Q. I keep getting unwanted pop-ups in my web-browser and sent to the Add-extension.xyz web-site I have never heard of. What is this, my system has been infected by adware? Please help me.
A. Sounds like some kind of adware software on your computer. Most likely, one of the programs you installed came with adware (also known as ‘ad-supported’ software). What is Adware? An Introduction to Adware. Adware is something which you should be aware of even if you use Google Chrome or other modern browser. This is the name given to apps that have been created to show intrusive advertisements and popup deals onto your internet browser screen. The reason for adware’s existence is to generate revenue for its developer.
Does adware steal your personal data? Adware software may monetize its functionality by gathering sensitive info from your browsing sessions. This privacy information, subsequently, can be easily transferred third party companies. This puts your user info at a security risk.
Adware usually is bundled within some free applications that you download off of the Internet. So, think back, have you ever download and run any free software. In order to avoid infection, in the Setup wizard, you should be be proactive and carefully read the ‘Terms of use’, the ‘license agreement’ and other install screens, as well as to always choose the ‘Manual’ or ‘Advanced’ setup option, when installing anything downloaded from the Internet.
Threat Summary
Name | Add-extension.xyz |
Type | adware, PUP (potentially unwanted program), pop ups, pop-up advertisements, pop-up virus |
Symptoms |
|
Removal | Add-extension.xyz removal guide |
Adware software is usually written in ways common to malware, spyware and hijackers. In order to get rid of adware and thus delete Add-extension.xyz popups, you will need use the following steps or use free adware removal utility listed below.
How to remove Add-extension.xyz pop-ups from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
When the adware gets installed on your system without your knowledge, it is not easy to uninstall. In many cases, there is no Uninstall application which simply uninstall the adware related to the Add-extension.xyz pop-ups from your personal computer. So, we suggest using several well-proven free specialized tools such as Zemana Free, MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) or HitmanPro. But the best solution to get rid of Add-extension.xyz pop-up will be to perform several manual steps, after that additionally run antimalware utilities.
To remove Add-extension.xyz, execute the steps below:
- Manual Add-extension.xyz pop up removal
- Use free malware removal tools to fully get rid of Add-extension.xyz popups
- Use AdBlocker to stop Add-extension.xyz popups and stay safe online
- To sum up
Manual Add-extension.xyz pop up removal
If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to delete the Add-extension.xyz pop-ups from the Firefox, MS Edge, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer browsers.
Removing the Add-extension.xyz, check the list of installed apps first
Check out the Microsoft Windows Control Panel (Programs and Features section) to see all installed programs. We suggest to click on the “Date Installed” in order to sort the list of apps by the date you installed them. If you see any unknown and dubious programs, they are the ones you need to delete.
Press Windows button , then click Search . Type “Control panel”and press Enter. If you using Windows XP or Windows 7, then click “Start” and select “Control Panel”. It will open the Windows Control Panel such as the one below.
Further, press “Uninstall a program”
It will show a list of all software installed on your computer. Scroll through the all list, and delete any suspicious and unknown apps.
Remove Add-extension.xyz pop up from Internet Explorer
In order to restore all browser newtab, search provider and home page you need to reset the Microsoft Internet Explorer to the state, that was when the Microsoft Windows was installed on your PC.
First, run the Internet Explorer, then click ‘gear’ icon . It will show the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the web browser, then click the “Internet Options” as shown in the following example.
In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then click the “Reset” button. The Internet Explorer will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” prompt. Further, click the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, press the “Reset” button as shown in the figure below.
When the task is complete, press “Close” button. Close the Internet Explorer and restart your computer for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your web-browser’s newtab page, home page and search engine by default to default state.
Remove Add-extension.xyz pop-ups from Chrome
Reset Google Chrome settings is a easy way to delete Add-extension.xyz popups, harmful and ‘ad-supported’ addons, web browser’s homepage, search provider by default and newtab which have been changed by adware software.
- First run the Google Chrome and press Menu button (small button in the form of three dots).
- It will display the Google Chrome main menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You will see the list of installed extensions. If the list has the extension labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following steps: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Chrome menu once again, press the “Settings” menu.
- You will see the Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and click “Advanced” link.
- Scroll down again and click the “Reset” button.
- The Google Chrome will open the reset profile settings page as shown on the screen above.
- Next click the “Reset” button.
- Once this procedure is done, your web-browser’s search engine by default, new tab page and start page will be restored to their original defaults.
- To learn more, read the post How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.
Remove Add-extension.xyz from Mozilla Firefox by resetting internet browser settings
If the Mozilla Firefox browser program is hijacked, then resetting its settings can help. The Reset feature is available on all modern version of Firefox. A reset can fix many issues by restoring Mozilla Firefox settings such as homepage, default search engine and new tab to their default values. It will keep your personal information such as browsing history, bookmarks, passwords and web form auto-fill data.
First, launch the Firefox. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will open the drop-down menu. Next, press the Help button ().
In the Help menu click the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page click on “Refresh Firefox” button as shown in the following example.
Confirm your action, click the “Refresh Firefox”.
Use free malware removal tools to fully get rid of Add-extension.xyz popups
Is your Microsoft Windows machine affected with adware? Then don’t worry, in the guidance below, we’re sharing best malicious software removal utilities that can be used to get rid of Add-extension.xyz pop ups from the Microsoft Edge, IE, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome and your PC system.
Run Zemana to remove Add-extension.xyz popups
Zemana Free is a malware removal utility created for Windows. This tool will allow you remove Add-extension.xyz pop up, various types of malicious software (including browser hijackers and potentially unwanted apps) from your computer. It has simple and user friendly interface. While the Zemana Anti Malware does its job, your system will run smoothly.
- Download Zemana Anti Malware from the following link. Save it on your Desktop.
Zemana AntiMalware
164032 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- Once you have downloaded the install file, make sure to double click on the Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. This would start the Zemana install on your PC system.
- Select install language and click ‘OK’ button.
- On the next screen ‘Setup Wizard’ simply click the ‘Next’ button and follow the prompts.
- Finally, once the installation is finished, Zemana Anti Malware will start automatically. Else, if doesn’t then double-click on the Zemana Anti-Malware icon on your desktop.
- Now that you have successfully install Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM), let’s see How to use Zemana to remove Add-extension.xyz pop ups from your computer.
- After you have started the Zemana AntiMalware, you will see a window as displayed in the figure below, just click ‘Scan’ button . Zemana Anti-Malware utility will begin scanning the whole PC system to find out adware.
- Now pay attention to the screen while Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) scans your system.
- Once the system scan is finished, a list of all threats found is produced. Next, you need to click ‘Next’ button.
- Zemana Free may require a restart computer in order to complete the Add-extension.xyz popups removal procedure.
- If you want to fully remove adware from your personal computer, then press ‘Quarantine’ icon, select all malware, adware, PUPs and other threats and click Delete.
- Reboot your computer to complete the adware removal procedure.
Scan and free your computer of adware with Hitman Pro
HitmanPro is a portable program which requires no hard installation to detect and remove adware software that causes Add-extension.xyz popup. The application itself is small in size (only a few Mb). Hitman Pro does not need any drivers and special dlls. It’s probably easier to use than any alternative malicious software removal tools you’ve ever tried. Hitman Pro works on 64 and 32-bit versions of Windows 10, 8, 7 and XP. It proves that removal utility can be just as useful as the widely known antivirus programs.
Installing the HitmanPro is simple. First you will need to download HitmanPro on your Windows Desktop from the following link.
Download and run Hitman Pro on your system. Once started, press “Next” button to perform a system scan for the adware that causes intrusive Add-extension.xyz pop-ups. A system scan may take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your system. When a malware, adware or PUPs are detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. .
After that process is finished, you will be displayed the list of all found threats on your machine.
In order to remove all items, simply click Next button.
It will display a dialog box, click the “Activate free license” button to start the free 30 days trial to delete all malicious software found.
How to delete Add-extension.xyz with MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM)
If you are having problems with Add-extension.xyz pop ups removal, then check out MalwareBytes. This is a utility that can help clean up your personal computer and improve your speeds for free. Find out more below.
First, visit the page linked below, then press the ‘Download’ button in order to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Anti Malware.
326385 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
After the download is done, close all programs and windows on your system. Double-click the install file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up similar to the one below, click the “Yes” button.
It will open the “Setup wizard” which will help you install MalwareBytes AntiMalware on your personal computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once installation is complete successfully, press Finish button. MalwareBytes Anti Malware will automatically start and you can see its main screen as displayed on the image below.
Now click the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan for the adware which cause unwanted Add-extension.xyz pop ups. This procedure can take quite a while, so please be patient. When a threat is found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is done.
When that process is finished, you’ll be shown the list of all detected items on your computer. All detected threats will be marked. You can delete them all by simply click “Quarantine Selected” button. The MalwareBytes will get rid of adware software that causes Add-extension.xyz popups in your web-browser and add threats to the Quarantine. Once the clean up is finished, you may be prompted to reboot the machine.
We recommend you look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the MalwareBytes Free to remove adware, hijacker infection and other malicious software.
Use AdBlocker to stop Add-extension.xyz popups and stay safe online
Run an adblocker utility like AdGuard will protect you from harmful ads and content. Moreover, you can find that the AdGuard have an option to protect your privacy and block phishing and spam web-sites. Additionally, ad blocker apps will allow you to avoid undesired pop-ups and unverified links that also a good way to stay safe online.
Download AdGuard on your system by clicking on the following link.
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
Once the downloading process is complete, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as shown on the screen below.
Follow the prompts. Once the installation is complete, you will see a window as shown in the following example.
You can click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you start your system, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop undesired ads, block Add-extension.xyz, as well as other harmful or misleading web-sites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, that is located on your desktop.
To sum up
Once you’ve complete the few simple steps above, your personal computer should be clean from this adware software and other malware. The Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and MS Edge will no longer display annoying Add-extension.xyz webpage when you surf the Web. Unfortunately, if the step-by-step guidance does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help.
Please create a new question by using the “Ask Question” button in the Questions and Answers. Try to give us some details about your problems, so we can try to help you more accurately. Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with the annoying Add-extension.xyz popup.