What is Ad Cleaner
Ad Cleaner is a PUP (potentially unwanted program) that falls under the category of Adware . Adware is considered by many to be synonymous with ‘malicious software’. It’s a type of malicious software which displays unwanted advertisements to computer users. Some examples include popup ads, push notifications or unclosable windows. Ad Cleaner can display annoying ads on your screen so that your cannot block them, redirect your web-browser to scam sites, and it can cause malicious web-pages to pop up on your internet browser.
Unwanted ads
Even worse, Ad Cleaner can collect lots of sensitive information about you which can be later transferred third party companies. It is able to gather your surfing history and user info, including passwords and credit card numbers. You do not know if your home address, account names and passwords are safe.
How does Ad Cleaner get on your PC
Adware can be installed onto your personal computer via infected web-sites, when you open email attachments, anytime you download and install freeware. In many cases, adware spreads as a part of the installers from file sharing and torrents web-pages. So, install a free software is a a good chance that you will find a bundled adware software. If you don’t know how to avoid it, then use a simple trick. During the setup, choose the Custom or Advanced setup method. Next, press ‘Decline’ button and clear all checkboxes on offers that ask you to install third-party programs. Moreover, please carefully read Term of use and User agreement before installing any new software.
Threat Summary
| Name | Ad Cleaner |
| Type | adware, potentially unwanted program (PUP), popup advertisements, pop-up virus, popups |
| Symptoms |
|
| Removal | Ad Cleaner removal guide |
How to remove Ad Cleaner from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
We are presenting a few ways to get rid of Ad Cleaner from the Edge, Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer using only standart Microsoft Windows features. Most of adware software and PUPs can be deleted through these processes. If these steps does not help to remove Ad Cleaner , then it is better to use a free malicious software removal utilities linked below.
To remove Ad Cleaner, perform the following steps:
- How to remove Ad Cleaner adware without any software
- Automatic Removal of Ad Cleaner adware software
- How to stay safe online
How to remove Ad Cleaner adware without any software
First try to get rid of Ad Cleaner adware manually; to do this, follow the steps below. Of course, manual adware removal requires more time and may not be suitable for those who are poorly versed in computer settings. In this case, we recommend that you scroll down to the section that describes how to remove Ad Cleaner using free utilities.
Uninstall recently added adware
When troubleshooting a device, one common step is go to MS Windows Control Panel and uninstall dubious applications. The same approach will be used in the removal of Ad Cleaner adware. Please use instructions based on your Windows version.
Make sure you have closed all internet browsers and other apps. Press CTRL, ALT, DEL keys together to open the MS Windows Task Manager.
Click on the “Processes” tab, look for something dubious that is the Ad Cleaner adware then right-click it and select “End Task” or “End Process” option. Most commonly, malicious software masks itself to avoid detection by imitating legitimate Windows processes. A process is particularly suspicious: it’s taking up a lot of memory (despite the fact that you closed all of your applications), its name is not familiar to you (if you are in doubt, you can always check the application by doing a search for its name in Google, Yahoo or Bing).
Next, remove any unwanted and suspicious applications from your Control panel.
Windows 10, 8.1, 8
Now, press the Windows button, type “Control panel” in search and press Enter. Select “Programs and Features”, then “Uninstall a program”.
Look around the entire list of software installed on your PC. Most likely, one of them is the Ad Cleaner adware. Choose the dubious application or the application that name is not familiar to you and uninstall it.
Windows Vista, 7
From the “Start” menu in Microsoft Windows, select “Control Panel”. Under the “Programs” icon, select “Uninstall a program”.
Select the questionable or any unknown programs, then press “Uninstall/Change” button to uninstall this unwanted application from your computer.
Windows XP
Click the “Start” button, select “Control Panel” option. Click on “Add/Remove Programs”.
Choose an undesired program, then click “Change/Remove” button. Follow the prompts.
Remove Ad Cleaner from Mozilla Firefox by resetting web browser settings
If the Firefox internet browser application 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 Firefox settings like newtab page, homepage and search engine to their original state. However, your saved bookmarks and passwords will not be lost. This will not affect your history, passwords, bookmarks, and other saved data.
First, start the Firefox. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (
). It will show the drop-down menu. Next, press the Help button (
).
In the Help menu press the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page press on “Refresh Firefox” button as shown on the screen below.
Confirm your action, click the “Refresh Firefox”.
Remove Ad Cleaner adware software from Google Chrome
Reset Chrome will assist you to get rid of Ad Cleaner adware from your browser as well as to restore browser settings affected by adware. All undesired, malicious and adware addons will also be uninstalled from the browser. Essential information like bookmarks, browsing history, passwords, cookies, auto-fill data and personal dictionaries will not be removed.
First open the Google Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal dots (
).
It will display the Google Chrome menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed plugins. If the list has the extension signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following instructions: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Open the Google Chrome menu once again. Further, press the option named “Settings”.
The browser will show the settings screen. Another way to display the Google Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the internet browser adress bar and press Enter
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and press the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset” section is visible, as shown on the screen below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
The Chrome will display the confirmation prompt like below.
You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The internet browser will run the procedure of cleaning. When it’s done, the internet browser’s settings including newtab, search engine and start page back to the values that have been when the Chrome was first installed on your device.
Delete Ad Cleaner from IE
By resetting IE internet browser you return your internet browser settings to its default state. This is basic when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by Ad Cleaner .
First, launch the IE, 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 displayed below.
In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then press the “Reset” button. The IE will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” dialog box. Further, click the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, click the “Reset” button like below.
After the procedure is finished, press “Close” button. Close the Internet Explorer and restart your PC for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your web browser’s startpage, default search engine and new tab page to default state.
Automatic Removal of Ad Cleaner adware software
We have compiled some of the best adware software removing tools that can look for and remove Ad Cleaner adware , unwanted web-browser extensions and PUPs.
How to get rid of Ad Cleaner adware with Zemana AntiMalware
If you need a free tool that can easily remove Ad Cleaner adware, then use Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM). This is a very handy program, which is primarily created to quickly find and delete adware software and malicious software affecting web browsers and changing their settings.
- First, click the following link, then press the ‘Download’ button in order to download the latest version of Zemana.
Zemana AntiMalware
164032 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- Once you have downloaded the installation file, make sure to double click on the Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. This would start the Zemana Free installation on your device.
- Select installation language and click ‘OK’ button.
- On the next screen ‘Setup Wizard’ simply press the ‘Next’ button and follow the prompts.
- Finally, once the setup is done, Zemana Anti Malware will run automatically. Else, if doesn’t then double-click on the Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) icon on your desktop.
- Now that you have successfully install Zemana Free, let’s see How to use Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) to remove Ad Cleaner from your computer.
- After you have opened the Zemana Free, you will see a window as shown on the screen below, just press ‘Scan’ button for scanning your device for the adware.
- Now pay attention to the screen while Zemana Anti-Malware scans your computer.
- When Zemana has finished scanning your computer, Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) will open you the results. You may delete threats (move to Quarantine) by simply press ‘Next’ button.
- Zemana AntiMalware may require a reboot PC system in order to complete the Ad Cleaner removal process.
- If you want to permanently delete adware software from your computer, then click ‘Quarantine’ icon, select all malware, adware software, potentially unwanted apps and other threats and click Delete.
- Restart your computer to complete the adware software removal procedure.
Remove Ad Cleaner adware software and malicious extensions with Hitman Pro
HitmanPro is a malware removal utility that is designed to look for and terminate hijackers, potentially unwanted software, adware and dubious processes from the infected device. It is a portable program which can be run instantly from USB stick. HitmanPro have an advanced device monitoring utility which uses a white-list database to isolate suspicious processes and programs.
- Download HitmanPro on your Windows Desktop by clicking on the link below.
- After downloading is complete, double click the HitmanPro icon. Once this utility is started, click “Next” button for checking your PC for the Ad Cleaner adware. This process can take some time, so please be patient. While the HitmanPro application is checking, you may see how many objects it has identified as threat.
- After HitmanPro has completed scanning, HitmanPro will display a scan report. In order to delete all items, simply press “Next” button. Now click the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial to remove all malicious software found.
Get rid of Ad Cleaner adware with MalwareBytes
Manual Ad Cleaner adware removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the adware software can be not completely removed. We suggest that use the MalwareBytes that are completely free your PC of adware. Moreover, the free program will help you to get rid of malware, potentially unwanted applications, hijackers and toolbars that your computer can be infected too.
Download MalwareBytes Free on your computer from the following link.
326384 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
Once downloading is done, close all software and windows on your computer. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s called MBSetup similar to the one below.
When the installation starts, you will see the Setup wizard which will help you install Malwarebytes on your personal computer.
Once installation is done, you’ll see window like the one below.
Now click the “Scan” button to start checking your personal computer for the Ad Cleaner adware. When a malicious software, adware software or potentially unwanted software are found, the count of the security threats will change accordingly.
When the checking is done, MalwareBytes will display a list of all threats detected by the scan. Review the results once the utility has done the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply click “Quarantine” button.
The Malwarebytes will now begin to remove Ad Cleaner adware. Once finished, you may be prompted to reboot your personal computer.
The following video explains steps on how to remove hijacker, adware and other malware with MalwareBytes AntiMalware.
How to stay safe online
It is important to run adblocker apps such as AdGuard to protect your PC system from malicious websites. Most security experts says that it is okay to block advertisements. You should do so just to stay safe! And, of course, the AdGuard can to block misleading and other unwanted web-sites.
- Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you’ll need to download AdGuard by clicking on the link below.
Adguard download
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” program window. Follow the prompts.
- After the install is complete, click “Skip” to close the setup application and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will help you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you start your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and stop unwanted ads, block Ad Cleaner, as well as other malicious or misleading web pages. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, which is located on your desktop.
To sum up
After completing the steps shown above, your computer should be clean from this adware and other malicious software. The Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge and Internet Explorer will no longer display any unwanted ads when you surf the Internet. Unfortunately, if the steps 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 Ad Cleaner adware.
