This article aims to help you with the removal of the suspicious program Coloring Hero from the affected system. Follow the detailed guide at the end to get rid of it in full.
Coloring Hero is promoted as an app that gives you a variety of coloring categories to choose from. The app is compatible with all Mac operating systems. Even if it seems quite like a legitimate app, it is classified as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) due to some doubtful functionalities it has.
Threat Summary
| Name | Coloring Hero |
| Type | Potentially Unwanted Program |
| Short Description | Promoted as program with a variety of coloring templates. Detected to behave as adware program. |
| Symptoms | Many advertisements start to appear on web pages you visit. Frequent browser slowdowns are registered. |
| Distribution Method | Software Bundles, Corrupted Installers |
| Detection Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by malware Combo Cleaner Malware Removal Tool | User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss Coloring Hero. |
Coloring Hero – How Does It Access Mac Devices?
The official website of Coloring Hero app coloringhero.com appears to be one of the channels used for the spread of this program. Here is what its main page presents once loaded in the browser:
However, since it is likely that the app has managed to trick you into installing it unintentionally, we presume that it did it with the help of another shady spread technique. Among the techniques used for its spread could be software bundling, freeware installers’ corruption, generation of fake software updates notifications and browser redirects to infected web pages.
More often than not, the reason why you have this undesired program running on your Mac is a recent installation of any free program that has come with a corrupted installer. Owners of potentially undesired programs like Coloring Hero often compromise free applications’ installers in order to hide the installation files of their programs in them. Eventually, when you download an app with a compromised installer from across the web you could unintentionally install all added extras along with this desired app. Since compromised freeware installers and bundled packages rarely disclose properly the presence of additional components you can easily get tricked into giving them the permission to run on your device. Sometimes this can be avoided after a thorough read of all details mentioned in the Advanced or Custom configuration option or the End-user license agreement (EULA) presented by the installer.
Coloring Hero – More Information
Coloring Hero is an app compatible with all macOS versions that as presented on its official website enables you to choose between a variety of realistic, complex and highly detailed coloring templates. However, the program often appears on Mac devices without being downloaded by users will. And since you are reading a guide on how to remove this program from your Mac the same thing maybe happened to you.
This is one of the main reasons why this app is classified as a potentially unwanted program (PUP). Due to some intrusive advertising related activities it is further considered to be of an adware type. So soon after it manages to run on your Mac, you could start noticing many ads to appear on web pages you visit as well as directly on your desktop. Here are some of the phrases that may appear on the ads generated by Coloring Hero PUP:
- Advert from Coloring Hero
- Powered by Coloring Hero
- Ad by coloringhero.com
- Ads by coloringhero.com
- Advertisement by Coloring Hero
- Brought to you by Coloring Hero
The purpose of all these ads is to convince you to visit the promoted web pages as each time you do this Coloring Hero’s owners get paid by the advertiser. To make you more prone to click on generated ads, the program could be collecting details about your online behavior. Unsolicited data collection is usually realized with the help of different tracking technologies from cookies, web beacons, scripts to Trojans and keyloggers sometimes.
If you want to prevent Coloring Hero from disrupting the security of your Mac and your sensitive data, you need to find files and objects installed by the app and remove them all. The sooner the better.
Remove Coloring Hero from Your Mac
In order to remove Coloring Hero along with all associated files that enable its appearance in the browser, you should complete several removal steps. In the guide below you will find all removal steps in their precise order. You could choose between manual and automatic removal approach. In order to fully get rid of this particular undesired program and strengthen the security of your device we recommend you to combine the steps. Have in mind that installed files associated with this hijacker may be detected with names different than Coloring Hero.
In case you have further questions or need additional help, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact us via email.
Gergana Ivanova
Gergana has a bachelor's degree in Marketing. She has been with the STF team for five years, researching malware, reporting on the latest computer infections, and following digital marketing trends.
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Preparation Phase:
Before starting to follow the steps below, be advised that you should first do the following preparations:
- Backup your files in case the worst happens.
- Make sure to have a device with these instructions on standy.
- Arm yourself with patience.
Step 1: Uninstall Coloring Hero and remove related files and objects
1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:
- Go to Finder.
- In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
- Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
- If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.
In case you cannot remove Coloring Hero via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 2: Remove Coloring Hero – related extensions from Safari / Chrome / Firefox
Remove an extension from Safari and reset it.
Remove a toolbar from Google Chrome
Remove a toolbar from Mozilla Firefox
Step 3: Scan for and remove Coloring Hero files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as Coloring Hero, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. SpyHunter for Mac offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.
