How to remove Googl.e.com-directory.co pop-ups [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

If the Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome and MS Edge opens automatically to the Googl.e.com-directory.co web site then most probably that you’ve an adware (also known as ‘ad-supported’ software) installed on your machine. The adware is an unwanted software which is going to display you a large count of advertisements and deals. Of course, it is not a malware or virus in the “general meaning” of this word. It’ll not delete or damage your files, but it can alter some computer’s settings or download and install other malicious software. So, you’d better to delete adware using the instructions below and thereby remove Googl.e.com-directory.co popup advertisements.

The adware that cause annoying Googl.e.com-directory.co pop-ups to appear, can attack your personal computer’s browsers like the Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome and Edge. Maybe you approve the idea that the popups from it is just a small problem. But these undesired Googl.e.com-directory.co ads eat personal computer resources. Even worse, it be able to collect your surfing history and personal data, including passwords and credit card numbers. In the future, your personal data can be transferred third party companies.

The malicious apps from the ad supported software family that changes the settings of internet browsers usually hijacks only the Chrome, FF, Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Internet Explorer. However, possible situations, when any other internet browsers will be affected too. The ad supported software may change the Target property of a browser’s shortcut file, so every time you open the web browser, instead of your homepage, you’ll see the annoying Googl.e.com-directory.co web-page.

We suggest to get rid of the ‘ad supported’ software that responsible for browser redirect to the annoying Googl.e.com-directory.co web-site, as soon as you found this problem, as it can reroute your web-browser to web-resources that may load other malicious software on your computer.

Remove Googl.e.com-directory.co pop-ups (removal tutorial)

As with removing ad-supported software, malware or PUPs, there are few steps you can do. We recommend trying them all. If you do only one part of the tutorial, then it should be use malicious software removal tool, because it should remove adware and stop any further infection. But to completely delete Googl.e.com-directory.co redirect you’ll have to at least reset your internet browser settings like homepage, search provider by default and newtab page to default state, disinfect personal computer’s browsers shortcuts, uninstall all unwanted and suspicious software, and delete adware with malware removal utilities. Read it once, after doing so, please print this page as you may need to exit your internet browser or restart your computer.

To remove Googl.e.com-directory.co, use the steps below:

1. Remove Googl.e.com-directory.co pop-ups without any utilities
   • Remove potentially unwanted applications using Windows Control Panel
   • Get rid of Googl.e.com-directory.co from FF by resetting internet browser settings
   • Remove Googl.e.com-directory.co popup ads from IE
   • Remove Googl.e.com-directory.co pop-up advertisements from Chrome
   • Clean up the internet browsers shortcuts which have been infected by adware
   • Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks
2. How to automatically remove Googl.e.com-directory.co popup advertisements
   • Scan and free your web-browser of Googl.e.com-directory.co pop-up advertisements with Zemana Anti-malware
   • Scan and free your personal computer of adware with Malwarebytes
   • Run AdwCleaner to delete Googl.e.com-directory.co popup ads from web-browser
3. Run AdBlocker to block Googl.e.com-directory.co and stay safe online
4. Where the Googl.e.com-directory.co ads comes from
5. Finish words

Remove Googl.e.com-directory.co pop-ups without any utilities

These steps to remove Googl.e.com-directory.co redirect without any software are presented below. Be sure to carry out the step-by-step tutorial completely to fully get rid of this adware that causes a lot of intrusive Googl.e.com-directory.co ads.

Remove potentially unwanted applications using Windows Control Panel

First method for manual adware removal is to go into the Microsoft Windows “Control Panel”, then “Uninstall a program” console. Take a look at the list of software on your PC system and see if there are any suspicious and unknown software. If you see any, you need to uninstall them. Of course, before doing so, you can do an Web search to find details on the program. If it is a potentially unwanted application, ‘ad supported’ software or malware, you will likely find information that says so.

Press Windows button , then click Search . Type “Control panel”and press Enter. If you using Windows XP or Windows 7, then press “Start” and select “Control Panel”. It will display the Windows Control Panel as shown on the image below.

Further, press “Uninstall a program”
It will display a list of all programs installed on your computer. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall any suspicious and unknown software.

Get rid of Googl.e.com-directory.co from FF by resetting internet browser settings

If the FF web-browser application is hijacked, then resetting its settings can help. The Reset feature is available on all modern version of FF. A reset can fix many issues by restoring FF settings such as startpage, newtab page and search provider to its default state. It will save your personal information like saved passwords, bookmarks, and open tabs.

Start the Mozilla Firefox and press the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the browser screen. Next, click the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will open the slide-out menu.

Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you are unable to access the Help menu, then type “about:support” in your address bar and press Enter. It bring up the “Troubleshooting Information” page as on the image below.

Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation dialog box. The Mozilla Firefox will start a task to fix your problems that caused by the ad supported software that responsible for browser redirect to the intrusive Googl.e.com-directory.co web-site. When, it is complete, click the “Finish” button.

Remove Googl.e.com-directory.co popup ads from IE

In order to recover all web-browser home page, newtab page and search provider you need to reset the Internet Explorer to the state, that was when the MS Windows was installed on your computer.

First, launch the IE. Next, press the button in the form of gear (). It will show the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” as displayed on the screen below.

In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The Internet Explorer will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as shown in the following example. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.

You will now need to restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

Remove Googl.e.com-directory.co pop-up advertisements from Chrome

Reset Google Chrome settings is a easy way to remove the browser hijacker infections, harmful and ‘ad-supported’ extensions, as well as to restore the internet browser’s default search provider, newtab page and startpage that have been changed by adware which cause annoying Googl.e.com-directory.co popup ads to appear.

Open the Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal dotes (). It will open the drop-down menu. Select More Tools, then press Extensions.

Carefully browse through the list of installed addons. If the list has the addon labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following instructions: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy otherwise, just go to the step below.

Open the Chrome main menu again, press to “Settings” option.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the Reset settings section is visible, as shown on the screen below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.

Confirm your action, click the “Reset” button.

Clean up the internet browsers shortcuts which have been infected by adware

The ad supported software that responsible for the appearance of Googl.e.com-directory.co pop up advertisements, may hijack various Windows shortcuts on your desktop (most often, all web browsers shortcuts), so in this step you need to check and clean them by removing the argument such as http://site.address/.

Click the right mouse button to a desktop shortcut file which you use to start your web-browser. Next, select the “Properties” option. Important: necessary to click on the desktop shortcut file for the web-browser which is redirected to the Googl.e.com-directory.co or other annoying site.

Further, necessary to look at the text which is written in the “Target” field. The ad-supported software responsible for redirects to Googl.e.com-directory.co can replace the contents of this field, which describes the file to be start when you open your internet browser. Depending on the browser you are using, there should be:

• Google Chrome: chrome.exe
• Opera: opera.exe
• Firefox: firefox.exe
• Internet Explorer: iexplore.exe

If you’re seeing an unknown text similar to “http://site.addres” that has been added here, then you should remove it, as shown in the following example.

Next, press the “OK” button to save the changes. Now, when you launch the browser from this desktop shortcut file, it does not occur automatically redirect on the Googl.e.com-directory.co web-page or any other annoying pages. Once the step is done, we recommend to go to the next step.

Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks

If the annoying Googl.e.com-directory.co web-site opens automatically on Windows startup or at equal time intervals, then you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and remove all the tasks which have been created by malicious program.

Press Windows and R keys on the keyboard at the same time. This opens a dialog box that titled with Run. In the text field, type “taskschd.msc” (without the quotes) and click OK. Task Scheduler window opens. In the left-hand side, click “Task Scheduler Library”, as displayed on the screen below.

In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Please choose the first task, its properties will be open just below automatically. Next, click the Actions tab. Pay attention to that it launches on your computer. Found something like “explorer.exe http://site.address” or “chrome.exe http://site.address”, then remove this harmful task. If you are not sure that executes the task, check it through a search engine. If it’s a component of the malicious program, then this task also should be removed.

Having defined the task that you want to remove, then click on it with the right mouse button and choose Delete as on the image below.

Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks which have been created by adware. Once is finished, close the Task Scheduler window.

How to automatically remove Googl.e.com-directory.co popup advertisements

It is not enough to remove Googl.e.com-directory.co popup ads from your internet browser by completing the manual steps above to solve all problems. Some the ‘ad supported’ software related files may remain on your personal computer and they will restore the ad-supported software even after you remove it. For that reason we recommend to use free antimalware tool such as Zemana Anti-Malware, MalwareBytes Free and AdwCleaner. Either of those programs should has the ability to scan for and remove ad supported software responsible for redirects to Googl.e.com-directory.co.

Scan and free your web-browser of Googl.e.com-directory.co pop-up advertisements with Zemana Anti-malware

Zemana Anti-malware highly recommended, because it can detect security threats such adware and ad supported softwares which most ‘classic’ antivirus programs fail to pick up on. Moreover, if you have any Googl.e.com-directory.co advertisements removal problems which cannot be fixed by this tool automatically, then Zemana Anti-malware provides 24X7 online assistance from the highly experienced support staff.

Visit the page linked below to download Zemana Anti-Malware. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

After the downloading process is finished, close all apps and windows on your computer. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup as shown in the figure below.

When the install starts, you will see the “Setup wizard” that will allow you setup Zemana Anti-Malware on your computer.

Once setup is finished, you will see window as displayed on the image below.

Now click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the ‘ad supported’ software responsible for redirecting your internet browser to Googl.e.com-directory.co web-site. This process can take quite a while, so please be patient. During the scan Zemana Free will search for threats exist on your system.

After Zemana AntiMalware has completed scanning your computer, Zemana Free will show a list of found threats. Review the scan results and then click “Next” button.

The Zemana AntiMalware will remove adware that created to redirect your internet browser to various ad web-sites such as Googl.e.com-directory.co and add items to the Quarantine.

Scan and free your personal computer of adware with Malwarebytes

Get rid of Googl.e.com-directory.co redirect manually is difficult and often the adware is not completely removed. Therefore, we advise you to run the Malwarebytes Free which are completely clean your machine. Moreover, the free application will allow you to remove malicious software, PUPs, toolbars and browser hijackers that your PC system may be infected too.

Download MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) on your MS Windows Desktop by clicking on the link below.

When the downloading process is finished, close all software and windows on your personal computer. Double-click the install file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as displayed in the figure below, click the “Yes” button.

It will open the “Setup wizard” that will help you install MalwareBytes Free on your PC system. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.

Once install is complete successfully, click Finish button. MalwareBytes Anti Malware will automatically start and you can see its main screen as displayed in the figure below.

Now click the “Scan Now” button . MalwareBytes Free utility will begin scanning the whole machine to find out adware which designed to redirect your web-browser to various ad pages such as Googl.e.com-directory.co. While the MalwareBytes Free is checking, you can see count of objects it has identified either as being malware.

When the system scan is done, you can check all items detected on your personal computer. In order to remove all items, simply click “Quarantine Selected” button. The MalwareBytes will delete ‘ad supported’ software that causes intrusive Googl.e.com-directory.co advertisements and move threats to the program’s quarantine. Once the task is done, you may be prompted to restart the machine.

We suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the MalwareBytes to remove ad-supported software, hijacker infection and other malware.

Run AdwCleaner to delete Googl.e.com-directory.co popup ads from web-browser

AdwCleaner will help delete ‘ad supported’ software that responsible for the appearance of Googl.e.com-directory.co redirect that slow down your PC system. The browser hijackers, ad-supported software and other potentially unwanted apps slow your web browser down and try to trick you into clicking on shady advertisements and links. AdwCleaner removes the ad-supported software and lets you enjoy your computer without Googl.e.com-directory.co pop-up ads.

Installing the AdwCleaner is simple. First you will need to download AdwCleaner from the following link. Save it on your Windows desktop.

After the downloading process is done, open the file location. You will see an icon like below.

Double click the AdwCleaner desktop icon. When the tool is launched, you will see a screen as shown on the screen below.

Further, click “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the ad supported software responsible for redirecting your internet browser to Googl.e.com-directory.co web-site. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your computer and the speed of your computer. As the scanning ends, AdwCleaner will create a list of undesired and ad-supported software software as shown in the figure below.

You may move items to Quarantine (all selected by default) by simply press “Clean” button. It will display a dialog box as displayed in the following example.

You need to click “OK”. Once the clean-up is finished, the AdwCleaner may ask you to reboot your machine. When your PC is started, you will see an AdwCleaner log.

These steps are shown in detail in the following video guide.

Run AdBlocker to block Googl.e.com-directory.co and stay safe online

By installing an ad blocker application like AdGuard, you are able to stop Googl.e.com-directory.co, autoplaying video ads and delete lots of distracting and unwanted ads on sites.

Please go to the link below to download AdGuard. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop.

When downloading is finished, double-click the downloaded file to run it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as shown on the screen below.

Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed and an icon will be placed on your desktop. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick tutorial as displayed below.

Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick instructions which will allow you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you run your system, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop popups, web pages such as Googl.e.com-directory.co, as well as other harmful or misleading web-sites. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, that is located on your desktop.

Where the Googl.e.com-directory.co ads comes from

In many cases the adware is bundled with free software. So, think back, have you ever download and run any free applications? Because most users, in the Setup Wizard, simply press the Next button and do not read any information such as ‘Terms of use’ and ‘Software license’. This leads to the fact that the personal computer is infected and all your internet browsers configured to show a ton of intrusive Googl.e.com-directory.co pop up ads. Even removing the free applications that contains this ad supported software, the intrusive ads does not disappear. Therefore, you must follow the steps above to free your PC from the ad-supported software and thereby delete Googl.e.com-directory.co ads.

Finish words

Now your machine should be clean of the ad supported software related to Googl.e.com-directory.co pop-up advertisements. Delete AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted popup advertisements and intrusive harmful web-pages) and Zemana AntiMalware (to periodically scan your computer for new malicious software, hijackers and ad supported software). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for MS Windows operating system. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new browser hijackers, malicious software and ‘ad supported’ software are released.

If you are still having problems while trying to remove Googl.e.com-directory.co ads from your internet browser, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.