Help removing dead "login items and extensions"

[tony359]

Hi all,

I am kind of new to macOS so this might be a newbie question.
I've noticed some "allow in the background" items under "login items and extensions" which are from apps I removed some time ago.

The most offending is "cleanmymac" which really feels like malware now and I'll tell you why.

I was told to look into /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons. They're not there.
I tried the developer's own solution: uninstall via cleanmymac. I re-installed the app, but "cleanmymac" is not listed in the app I can remove.

So I tried Pearcleaner. I removed CleanMyMac from there but the login items are still there.

I tried the "orphaned files" from PearCleaner, it found a lot of "cleanmymac" entries, I removed them all but no luck. In fact at some point some items wouldn't go away so I went to the FS (/User/<my name>/Library) and removed the entries manually.

I noticed that if those items are enabled, some folders I delete immediately re-create themselves.

I am a bit lost. I searched online extensively, I found quite a few posts about this problem but no real solution.

Any help please?
I am on Sequoia 15.3
Thank you!

 

[bogdanw]

Check both your user account (~/Library/LaunchAgents) and the system (/Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons).
Locations explained here
https://support.apple.com/guide/ter...d-apdc6c1077b-5d5d-4d35-9c19-60f2397b2369/mac
"Go to a folder by entering its pathname" https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchlp1236/

 

[tony359]

Thanks @bogdanw

I forgot to say I did check the user folders too - ~/Library/LaunchAgents is empty - I do have "hidden files" enabled.

 

[bogdanw]

Check /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools as well.
KnockKnock can help better comprehend what is persistently installed
https://objective-see.org/products/knockknock.html

 

[tony359]

Nothing in that folder.

I tried knocknock yesterday and it doesn't show anything resembling cleanmymac or macpaw. I tried again, nothing.

You see what I mean when I say "malware"??? At least it isn't a super simple thing! 😀

 

[bogdanw]

You probably did already, but just in case Have you emptied the trash and restarted your Mac?

 

[tony359]

I had restarted but NOT emptied my bin.

it WORKED. How on earth emptying the bin is necessary for this to happen? 😀

Thank you so much!