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Signs of adware
- Pop-ups or ads on sites that never had them.
- Your home page or search engine changed without you choosing it.
- Searches that pass through an unfamiliar site before the results.
- Toolbars, extensions or programs you do not remember installing.
- Our health check finds content injected into the page.
One sign on its own is not proof. A password manager, a translator or an ad blocker can also add content to pages, for normal reasons.
Clean your browser
1. Remove unknown extensions. Open the extensions page and remove anything you do not recognise or no longer use:
| Browser | Extensions page | Reset settings |
|---|---|---|
| Chrome | Type chrome://extensions in the address bar | Settings → Reset settings → Restore settings to their original defaults |
| Edge | Type edge://extensions | Settings → Reset settings → Restore settings to their default values |
| Firefox | Type about:addons | Type about:support → Refresh Firefox |
| Safari (Mac) | Safari → Settings → Extensions | Check the home page and search engine in Safari → Settings |
2. Reset the browser. A reset turns off extensions and puts the home page, search engine and start-up pages back to normal. It keeps your bookmarks and saved passwords.
Scan your device
- Windows: remove unknown programs in Settings → Apps → Installed apps. Then open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Scan options and run a Full scan. For stubborn adware, choose Microsoft Defender Offline scan, which restarts the computer to scan it.
- Mac: remove unknown apps from Applications. In System Settings, search for Login Items and remove anything you do not recognise, then search for Profiles and remove any profile you did not install (a work or school Mac may have profiles on purpose).
- Android: remove unknown apps, especially ones that show ads outside the app. In the Play Store, open your profile → Play Protect → Scan.
- iPhone and iPad: adware outside the browser is rare. Clear Safari's website data in Settings → Apps → Safari, and check for unknown profiles in Settings → General → VPN & Device Management.
If it comes back
Adware that returns after a reset usually has a program or profile reinstalling it. At that point a dedicated security app is worth it: it finds what the built-in tools miss, and many include real-time protection and blocking of dangerous sites. Most offer a free scan or a trial, so you can clean the device before you decide to pay.
Run our health check after each step. When it finds nothing injected, the browser is clean.
Avoid it next time
- Download software only from the maker's own site or your device's app store.
- During installs, choose Custom or Advanced and untick any extra offers.
- Be wary of pop-ups that say your device is infected and push you to install something. That is a common way adware arrives.
- Keep your browser up to date. How to update your browser.