What Is Google Software Update On Mac

Dec 19, 2008  Evil Google Secretly Installs Software Update — I was shocked to see this Google Software Update window on my Mac this morning asking me to install an update to the Google Talk Plugin: First of all, I had never seen this update window in my life and I never approved the installation of any such Software Update Engine! Applies to Mac users who sign in to a managed account on Chrome Browser. As a Mac ® administrator, you can use Google Software Update to manage Chrome Browser and Chrome apps updates on your users' Mac computers. There are 2 types of Google Software Update policies: Global policies apply to all Google apps installed on a device. App specific policies apply only to a specific app and override. Oct 05, 2014  HOW TO- Remove Google Software Update on Mac OS X 0-Google provides the single command you need to run to uninstall Google Software Update from your entire system: sudo/Library/Google.

Many Google superfans and casual users alike have set their default browsers to Chrome. However, some have become frustrated when they’ve tried to launch the browser and the following message has popped up:

But what does it mean?

Here, we’ll explain what this app and bundle are (and why some users consider them so “shady”), what the pop-up means, and what you can do to take care of it.

What is Google Software Update?

Google Software Update—also called Google Update—is a program that is automatically installed when you download Chrome. Google Update is used to support software patching (including both automatic/background and on-demand software updates) for Google Chrome and other Google products (such as Google Earth).

While what Google claims the file does is benign in and of itself, because of how Google Update has been designed, it actually behaves like malware. Back in 2009, Wired even posted an article called “Google Software Update Tool is evil.”

The problem is that Google Update is automatically installed onto your computer when you download software like Chrome. Google never actually asks for your permission to download it and doesn’t give you an option to deny it. Because of this, most people don’t even know that Google Update is installed on their computers. In fact, many don’t even know that the software exists — hence the confusion when the “GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle” pop-up appears.

It’s because of these factors, particularly that the app is installed without your knowledge, as well as the fact that it’s notoriously difficult to uninstall—that Google Update is often seen as behaving like malware.

What the “GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle” pop-up means

A bundle is a library that can be used by one or more apps to perform common tasks. In other words, an app uses a bundle to do whatever work it’s designed to do. In this case, Google apps use the GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle to help automatically check for updates.

All software you download from the App Store is reviewed and approved as trustworthy by Apple. However, when you download third-party software from outside of the App Store, such as Chrome, Apple treats it differently.

The “GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle” pop-up in particular, then, shows up because it might be triggering warnings in macOS. For example, Apple might detect that the bundle could make operating system calls that could potentially be dangerous if misused. Just as users opposed to Google Update have noted, Apple has identified that this software has the potential to behave like malware.

Google Software Update Bundle

Find out if GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle is installed your Mac

First off, you’ll want to make sure that Google Update is installed by locating it on your computer.

Here’s how to find GoogleSoftwareUpdate.app on your Mac:

  1. Launch Terminal (Finder > Applications > Utilities).
  2. Type this command into Terminal: defaults read com.google.Keystone.Agent.plist
  3. Hit Return. A screen that looks like this should come up:

If you don’t see a screen that looks like that, Google Update hasn’t been installed on your computer. If you do have GoogleSoftwareUpdate, read ahead to find out how to remove it.

Uninstall GoogleSoftwareUpdate.app

In order to uninstall Google Update (and prevent Google apps from installing the update again), you’ll need to use a different approach.

Here’s how to completely uninstall the app:

  1. Launch Terminal.
  2. Type the following commands:

sudo touch ~/Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate

sudo chmod 444 ~/Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate

For complete removal of GoogleSoftwareUpdate, execute such commands:

sudo touch /Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate

sudo chmod 444 /Library/Google/GoogleSoftwareUpdate

Check whether GoogleSoftwareUpdate.app is gone

After uninstalling Google Update, you’ll want to make sure it’s been completely removed from your Mac. To make sure it’s gone for good, launch Chrome and type chrome://help into the Chrome’s address bar.

You should see a message that looks like this:

If you do, then congrats! You’ve successfully uninstalled Google Update.

Change how often GoogleSoftwareUpdate.app runs

Because Google Update’s main goal is to automatically update Google software, you may not want to delete the app completely. Instead, you may want to change how often Google checks for software updates.

After typing defaults read com.google.Keystone.Agent.plist into Terminal, notice the “checkInterval” setting.


This shows, in seconds, how often Google checks your Mac for software updates. By default, Google checks your computer every 5 hours (18,000 seconds) for updates.

You can adjust this time in Terminal. Here’s how:

  1. Launch Terminal.
  2. Type the following command: defaults write com.google.Keystone.Agent checkInterval 86400

Google Software Update Daemon Mac Problem

By running this command, you’ve set Google Update to check for updates every 24 hours (86400 seconds). You can increase this time by making the interval larger.

Conversely, you can set an interval to 0, which will mean that Google will no longer send any update data to your computer. This is enough for most users to stop seeing notifications about GoogleSoftwareUpdate.app.

Detect and remove malware with CleanMyMac X

No one likes malware. Even worse, it can be a pain to locate and get rid of.

Update google chrome for mac

Luckily, you can use CleanMyMac X to easily check your Mac for malware. In particular, its Malware removal module gives you the power to find and remove malicious files.

  1. Download CleanMyMac X - you can try out the software for free.
  2. Install and launch the app.
  3. Go to Malware Removal and hit Scan.
  4. Remove the threats, if there is any.

That’s all! Now, your Mac’s probably cleaner and safer. Additionally, you can clear out junk and unneeded files using CleanMyMac X’s Smart Scan feature.


As you see, removing GoogleSoftwareUpdate.bundle isn’t difficult. Be aware that removing this file, you actually stop Google from regularly updating its software. So, if you want to keep your browser or other Google software up-to-date, don’t remove the bundle. Instead, adjust how often Google can check for updates.

Connect pixma 860 to mac without software

Hope this was helpful!

We gave Google's first version of Picasa for Mac a whirl the day before Apple announced iLife '09 with features like Faces and Places for iPhoto. A couple of days later, a Google software updater that we never explicitly agreed to install notified us of an update to Picasa. Annoyed, we started digging to find out why Google took over our Mac.

We spoke with a Google representative and posted a question in Picasa's discussion forum about this software updater. As it turns out, when you install Picasa for Mac, an item is installed in ~/Library/LaunchAgents, and a new Google directory is created in ~/Library (other Google Mac products do this, and so do Google apps on Windows and, presumably, Linux). The only directory in /Google is called GoogleSoftwareUpdate, which we have a sneaking suspicion may contain the files that run Google's stealthy software updater. If you delete the /Google directory or the /LaunchAgents item, they are reinstalled the next time Picasa is run—and that's only the half of it.

Google Software Update Daemon

We asked a Google representative why the company took such a quietly invasive approach to updating its software. After all, much more reasonable mechanisms such as the 'check at startup' trick became all but a universally-recognized standard long ago, but there is also always the option of presenting the feature front and center in the short wizard that appears on Picasa's first run. 'Users are notified when the Software Updater is installed -- this varies from product to product, but it can always be found in the EULA or TOS for a product,' the rep responded. 'A user can always uninstall the updater by uninstalling all applications that the updater supports (we want to make sure you continue to receive updates for all other applications on your computer, even if you've decided to stop using one piece of software).'

Translation: Google is content to bury the notification of installing a background software update process in its EULA, as none of Google's Mac software that we tested present a notification on first run, not to mention an actual option to toggle it off. Even the portion of the EULA that deals with automatic updates is vague about what actually gets installed:

What Is Google Software Update On Mac Windows 10

4. AUTOMATIC UPDATES

The Software may communicate with Google servers from time to time to check for available updates to the Software, such as bug fixes, patches, enhanced functions, missing plug-ins and new versions (collectively, 'Updates'). By installing the Software, you agree to automatically request and receive Updates.

What Is Google Software Update Daemon Mac

Truth be told, we hear that Google has been doing this for quite some time with all of its software on Windows. The process for disabling or removing Google's software updater is also reportedly the same, but that doesn't make the company's practices okay.

Google Software Update Installer

The debate over whether automatic updates in general are harmless or invasive is still alive and well, but the fact that Google got its totalitarianism on with One Software Update to Rule Them All puts this instance a little over the top. Google's updater can only be removed by deleting all Google software from a machine—this is not only bad design, but it is wrong. Staying on top of software updates and fixes is great, but not when it involves trampling users' control over what runs on their own computers. Google, you can do much better than this.