Random web pages opening

When I wake up my mac, there is always a random web page open, (even when my browser isn't open - I think, if that's possible...) So I don't think it has anything to do with my browsers (I have Chrome and Safari) but who knows? I must have some kind of malware. How can I locate it and delete it? My computer is very sluggish and I think that could be the reason. I'm not vey tech savvy so please give me step by step detailed instructions. Thank you.

Mac mini, macOS 10.13

Posted on Mar 26, 2022 11:40 AM

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Posted on Mar 27, 2022 12:21 PM

Greetings slkice4444,


Let's first see if we can identify which app this is stemming from.


Please quit all open apps on your Mac, put your Mac to sleep for a minute or two, wake it up and before closing the website that appears when you wake your Mac, check the Dock to see if any of your app icons have a dot below them. That’s going to tell us which app is open. You could also tell by pressing the Command + Option + Esc keys which will open the Force Quit Window and show which apps are running. 


Another step we can take is to check to see if the issue persists in safe mode. How to use safe mode on your Mac Your profile shows we’re working with a Mac mini running macOS High Sierra. To get to safe mode - 


1. Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.
2. Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac. 
3. You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window.

At that point, put your Mac to sleep for a minute or two, wake it up and see if that website appears. 


Thanks.

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7 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 27, 2022 12:21 PM in response to slkice4444

Greetings slkice4444,


Let's first see if we can identify which app this is stemming from.


Please quit all open apps on your Mac, put your Mac to sleep for a minute or two, wake it up and before closing the website that appears when you wake your Mac, check the Dock to see if any of your app icons have a dot below them. That’s going to tell us which app is open. You could also tell by pressing the Command + Option + Esc keys which will open the Force Quit Window and show which apps are running. 


Another step we can take is to check to see if the issue persists in safe mode. How to use safe mode on your Mac Your profile shows we’re working with a Mac mini running macOS High Sierra. To get to safe mode - 


1. Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.
2. Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac. 
3. You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window.

At that point, put your Mac to sleep for a minute or two, wake it up and see if that website appears. 


Thanks.

Mar 29, 2022 6:27 AM in response to slkice4444

Hi slkice4444.

Thanks for trying those steps.

Next, let's follow the steps below to see if we need to remove Safari as a login item:"On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups .Select your user account, then click Login Items at the top of the window.Do any of the following:

4.Remove a login item: Select the name of the item you want to prevent from opening automatically, then click the Remove button below the list."

Hope this helps.

Cheers.



Mar 28, 2022 3:24 PM in response to AnnieL2

OK I did step #1. Good Call! It's Safari that is opening and doing it. I never use Safari but, it opens by itself. Today, I was working with an art program and it did it while I was working on something. I didn't realize it until I was finished because it opened the web page behind the page I was working on. As soon as I closed the art program, there it was.


So now what?

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