Should I Download Chrome On Mac

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If you use Google Chrome to browse the web or to work in Google Docs, and it starts behaving erratically, or you start seeing lots of intrusive adverts, it’s likely the browser has been infected with malware.

While it’s frustrating, and sometimes alarming, it’s not necessarily harmful to your Mac. Nevertheless, it’s best to get rid of it as soon as you realize it’s there.

Malware can take a number of different forms:

Remember, Chrome for Mac launched quite awhile after the Windows version and has been around much less than a year overall. Like Chrome on Windows, it shows a whole lot of promise, but it's also. It really comes down to what you want out of your browser, where you put your data, and what services you use. I have about 5 browsers installed on my computer for compatibility and testing reasons, mostly. My primary browser is Safari, because I.

1. Adware

This type of malware downloads itself to your Mac, usually in the form of a browser extension, or hidden in a file you’ve downloaded. It displays adverts in a web browser or on your desktop.

2. Pop-up windows

These are a bit like adware. Examples, like a Chrome pop up virus, appear when you use a web browser, either on top of your current browser window, or behind it and take you to a website you haven’t chosen to go to.

3. Hyperlinks

This is more difficult to spot. This type of malware, or Chrome redirect virus, turns regular text on a web page into hyperlinks. If you click on one of the links, it will take you to a web page selling something, or urging you to download a file.

4. Spyware

Spyware is often hidden in a trojan, disguised to look like a legitimate file — perhaps a movie or a software update — but when you download it, it immediately starts stealing personal data, including financial details, web pages you’ve visited, passwords, and even the keys you press on your keyboard.

Should I Download Chrome On Mac

How to know if Google Chrome has a virus

There are a number of signs that you have Chrome malware on your Mac.

  • Chrome starts running very slowly and using up lots of processor cycles. Often, the first sign is that your Mac’s fans start running loudly when you’re not doing anything that’s processor intensive. If that happens, you can use Activity Monitor to confirm that it’s Chrome that’s stressing the CPU.
  • You start seeing adverts unrelated to any site you’ve visited or search term you’ve used.
  • A browser toolbar you didn’t deliberately download appears in your copy of Chrome.
  • Pop up windows appear frequently on sites that don’t normally use pop-ups.
  • You discover an application in your Applications folder that you didn’t download.

How to remove adware and malware from Chrome

The easy way: Scan your Mac with CleanMyMac X

CleanMyMac X is a powerful app for protecting your Mac from all kinds of malware threats. It can detect and neutralize adware, spyware, worms, ransomware, and other vulnerabilities and hazards. Here’s how to use it:

  1. Download CleanMyMac X and launch the app.
  2. Click Malware Removal tab.
  3. Click Scan.

If CleanMyMac finds something suspicious, it will offer the immediate removal.

Download

The manual way

1. Uninstall suspicious apps

Google recommends that when you discover adware or other malware, the first thing you should do is identify and get rid of any applications in your Applications folder that you suspect may be malicious.

  1. Open a Finder window and go to Applications.
  2. Look through the list of applications and identify any you didn’t download deliberately.
  3. If you find one, you should remove it. However, just dragging the app to the Trash won’t get rid of every trace of the application. To do that, you need to remove every file associated with the app.

How to safely remove every trace of an application

You can safely remove unwanted apps, along with their leftovers, with the help of an app we’ve mentioned above — CleanMyMac X. It knows where to look for files that are installed by apps and searches for them there, then lists them when it finds them, allowing you to easily delete them.

If you’ve already downloaded and installed CleanMyMac, start using it right away. Go to the Uninstaller module and check the box next to the app you want to delete, and click Uninstall. That’s it!

Repeat the process for every app you suspect is malware.

2. Reset Chrome settings

If you don’t find any apps in your Applications folder that look like they’re malware, or if removing them doesn’t solve the problem, the next step is to reset Chrome’s settings.

  1. Open a Finder window, go to Applications and launch Chrome.
  2. At the top right of the window, click the ‘More’ icon (three dots stacked vertically).
  3. At the bottom of the menu, click Settings.
  4. At the bottom of the browser window that opens, click Advanced.
  5. Scroll to the bottom again and click Reset settings.
  6. Read the information in the box that appears, then click Reset.

Resetting Chrome, among other things, turns off extensions. If you need to use extensions, you’ll need to turn them back on again. However, before you do, it’s a good idea to go through them and check that you intended to download them. If you find any that you didn’t intentionally download or that you no longer need, you should delete them.

3. Remove extensions or turn them on again

  1. In Chrome, click on the More button again.
  2. Click More Tools, about halfway down.
  3. Click Extensions.
  4. Look through the installed extensions. If you see any you didn’t intend to download or no longer need, click Remove.
  5. If you suspect it’s malware, check the Report abuse box.
  6. Click Remove.

To turn an extension back on again, click on the toggle switch at the bottom right-hand corner of the extension box.

How to protect Chrome from malware

Malware, whether it’s adware, spyware, or any other kind of nasty, malicious code, can arrive on your Mac win a number of different ways. Usually, though it’s downloaded when you click on a link in an email or website that you thought was safe. It could be that the link takes you to a site that then infects your Mac, or that you download what you think is software update, and it then turns out to be a virus.

By the way, one of the most common ways that malware is disguised is as updates to Adobe Flash. Given that most websites no longer use Flash, it’s safest to remove it from your Mac altogether. That way you won’t be tempted to download a spoof update. You won’t be surprised to learn that CleanMyMac can remove Flash quickly and easily. You’ll find the tool in the Preference Panes section of the Extensions utility.

There are a number of other steps you can take to stop your Mac being infected with malware.

1. Don't click suspicious links

Never click a link in an email unless you know who the email is from and where the link is going to take you. That means you have to be 100% sure. If you’re not, don’t risk it.

2. Make sure your Mac’s Firewall is turned on

You’ll find the switch in the Firewall tab in the Security&Privacy pane in System Preferences.

3. Be careful when installing extensions

Don’t install a browser extension unless you’re absolutely sure it’s safe. If you’re unsure about it, Google its name and see what comes up at the top of the results.

4. Keep your browser up to date

Google Chrome can be set to update itself automatically, which is the safest way to do it. If you don’t want it to do that, make sure you install updates manually as soon as Chrome alerts you it’s out of date.

5. Keep macOS up to date

Apple issues security updates for the current version of macOS and for older versions. If you see one on the App Store or if macOS alerts you that an update is available, install it.

6. Watch out for bogus warnings

One of the biggest scams on the internet is pop-ups telling you that your computer has a virus. If you see one, ignore it.

In addition to preventing malware, there are a number of things you can do to reduce the damage malware will do.

  • Keep your personal data safe. Never store sensitive data like usernames and passwords, or credit card details as plaint text. Use a password manager, which will encrypt everything.
  • Back up your Mac regularly. If you use Time Machine to backup your Mac and the worst happens, you can roll back to a point just before your Mac was infected. Or you can recover individual files that have become corrupt.

As you can see, it’s not too difficult to remove malware from Chrome or remove adware from Chrome. And using CleanMyMac makes it even easier. However, it’s much better if you avoid download malicious code at all. If you follow the steps at the end of this article, you’ll make sure your Mac and the Chrome browser are both as safe as they can be.

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In the early days of Mac, its default web browser wasn’t what you might expect. Surprisingly for all, Microsoft had struck a deal with Apple to ship Macs with Internet Explorer right out of the box. However, once the contract was done, Apple quickly released their own browser called Safari.

Unfortunately for Apple’s new browser, a stronger alternative under the name of Google Chrome browser had already snapped up the market share. Mac users were attracted to Google due to its search and mail services — roughly one third of all Macs use Chrome as their default browser as of 2019. With only a few options competing for the same market, the name of the game has become cross-platform.

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Getting Started With Chrome On Mac

Web browsers have come a long way in recent years, with most reaching some sort of feature parity and common user experience, which makes switching between them fairly easy. Chrome browser for Mac is no exception, but the sheer number of users have led to it having an interesting advantage in the marketplace — mostly due to Chrome’s presence on any device, from iPhones to Windows desktops. If you’ve been considering a switch and are wondering how to install Chrome on Mac, your best guide is below.

The benefits of Google Chrome for Mac

There are good reasons for Mac users to prefer Chrome, especially with its natural overlap with other Google products. Users, for example, can sign into their Google Account on Chrome and have it synchronize with their other devices, integrating account data and preferences accordingly. More reasons to make the switch to Chrome include:

  • Web developer tools make it easy to test web apps on Chrome, which means strong compatibility with the latest sites and tech standards

  • Support by nearly every device and operating system, including Windows and Apple products, whereas Safari is only available in iOS and macOS

  • An impressive library of browser extensions, which grant additional capabilities, such as ad-blocking and custom integrations. It’s true that most other browsers also use extensions, but the wider support for Chrome means more developers can get the best bang for their buck by releasing their products on Chrome first.

Should I Download Google Chrome On My Mac

Truth be told, Chrome isn’t without its downsides. A common complaint one might hear is that Google Chrome for Mac uses a lot of system memory (and therefore laptop battery), especially when lots of tabs are open and running.

One might argue it’s because Chrome has some of the best security and malware protection, which inherently uses more RAM and battery to accommodate its scans — but whatever the reason, it’s not impossible to mitigate — just use Endurance.

Mac

Endurance is a lightweight utility that helps you take back the control of your battery life, sometimes extending it by up to 20%. In just a few clicks, Endurance will lower your processor speed, hide background apps, and dim the screen to preserve battery when you don’t need to be using it in full brightness — perfect for when you’re in and out of Google Chrome.

How to download and install Chrome for Mac

Not sure how to install Google Chrome for Mac? It’s all very simple, but you’ll need to use a different web browser (like Safari) to download Chrome for Mac first:

  1. Open Safari (or other web browser) then navigate to google.com/chrome

  2. Hit Download Chrome for Mac

  3. A new window will appear asking you to agree to the Terms of Use. If you agree, click on Accept and Install.

  4. When the Chrome for Mac download is finished, open the file called googlechrome.dmg and go through the installation process

  5. Drag the Chrome icon to the Applications folder when asked — the last step before you finally have Chrome on Mac

  6. Launch Google Chrome from Applications or straight from your Dock

  7. Remove the Google Chrome download for Mac from the Downloads folder by dragging it to the Trash

How To Get Chrome On Mac

Now that you know how to download Google Chrome, you might want to make Chrome default browser on Mac. To do this, simply open it and click the three dots in the top-right corner, followed by Settings, then in the Default Browser section click Make Default.

If you’re wondering how to update Google Chrome on Mac, you don’t have to — Chrome will do this automatically the next time you launch the browser, so you never have to worry about having to look for the latest version.

Making the best use of Google Chrome

Chrome is already a fast web browser, but it can be even faster if you take full advantage of its keyboard shortcuts. From how to search a page on Mac through to opening and closing tabs, here are a few to help you become more productive:

  • Open a private window for browsing (called Incognito mode) with ⌘ + Shift + N

  • Open a new tab in a snap using ⌘ + T

  • Close that same tab by hitting ⌘ + W

  • Jump to specific tabs holding Command and selecting a number (e.g. 1, 2, or 9). This shortcut will take you directly to the tab number reading from left to right.

  • Zoom in and out with ⌘ and tapping the + or - keys

  • Looking for how to search a page on Mac? You can press ⌘ + L to go to Chrome’s URL bar, which also doubles as the Google search engine — this makes searching for new pages and websites easier, as you no longer have to navigate to google.com first.

  • Need to know how to search for a word on a web page in Chrome for Mac? Try ⌘ + F.

Those are just a few of the built-in shortcuts on Chrome, but there may be times when you need more — such as a quick and easy way to take and store screenshots of your web pages. That’s where Inboard comes in handy.

Capture webpages with Inboard

Get Inboard, an app that enables you to quickly take a screenshot of any part of a webpage as well as organizes screenshots for you.

Inboard is an app that lets you quickly take a screenshot of the full page or just a specific part, then save it to a moodboard among your other favorite images for inspiration. It’s like Pinterest but on your desktop, and it can even hook into your Dribble account to measure likes.

To take screenshots with Inboard:

  1. Go to the app’s icon in menu bar and select Capture Screenshot or Capture Web Page

  2. For webpages, Inboard will ask you to install a browser extension

  3. Once you have the extension, simply click it on any website to produce a full screenshot

Another tip for making the most out of Chrome is managing your privacy and security better — using a password manager.

Secrets is an app that manages all of your passwords in one place. Using industry-standard PGP encryption, you can store, view, and update all of your passwords without worrying about being hacked or compromised. It syncs with all of your devices, and even manages credit card and other information — without handing it all over to Google.

Now that you know how to download Chrome on Mac and some of the reasons it’s so popular — you’re ready to go. To really make the most out of Chrome though, you’ll want to explore Endurance, Inboard, and Secrets. Best of all, you can do so for free with a 7-day trial on Setapp, a subscription service for Mac that has over 150 exceptionally useful apps to enrich your digital life.

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Can't Install Chrome On Mac

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Free Chrome Download For Mac