUpd.plist, and com.msp.agent.plist. If you see files that don’t fit on the list, go ahead and drag them to the Trash.
- Use the Go to Folder search feature again to go to the folder named ~/Library/Application Support (notice the tilde symbol before the path).
- Open the Application Support folder and look for any new folders that seem strange. Move them to the Trash. A good way to spot them is to check if their names have nothing to do with Apple products or apps you installed on purpose. Some bad folders you might see are com.AuraSearchDaemon, Progress Site, and Idea Shared.
- Go to the Go to Folder search box and type ~/Library/LaunchAgents (make sure you include the ~ sign).
- The system will show you the Launch Agents in your Home folder. Find and drag these bad files to the Trash. They are related to the Google LLC background item: com.google.GoogleUpdater.wake.plist, com.ConnectionCache.service.plist, com.digitalprotection.emcupdater.plist, com.mulkey.plist, com.nbp.plist, and com.sys.system.plist.
- Go to the Go to Folder search box again and type /Library/Launch Daemons.
- In the Launch Daemons folder, look for the files that the malware is using to stay on your Mac. Some examples of these files are com.google.GoogleUpdater.wake.plist, com.ConnectionCache.system.plist and com.mulkeyd.plist. Delete these files right away.
- Click on the Go menu icon in your Mac’s Finder and choose Applications.
- Find the app that doesn’t belong there and move it to the Trash. If it is asked for your admin password, then enter it.
- Click on the Apple menu and choose System Preferences.
- Go to Users & Groups and click on the Login Items tab. The system will show you the items that start when your Mac turns on. Find the unwanted app and click on the “-” (minus) button to remove it.
- Now go to Profiles under System Preferences. Look for a bad item on the left side. Some examples of profiles made by Mac adware are AdminPrefs, TechSignalSearch, MainSearchPlatform, and Safari Preferences. Choose the bad item and click on the minus sign at the bottom to get rid of it. If your Mac has adware on it, the adware might still affect your web browser even after you delete the app and its parts from your system. Follow the steps below to clean up your browser and stop the adware.
Remove Google LLC background item from your web browser on Mac.
First, you need to reset your web browser settings to their original values. This will delete most of your changes, web history, and all temporary data from websites, but it will also stop the adware. Here are the steps to do this:
- Remove Google LLC background item from Safari.
- Open the browser and go to the Safari menu. Choose Preferences from the list.
- When the Preferences screen shows up, click on the Advanced tab and turn on the option that says, “Show Develop menu in menu bar”.
- Now you will see the Develop Menu in the Safari menu. Click on it and choose Empty Caches.
- Now go to the History menu in Safari and choose Clear History.
- Safari will ask you how long you want to clear the history for. Choose all history to make sure everything is gone. Click on the Clear History button to confirm and close.
- Go back to the Safari Preferences and click on the Privacy tab at the top. Find the option that says Manage Website Data and click on it.
- A screen will show up with a list of websites that have saved some information about what you do online. The screen will also tell you what will happen if you delete this information: you might have to sign in again to some websites and some websites might look or work differently. If you are fine with that, click on the Remove All button.
- Close Safari and open it again.
- To remove Google LLC background item from Chrome, do this:
- Open Chrome and click on the three dots icon in the top right corner of the window. Then choose Settings from the menu.
- On the Settings page, click on Advanced.
- A pop-up will ask you to confirm that you want to reset Chrome. Click on Reset. When it’s done, open Chrome again and see if there is any malware.
- To get rid of Google LLC background item from Firefox, do this:
- Open Firefox and go to Help – Troubleshooting Information. Or you can type about: support in the address bar and press Enter.
- On the Troubleshooting Information page, click on the Refresh Firefox button.
- Another pop-up will ask you to confirm that you want to refresh Firefox. Click on Refresh Firefox. Then open Firefox again.
To get rid of Google LLC background item using Combo Cleaner removal tool, do this.
Combo Cleaner is an app that can help you clean and protect your Mac. It can find and delete Google LLC background item virus and other bad things on your Mac. It is better than doing it by yourself, because it can update itself every hour and find the newest threats. It can also find the hidden files of the malware that might be hard to find by yourself. Here is how to use Combo Cleaner to fix the Google LLC background item problem:
- Download Combo Cleaner installer. When it’s done, double-click on the combocleaner.dmg file and follow the steps to install the app on your Mac.
- Open the app from your Launchpad and let it update its database of malware signatures. This will make sure it can find the latest threats.
- Click on the Start Combo Scan button to scan your Mac for malware and other issues.
- Look at the scan results. If it says, “No Threats”, then you have done a good job with the manual cleaning, and you can go ahead and fix the web browser that might still be affected by the malware (see the steps above).
- If Combo Cleaner has found some malware, click on the Remove Selected Items button and let the app delete Google LLC background item and any other bad things on your Mac.
- When you are sure that the malware is gone, you might still need to fix your web browser. If your web browser is not working well, go back to the previous steps of this guide and follow them.
Thank you for reading.
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