What is this "Pipiade" pop up on my MacBook Air?
I received a pop-up on "Pipidae" and wanted me to trash it, what is this?
Here is the screenshot:
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.7
I received a pop-up on "Pipidae" and wanted me to trash it, what is this?
Here is the screenshot:
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.7
mrynvilb, please follow the instructions below.

First, ensure you have a reliable backup of your Mac, in case something should go wrong with continued troubleshooting. To learn how to do that, please read Back up your Mac with Time Machine.
Next: This step will prevent the scam products from loading so that they can be removed while they are inactive. Restart in "Safe Mode", and log in: How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support. Starting in Safe Mode takes longer than usual so let it finish. The rogue processes affecting that Mac are inoperative in "Safe Mode".
The following files and / or folders need to be deleted while using your Mac in "Safe Mode":
First screenshot:
Second screenshot:
Third screenshot:
Drag those selections of files to the Trash. You may be asked to authenticate. Confirm they are no longer present in that folder. Leave all the others alone for now. Please read my comments regarding "CleanMyMac" later.
Next: open Safari and select the Safari menu > Preferences (or Settings) > Extensions. If you see any Safari Extensions that you do not recognize or understand, simply click the Uninstall button and they will be gone. No Safari Extensions are required for normal operation. Then, select the General pane and review your Homepage selection. Then, select the Search pane and confirm your desired Search Engine. Repeat those equivalent actions for any other browser you may use (Brave, Firefox, or Opera for example).
There may also be adware-associated app icons in your Mac's Applications folder. Open it and examine its contents. Any unwanted or mysterious app icons should be obvious to you, but again please don't remove anything if you are uncertain—ask first. Identify any suspicious apps by name, or post another screenshot.
Next: In an abundance of caution, examine System Preferences (or Settings) > Extensions. Determine if there are any System Extensions that may have been installed without your knowledge. Ask if you're uncertain.
Remaining in System Preferences, check for the presence of any Profiles. Profiles are installed by organizations with a need to manage Macs deployed in institutional corporate or educational environments (for example), but have also been exploited by adware creators and similar malcontents. If any Profiles are installed on your Mac an icon like this will appear in System Preferences:
If you see that icon in System Preferences, select it. To remove a Profile, select it, then click the [—] (minus) button and authenticate.
Remaining in System Preferences, open Users & Groups. Select your User Account's Login Items. You may or may not find those Applications in its list. If you do, select them then click the [—] (minus) button to remove them from Login Items.
You can then restart your Mac and log in as usual. Evaluate its operation and ensure everything is working as you expect it should.
Next: "CleanMyMac" is garbage that should never be installed on any Mac. To uninstall it, follow its uninstallation instructions. As far as I have been able to determine they are sufficient to deactivate the program itself, but are somewhat incomplete in that some of its components will remain. After uninstalling it please review each of the folders you posted in your screenshots, and manually drag any remaining "CleanMyMac" components to the Trash.
Next: if you want to eradicate all remaining adware remnants post a screenshot of the following folder, in the same manner as you did earlier:
~/Library/Application Support
It is normal for that folder to contain many items, but anything associated with the above adware may contain identical names. If you find a folder or folders bearing those names, drag those folders to the Trash. Without the files you already removed or the reintroduction of similar malware, they can do nothing but occupy space. These can be removed if you wish, but again don't remove anything if you are uncertain.
Finally: If any of the above actions result in abnormal operation or if something else stops working, the easiest way to recover would be to restore the Time Machine backup you created as a prerequisite, so the importance of that fundamental step cannot be overemphasized.
Anastasia_Nikolaevna wrote:
Hi John! If I do not do a backup, am I going to lose all my files trying to delete this pipidae thing? What are the odds? I do not own an external hard drive to follow the steps. Do I need one or do I have other options? Can you help me remotely? I am willing to connect in zoom or anything else; I truly need help :')
Anastasia_Nikolaevna I answered all those questions in my previous reply to you a couple days ago, but since this Discussion has become overwhelmed with "me too" replies I understand your inability to find it. When a discussion becomes as overwhelmed as this one has become, it becomes a useless mess.
If you are unable to find that reply then I encourage you to post a brand new question to this site. Use the Ask the Community link above. I have been participating on this site (and its predecessors) for nearly thirty years, and it's just the way it works best. "Me too" replies become lost in the noise, and tend to go unanswered.
What are the odds?
Odds do not matter. It has no bearing on the question. If you do not back up your Mac, then by definition the prospect if permanently and irrevocably losing all the information it contains does not concern you in the slightest.
Hi! I see that you just posted this a few hours ago. I also wanna share that I got the same pop-up warning just a few minutes ago. First time this ever happened to me. Should I go and delete this from Trash? Or is some other malware just fooling me into deleting something important?
Would appreciate any help, thank you!
Update: I just left the first "Pipidae" file in Trash since the first warning popup. Just now, I got another warning popup of the same file, so now my Trash has 2 "Pipidae" files. I emptied my Trash now though so hopefully it solves the problem.
I guess my concern now is, will this thing just keep popping up for the next few hours/days even if I keep deleting them one by one each time?
I also have the same problem, I found a guide on google to solve it (can't post a link) but I don't know if it's solved. Maybe they're the ones who create these viruses and offer us solutions to buy their apps.
The same happened with me as well, I read another used Canva, the first time it popped up it was around 5 minutes after I downloaded a file from Canva, the second was about an hour later. How can we fix this?
same thing here, i keep pressing move to bin and it just pops up again but once it said that it couldnt be moved and that i have to move it to trash manually. searched finder and spotlight search, no file named pipidae.
It's not a virus Anastasia. Follow the instructions I posted, and I'll be happy to help you (and everyone else) fix it.
You have to be as willing to read and follow instructions as I am willing to help though. Be patient and I'll reply within 24 hours.
I received the same "pipidae" message a few moments ago. I put it in my trash then I emptied it and it always starts again. What is the solution? This is the first time this has happened to me too.
Everytime I download I get this warning. Hope to get some help on this. Started getting this just a few minutes ago.
I am having the same pop-up warning too, and moving it to trash doesn't help and it keeps on popping-up again after a few minutes even after emptying the trash.
same I just got this problem , do what it was told and it's happening again
does anyone know how to get rid of this warning popup I downloaded a file from the internet and it started popping and when I press move to trash it gets back
Thank you elene99...
The same happened to me this morning as I was downloading slides from canvas. After deleting it from the trash, it popped up again twice.
I received the same pop-up message. Before doing anything I searched for but was unable to find that file on my hard drive. So, that made me suspicious. Not sure what to do.
What is this "Pipiade" pop up on my MacBook Air?