If your internet browser displays annoying downloadsettings.online pop-ups offering install a browser extension, then most probably your PC system has become a victim of adware (also known as ‘ad-supported’ software) that usually gets installed as a part of some freeware. Do not be surprised, it happens, especially if you are an active Web user. But this does not mean that you should reconcile with these unwanted redirects and popup ads. You need to perform the few simple steps below to clean your machine ASAP, as the adware can be a way to infect your computer with more dangerous malicious applications like viruses and trojans. The few simple steps which follow, I’ll show you how to delete ad supported software and thereby remove downloadsettings.online unwanted advertisements from your PC forever.
The malicious applications from the ad supported software family that modifies the settings of web-browsers usually affects only the Google Chrome, FF, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer. However, possible situations, when any other web-browsers will be affected too. The ad supported software may change the Target property of a browser’s shortcut, so every time you start the web browser, instead of your home page, you will see the unwanted downloadsettings.online ads.
What is more, the adware may open ads depend on a web-site that you are visiting. That is, it’s clear that this adware, without your permission, steals your private information such as: your ip address, what is a web page you are viewing now, what you are looking for on the Internet, which links you are clicking, and much, much more. The adware may monetize its functionality by collecting data from your browsing sessions and selling it to third party companies. This puts your personal information at a security risk.
Instructions, which is shown below, will allow you to clean your computer from the ad-supported software as well as get rid of downloadsettings.online annoying pop-up ads from the Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and MS Edge and other web browsers.
How does your personal computer get infected with downloadsettings.online redirect
Most commonly, the adware is bundled within the installation packages from a free hosting and file sharing web sites. So, install a free software is a a good chance that you will find some bundled ad supported software. If you do not know how to avoid it, then use a simple trick. During install, choose the Custom or Advanced install option. Next, click ‘Decline’ button and clear all checkboxes on offers that ask you to install an unknown applications. Moreover, please carefully read Term of use and User agreement before installing any programs or otherwise you can end up with another unwanted program on your personal computer like this adware that reroute the Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, FF and MS Edge onto the annoying downloadsettings.online page.
How to manually remove downloadsettings.online pop-ups
Without a doubt, the adware is harmful to your personal computer. So you need to quickly and completely remove this dangerous software. To remove this ad supported software, you can use the manual removal that are given below, or use an anti-malware utility for removing dangerous applications, such as Malwarebytes Anti-malware and AdwCleaner (both are free). I note that we recommend that you use automatic removal, which will help you to remove downloadsettings.online advertisements easily and safely. Manual removal is best used only if you are well versed in PC or in the case where adware is not removed automatically.
- Remove suspicious and unknown applications by using Windows Control Panel
- Get rid of downloadsettings.online pop-up ads from Firefox
- Delete downloadsettings.online advertisements from Chrome
- Delete downloadsettings.online pop-ups from Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to remove downloadsettings.online redirect
- Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks
Remove suspicious and unknown applications by using Windows Control Panel
Press Windows key 
, 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’ll open the Windows Control Panel as shown on the image below.
Next, press “Uninstall a program” 
It’ll open a list of all software. Scroll through the all list and uninstall any suspicious and unknown applications.
Get rid of downloadsettings.online pop-up ads from Firefox
First, launch the Mozilla Firefox. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (
). It will show the drop-down menu. Next, click the “Help” button (
).
In the Help menu, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page, click “Refresh Firefox” button.
Confirm your action, click the “Refresh Firefox”.
Delete downloadsettings.online advertisements from Chrome
Reset Google Chrome settings is a simple way to get rid of the malicious and ad-supported extensions, as well as to restore the browser’s startpage, new tab page and default search engine that have been replaced by ‘ad supported’ software.
- Open the Chrome, then press the Menu icon (icon in the form of three horizontal stripes).
- It will display the Chrome main menu. Click the “Settings” menu.
- Next, click the “Show advanced settings” link, that located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- Further, click the “Reset settings” button, that located at the bottom of the Advanced settings page.
- The Google Chrome will display the reset settings prompt as shown on the image above.
- Confirm the internet browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, look the article How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.
Delete downloadsettings.online pop-ups from Microsoft Internet Explorer
First, start the Microsoft Internet Explorer, then click 
button. Next, press “Internet Options” as shown on the screen below.
In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, press the “Reset” button. The IE will show the “Reset Internet Explorer” settings prompt. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and press Reset button.
You will now need to restart your personal computer for the changes to take effect. It will restore the Internet Explorer’s settings like start page and search provider by default to default state, disable ad-supported web-browser’s extensions and thereby remove the redirect to downloadsettings.online unwanted web-page.
Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to remove downloadsettings.online redirect
When the adware is started, it can also modify the web-browser’s shortcuts, adding an argument like “http://site.address” into the Target field. Due to this, every time you launch the browser, it will be redirected to an unwanted ads.
To clear the web browser shortcut, right-click to it and select Properties. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target field. Click inside, you will see a vertical line – arrow pointer, move it (using -> arrow key on your keyboard) to the right as possible. You will see a text that begins with “http://” that has been added here. You need to remove it.
When the argument is removed, click the OK button. You need to clean all shortcuts of all your browsers, as they may be infected too.
Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks
If the annoying downloadsettings.online web-page opens automatically on Windows startup or at equal time intervals, then you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and remove all the tasks that have been created by adware.
Press Windows and R keys on the keyboard simultaneously. This displays a prompt 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”, like below.
Task scheduler
In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Select the first task, its properties will be display just below automatically. Next, click the Actions tab. Pay attention to that it launches on your system. Found something like “explorer.exe http://site.address” or “chrome.exe http://site.address”, then you need get rid of it. If you are not sure that executes the task, check it through a search engine. If it is a component of the adware, 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 select Delete like below.
Delete a task
Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks that have been created by malicious software. Once is finished, close the Task Scheduler window.
How to remove downloadsettings.online with free malware removal program
Manual removal downloadsettings.online redirect requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the ad-supported software may be not completely removed. We suggest that use the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your system. Moreover, the free software will help you to delete malware, web browser hijackers and toolbars that your system may be infected too.
- Please download Malwarebytes to your desktop from the following link.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
317663 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- At the download page, click the Download button. Your web-browser will show the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your desktop.
- Once the download process is done, please close all software and open windows on your PC. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- This will run the Setup wizard of Malwarebytes onto your personal computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
- Once the Setup wizard has finished installing, the malware remover will start and open the main window.
- Further, click the “Scan Now” button . This will start scanning the whole personal computer to find out adware that redirects your internet browser to the downloadsettings.online annoying site. This process can take quite a while, so please be patient.
- Once the scan is complete, it will show a screen that contains a list of malicious applications that has been found.
- When you are ready, click on “Quarantine Selected” button to start cleaning your system. Once the procedure is done, you may be prompted to reboot your computer.
- Close the Anti-Malware and continue with the next step.
Video instruction, which reveals in detail the steps above.
How to block downloadsettings.online pop-ups
To increase your security and protect your computer against new unwanted advertisements and malicious pages, you need to use an application that blocks access to dangerous ads and web-pages. Moreover, the program can stop the open of intrusive advertising, that also leads to faster loading of pages and reduce the consumption of web traffic.
- Download AdGuard application by clicking on the following link.
Adguard download
25672 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- When the download is finished, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” window. Follow the prompts.
- Once the install is complete, click “Skip” to close it and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see a quick tutorial that will assist 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 PC system, AdGuard will start automatically and stop ads, downloadsettings.online redirects, as well as other malicious or misleading web pages. 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 Windows desktop.
Get rid of downloadsettings.online advertisements and malicious extensions with AdwCleaner.
If MalwareBytes cannot get rid of the unwanted downloadsettings.online ads from the Chrome, FF, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer, then we suggests to use the AdwCleaner. AdwCleaner is a free removal tool for ad-supported software, browser hijackers, PUPs and toolbars.
Download AdwCleaner from the link below.
220760 downloads
Version: 8.3.2
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 28, 2022
Once the download is finished, open the directory in which you saved it. Double click the AdwCleaner icon. Once this utility is started, you will see a screen such as below.
Now, press the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the malicious extensions and ad supported software which opens ads from downloadsettings.online web-site. When it has finished scanning your computer, it will open a scan report as shown below.
Review the report and then click “Clean” button. It will open a prompt. Click “OK”. When the cleaning procedure is finished, AdwCleaner may ask you to restart your personal computer.
Look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the AdwCleaner to remove ad supported software, browser hijackers and other malicious programs.
Finish words
Now your PC system should be free of the downloadsettings.online pop-up ads. Remove AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop-up ads and annoying malicious web pages) and Malwarebytes (to periodically scan your computer for new malware and adware). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Windows OS. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new dangerous applications and ‘ad supported’ software are released.
If you are still having problems while trying to get rid of downloadsettings.online pop-up ads from your machine, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
