How to uninstall Color Darker extension from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge

What is Color Darker?

Color Darker is supposed to be a browser extension that will improve the browsing experience, but according to security experts, it acts as Browser hijacker. The aim of browser hijackers is to generate advertising profit. For example, a browser hijacker redirects the user’s homepage to the browser hijacker’s page that contains advertisements or sponsored links; a browser hijacker redirects the user web searches to a link the browser hijacker wants the user to see, rather than to legitimate search provider results. When the user clicks on advertisements in the search results, browser hijackers makers gets paid. The the developers behind browser hijackers can gather sensitive info such as user browsing habits as well as browsing history and sell this information to third parties for marketing purposes.

If your PC has been infected the hijacker you’ll be forced to use its own search provider. It could seem not to be dangerous, but you still should be very careful, since it can show annoying and harmful advertisements created to force you into buying some questionable apps or products, provide search results that can redirect your web browser to some deceptive, misleading or harmful web-pages. We suggest that you use only the reliable search provider like Google, Yahoo or Bing.

And finally, the Color Darker hijacker be able to collect a wide variety of marketing-type data about you such as what web-sites you are opening, what you’re looking for the Internet and so on. This information, in the future, can be used for marketing purposes.

Browser hijackers are usually written in ways common to malicious software, spyware and adware. In order to get rid of browser hijacker and thus remove Color Darker, you will need execute the steps below or run free removal utility listed below.

How can a browser hijacker get on your PC

Usually, browser hijackers and potentially unwanted programs get into personal computers as part of a bundle with free applications, sharing files and other unsafe apps which users downloaded from the Internet. The PUPs developers pays software makers for distributing broser hijackers within their programs. So, optional programs is often included as part of the setup package. In order to avoid the installation of any browser hijackers like Color Darker: choose only Manual, Custom or Advanced setup mode and reject all bundled apps in which you are unsure.

Threat Summary

Name	Color Darker
Type	browser hijacker, redirect virus, PUP, search provider hijacker, homepage hijacker
Affected Browser Settings	search provider, startpage, newtab URL
Distribution	misleading pop up ads, fake update tools, free software setup files
Symptoms	Adverts appear in places they shouldn’t be. Your internet browser is redirected to websites you did not want. There is an unwanted application in the ‘App & Features’ section of Microsoft Windows settings. Unwanted internet browser addons or toolbar keep coming back. Your internet browser start page has changed without your permission.
Removal	Color Darker removal guide

How to remove Color Darker from Windows 10 (8, 7, XP)

There are several steps to removing Color Darker hijacker, because it installs itself so deeply into Microsoft Windows. You need to uninstall all suspicious and unknown software, then delete malicious plugins from the Internet Explorer, Edge, Firefox and Google Chrome and other web browsers you’ve installed. Finally, you need to reset your web browser settings to get rid of any changes Color Darker hijacker has made, and then check your personal computer with Zemana Anti-Malware, MalwareBytes Free or HitmanPro to ensure the browser hijacker is fully removed. It will take a while.

To remove Color Darker, perform the steps below:

1. How to manually remove Color Darker
   • Check the list of installed software first
   • Remove Color Darker from Chrome
   • Delete Color Darker hijacker from Mozilla Firefox
   • Get rid of Color Darker browser hijacker from IE
2. Automatic Removal of Color Darker
3. How to stop Color Darker redirect

How to manually remove Color Darker

Manually deleting the Color Darker hijacker is also possible, although this approach takes time and technical prowess. You can sometimes locate hijacker in your computer’s list of installed applications and uninstall it as you would any other unwanted program.

Check the list of installed software first

First, you should try to identify and delete the program that causes the appearance of intrusive ads or browser redirect, using the ‘Uninstall a program’ which is located in the ‘Control panel’.

Windows 7	Windows 8
Click ‘Start’. In the Start menu select ‘Control Panel’. Find and select ‘Programs and Features’ or ‘Uninstall a program’. Select the program. Click ‘Uninstall’.	Press and hold Windows key and hit X key. Select ‘Programs and Features’ from the menu. Select the program. Click ‘Uninstall’.
Windows 10	Mac OS
Press and hold Windows key and hit X key. Select ‘Programs and Features’ from the menu. Select the program. Click ‘Uninstall’.	On the top menu select ‘Go’, then ‘Applications’. Drag an unwanted application to the Trash bin. Right-click on the ‘Trash’ and select ‘Empty Trash’.

Remove Color Darker from Chrome

If you are getting Color Darker instead of your startpage or search engine, then you can try to delete it by resetting Google Chrome to its default values. It will also clear cookies, content and site data, temporary and cached data. Essential information like bookmarks, browsing history, passwords, cookies, auto-fill data and personal dictionaries will not be removed.

First open the Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal dots ().

It will open the Chrome menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed extensions. If the list has the extension signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following steps: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.

Open the Chrome menu once again. Further, press the option named “Settings”.

The web-browser will display the settings screen. Another way to display the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web-browser adress bar and press Enter

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

The Google Chrome will display the confirmation dialog box as on the image below.

You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The internet browser will run the task of cleaning. After it’s complete, the internet browser’s settings including new tab, start page and search provider by default back to the values which have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your computer.

Delete Color Darker hijacker from Mozilla Firefox

The Firefox reset will fix modified preferences, disable malicious extensions and restore security settings changed by browser hijackers. However, your saved passwords and bookmarks will not be changed, deleted or cleared.

Click the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and click the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as on the image below.

A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button like below.

Follow the onscreen procedure to revert back your Firefox browser settings to their original settings.

Get rid of Color Darker browser hijacker from IE

By resetting Microsoft Internet Explorer internet browser you revert back your web browser settings to its default state. This is basic when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by browser hijacker such as Color Darker.

First, run the Internet Explorer, press ) button. Next, click “Internet Options” as displayed on the screen below.

In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, press Reset button. The Microsoft Internet Explorer will display the Reset Internet Explorer settings prompt. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and click Reset button.

You will now need to reboot your PC system for the changes to take effect. It will remove Color Darker browser hijacker, disable malicious and ad-supported web browser’s extensions and restore the Microsoft Internet Explorer’s settings such as newtab page, start page and search engine by default to default state.

Automatic Removal of Color Darker

Manual removal is not always as effective as you might think. Often, even the most experienced users can not completely remove browser hijacker from the infected PC system. So, we recommend to scan your personal computer for any remaining malicious components with free browser hijacker removal apps below.

Use Zemana to remove Color Darker hijacker

You can download and use the Zemana Anti Malware for free. This antimalware utility will scan all the Windows registry entries and files in your device along with the system settings and web-browser extensions. If it finds any malware, adware software or malicious extensions then the Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) will delete them from your computer completely.

1. Download Zemana on your computer from the link below.
   
   

   Zemana AntiMalware
   164028 downloads
   Author: Zemana Ltd
   Category: Security tools
   Update: July 16, 2019
   
2. 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 PC system.
3. Select setup language and click ‘OK’ button.
4. On the next screen ‘Setup Wizard’ simply press the ‘Next’ button and follow the prompts.
   
5. Finally, once the setup is finished, Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) will launch automatically. Else, if does not then double-click on the Zemana Free icon on your desktop.
6. Now that you have successfully install Zemana Anti-Malware, let’s see How to use Zemana Anti Malware to remove Color Darker hijacker from your computer.
7. After you have started the Zemana Free, you will see a window as shown on the screen below, just click ‘Scan’ button for checking your PC system for the browser hijacker.
   
8. Now pay attention to the screen while Zemana Free scans your device.
   
9. Once Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) has finished scanning, you can check all threats found on your computer. When you’re ready, click ‘Next’ button.
   
10. Zemana may require a reboot PC in order to complete the Color Darker browser hijacker removal process.
11. If you want to completely remove hijacker from your device, then press ‘Quarantine’ icon, select all malware, adware, PUPs and other threats and click Delete.
12. Restart your PC to complete the browser hijacker removal procedure.

Use HitmanPro to remove Color Darker hijacker

Hitman Pro is a malware removal tool that is created to detect and remove hijackers, potentially unwanted apps, adware software and suspicious processes from the affected PC system. It is a portable program which can be run instantly from USB flash drive. HitmanPro have an advanced system monitoring tool that uses a whitelist database to stop questionable tasks and programs.

First, please go to the following link, then click the ‘Download’ button in order to download the latest version of HitmanPro.

Once downloading is done, open the folder in which you saved it. You will see an icon like below.

Double click the HitmanPro desktop icon. Once the tool is opened, you will see a screen like below.

Further, click “Next” button to begin checking your PC for the Color Darker browser hijacker. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your PC and the speed of your device. After the system scan is finished, Hitman Pro will display you the results as shown in the following example.

Make sure all items have ‘checkmark’ and click “Next” button. It will open a dialog box, press the “Activate free license” button.

Delete Color Darker browser hijacker with MalwareBytes

Remove Color Darker hijacker manually is difficult and often the browser hijacker is not fully removed. Therefore, we advise you to use the MalwareBytes Anti Malware which are completely clean your personal computer. Moreover, this free program will help you to delete malicious software, potentially unwanted programs, toolbars and adware software that your computer can be infected too.

1. MalwareBytes can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your Desktop.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware
   326382 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: April 15, 2020
   
2. At the download page, click on the Download button. Your internet browser will open the “Save as” dialog box. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
3. After the downloading process is complete, please close all programs and open windows on your computer. Double-click on the icon that’s named MBSetup.
4. This will run the Setup wizard of MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) onto your device. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
5. When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) will start and show the main window.
6. Further, click the “Scan” button to detect Color Darker hijacker. While the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware program is scanning, you can see how many objects it has identified as threat.
7. After the scanning is complete, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) will display you the results.
8. Review the scan results and then press the “Quarantine” button. When the process is done, you may be prompted to restart the device.
9. Close the Anti-Malware and continue with the next step.

Video instruction, which reveals in detail the steps above.

How to stop Color Darker redirect

If you want to remove annoying advertisements, web browser redirects and popups, then install an ad-blocker program like AdGuard. It can stop unwanted advertisements, pop ups and block web-sites from tracking your online activities when using the Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Chrome. So, if you like surf the Web, but you don’t like annoying advertisements and want to protect your PC from harmful websites, then the AdGuard is your best choice.

Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you will need to download AdGuard on your Microsoft Windows Desktop by clicking on the link below.

When the downloading process is finished, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as shown below.

Follow the prompts. When the installation is complete, you will see a window such as the one below.

You can click “Skip” to close the install program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial which 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 launch your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and stop unwanted ads, block Color Darker, as well as other malicious 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 may be found on your desktop.

Finish words

We suggest that you keep Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) (to periodically scan your personal computer for new hijackers and other malicious software) and AdGuard (to help you stop annoying popup advertisements and malicious web-pages). Moreover, to prevent any hijacker, please stay clear of unknown and third party software, make sure that your antivirus application, turn on the option to detect potentially unwanted applications.

If you need more help with Color Darker related issues, go to here.