Q: mac adware cleaner

No. It is crapware. It offers no protection on your Mac what so ever. All it will do is cause problems for you.

It is possible you might have downloaded adware to your Mac. Try https://www.malwarebytes.org/lp/sem/?sfc=sem-gs_b_us_en&gclid=CMS_hdDt48kCFQ2HaQ odMXwBGA to see if can remove the adware.

Mac Adware Cleaner is made by the folks who make Advanced Mac Cleaner, which is a junk app that is frequently distributed with adware. (Hmm, ironic, huh... they sneak in with adware, then show you pop-ups to help you get rid of the adware they rode in with.) The pop-up you're seeing is caused by Advanced Mac Cleaner, which probably means you've also got some other kind of adware on your system.

Allan's suggestion will help you remove both Advanced Mac Cleaner and whatever adware was installed alongside it.

Thomas Reed

Director of Mac Offerings, Malwarebytes

First, never use any kind of "anti-virus" or "anti-malware" software on a Mac. That's how you create problems, not how you solve them.

You may have installed a fake "utility" called "Advanced Mac Cleaner." Like any software that purports to automatically "clean up" or "speed up" a Mac, it's a scam, and some variants of it are ad-injection malware.

To remove it, please take the steps below. Some of the files listed may be absent in your case. Back up all data before proceeding.

If you paid for the software with a credit card, consider reporting the charge to the bank as fraudulent.

Step 1

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.pcv.hlpramc.plist

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

          Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)

from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item selected. Move the selected item to the Trash.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination  command-C. In the Finder, select

          Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Step 2

Reveal this folder as in Step 1:

/Library/LaunchAgents

Inside it there may be one or more files with a name beginning in

          com.WebTools

If so, move those files, and only those, to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password.

Don't delete the LaunchAgents folder or anything else inside it.

Log out or restart the computer.

Step 3

Open the Applications folder and move an item named "Advanced Mac Cleaner" (if it's present) to the Trash. Empty the Trash.

Step 4

The malware is now permanently inactivated, provided that you don't reinstall it. This step is optional.

Delete the following items, if they exist, as in Step 1:

/Library/Application Support/amc ~/Library/AdvancedMacCleaner ~/Library/Application Support/WebTools

There's no need to log out or restart after taking this step.

Should I delete that 'amc' folder itself

Yes. I notice that my last comment was garbled by the forum software. Here is a corrected version.

You installed a fake "utility" called "Advanced Mac Cleaner." Like any software that purports to automatically "clean up" or "speed up" a Mac, it's a scam, and some variants of it are ad-injection malware.

To remove it, please take the steps below. Some of the files listed may be absent in your case. Back up all data before proceeding.

If you paid for the software with a credit card, consider reporting the charge to the bank as fraudulent.

Step 1

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.pcv.hlpramc.plist

Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select

          Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)

from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item selected. Move the selected item to the Trash.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination  command-C. In the Finder, select

          Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You may not see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Step 2

Reveal this folder as in Step 1:

/Library/LaunchAgents

Inside it there may be one or more files with a name beginning in

          com.WebTools

If so, move those files, and only those, to the Trash. You may be prompted for your administrator login password.

Don't delete the LaunchAgents folder or anything else inside it.

Log out or restart the computer.

Step 3

Open the Applications folder and move an item named "Advanced Mac Cleaner" (if it's present) to the Trash. Empty the Trash.

Step 4

The malware is now permanently inactivated, provided that you don't reinstall it. This step is optional.

Delete the following items, if they exist, as in Step 1:

/Library/Application Support/amc

~/Library/AdvancedMacCleaner

~/Library/Application Support/WebTools

There's no need to log out or restart after taking this step.