How to remove Adchoices [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

Remove Adchoices ads

In the guide below we will have a look at the adware and how to remove Adchoices from Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox and Edge internet browsers for MS Windows OS, natively or by using a few free removal utilities. Read it once, after doing so, please print this page as you may need to close your browser or reboot your computer.

Manual Adchoices pop-up ads removal

The few simple steps will help you get rid of Adchoices advertisements. These Adchoices removal steps work for the Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Edge, as well as every version of Microsoft Windows operating system.

Delete Adchoices related applications through the Control Panel of your computer

We recommend that you start the personal computer cleaning process by checking the list of installed programs and delete all unknown or suspicious programs. This is a very important step, as mentioned above, very often the malicious software such as ‘ad supported’ software and hijacker infections may be bundled with free software. Remove the unwanted programs can remove the unwanted advertisements or browser redirect.

It will display the Windows Control Panel as shown on the image below.

Next, press “Uninstall a program”
It will open a list of all software installed on your PC. Scroll through the all list, and remove any suspicious and unknown programs. To quickly find the latest installed applications, we recommend sort programs by date in the Control panel.

Clean up the browsers shortcuts that have been hijacked by adware

When the adware is started, it can also alter the browser’s shortcuts, adding an argument like “http://site.address” into the Target field. Due to this, every time you start the web browser, it will display an undesired web-site.

Click the right mouse button to a desktop shortcut which you use to open your internet browser. Next, select the “Properties” option. Important: necessary to click on the desktop shortcut for the internet browser that is re-directed to Adchoices ads or other unwanted site.

Further, necessary to look at the text which is written in the “Target” field. The adware can replace the contents of this field, which describes the file to be start when you run your web browser. Depending on the browser you are using, there should be:

• Google Chrome: chrome.exe
• Opera: opera.exe
• Firefox: firefox.exe
• Internet Explorer: iexplore.exe

If you are seeing an unknown text like “http://site.addres” that has been added here, then you should remove it, as on the image below.

Next, click the “OK” button to save the changes. Now, when you launch the browser from this desktop shortcut, it does not occur automatically redirect on the Adchoices ads or any other unwanted web sites. Once the step is finished, we recommend to go to the next step.

Get rid of Adchoices from Firefox by resetting internet browser settings

If the FF settings such as startpage, newtab page and default search provider have been modified by the adware, then resetting it to the default state can help.

First, run the Firefox and click button. It will show the drop-down menu on the right-part of the browser. Further, click the Help button () like below

.

In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the internet browser adress bar and press Enter. It will show the “Troubleshooting Information” page as on the image below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.

It will display the confirmation prompt. Further, click the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Mozilla Firefox will begin a task to fix your problems that caused by the adware that designed to reroute your browser to various Adchoices ad sites. Once, it’s complete, click the “Finish” button.

Remove Adchoices ads from Google Chrome

Reset Google Chrome settings is a simple way to remove the hijacker infections, malicious and ‘ad-supported’ extensions, as well as to restore the internet browser’s homepage, newtab page and default search engine that have been replaced by ad supported software that created to reroute your browser to various Adchoices ad web pages.

First open the Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will open the main menu. Further, press the option named “Settings”. Another way to open the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the browser adress bar and press Enter.

The web-browser will show the settings screen. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Show advanced settings” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset settings” section is visible, as shown on the image below and click the “Reset settings” button.

The Google Chrome will display the confirmation dialog box. You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The internet browser will launch the process of cleaning. When it is done, the web browser’s settings including new tab, start page and search engine by default back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your system.

Get rid of Adchoices advertisements from Internet Explorer

The Microsoft Internet Explorer reset is great if your browser is hijacked or you have unwanted addo-ons or toolbars on your internet browser, which installed by an malicious software.

First, run the Microsoft Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (). It will show the Tools drop-down menu, press the “Internet Options” as shown below.

In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The Microsoft Internet Explorer will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as shown on the image below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.

You will now need to reboot your machine for the changes to take effect.

Use free malware removal utilities to completely delete Adchoices from Windows

Manual removal instructions does not always help to completely delete the adware, as it’s not easy to identify and delete components of ‘ad supported’ software and all malicious files from hard disk. Therefore, it is recommended that you use malicious software removal utility to completely remove Adchoices off your internet browser. Several free malware removal tools are currently available that can be used against the ad-supported software. The optimum solution would be to run Zemana Anti-malware, Malwarebytes Free and AdwCleaner.

How to get rid of Adchoices with Zemana Anti-malware

We suggest you to run the Zemana Anti-malware which are completely clean your computer of Adchoices advertisements. Moreover, the tool will help you to get rid of potentially unwanted programs, malicious software, toolbars and hijacker infections that your PC system can be infected too.

Download Zemana antimalware on your machine from the link below. Save it on your Windows desktop or in any other place.

Once downloading is finished, close all software and windows on your computer. Double-click the set up file named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as shown on the screen below, click the “Yes” button.

It will open the “Setup wizard” which will help you install Zemana anti-malware on your machine. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.

Once installation is finished successfully, Zemana antimalware will automatically start and you can see its main screen as shown on the screen below.

Now press the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the adware which designed to display various Adchoices ads within your web-browser. A scan may take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your computer and the speed of your machine. When a malicious software, ‘ad supported’ software or potentially unwanted programs are detected, the count of the security threats will change accordingly.

When the system scan is finished, you’ll be shown the list of all found items on your computer. Next, you need to click “Next” button. The Zemana anti-malware will start removing ad-supported software and other security threats. Once disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to reboot the personal computer.

How to automatically remove Adchoices with Malwarebytes

We recommend using the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your PC of the ‘ad supported’ software. The free tool is an advanced malicious software removal program developed by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular antimalware technology. It’s able to help you remove annoying Adchoices ads from your browsers, PUPs, malicious software, hijackers, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your personal computer for free.

Download Malwarebytes Free on your PC from the link below. Save it on your desktop.

When the download is finished, close all windows on your computer. Further, start the file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as shown on the image below, click the “Yes” button.

It will open the “Setup wizard” that will assist you install Malwarebytes on the personal computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once installation is complete successfully, click Finish button. Then Malwarebytes will automatically run and you can see its main window as shown on the screen below.

Next, click the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan for the ‘ad supported’ software that opens lots of undesired Adchoices within your browser. When a malware, adware or potentially unwanted applications are found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is finished.

When the system scan is finished, the results are displayed in the scan report. Make sure all entries have ‘checkmark’ and click “Quarantine Selected” button.

The Malwarebytes will start removing ad supported software and other security threats. Once disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to restart your PC. We suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the Malwarebytes to get rid of adware, ‘ad supported’ software and other malicious software.

Scan and clean your computer of adware with AdwCleaner

The AdwCleaner tool is free and easy to use. It can scan and get rid of malicious software, PUPs and adware in Google Chrome, FF, Internet Explorer and Edge web-browsers and thereby remove all annoying Adchoices pop-up advertisements. AdwCleaner is powerful enough to find and remove malicious registry entries and files that are hidden on the computer.

1. Download AdwCleaner from the link below.
   
   

   AdwCleaner download
   225300 downloads
   Version: 8.4.1
   Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: October 5, 2024
   
2. Once the downloading process is finished, double click the AdwCleaner icon. Once this utility is started, click “Scan” button to begin checking your personal computer for the Adchoices software which redirects your web-browser to annoying ad site. This procedure may take some time, so please be patient. During the scan it’ll detect all threats present on your computer.
3. Once the scanning is complete, it will show you the results. Make sure all entries have ‘checkmark’ and click “Clean” button. It will display a prompt, click “OK”.

These few simple steps are shown in detail in the following video guide.

How to stop Adchoices advertisements

Using an ad-blocker application such as AdGuard is an effective way to alleviate the risks. Additionally, ad blocker programs will also protect you from harmful ads and pages, and, of course, stop redirection chain to Adchoices ads and similar ad web-sites.

1. Download AdGuard application from the following link.
   

   Adguard download
   26658 downloads
   Version: 6.4
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: November 15, 2018
   
2. Once the downloading process is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. Once the installation is complete, press “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will assist you get to know AdGuard better.
4. In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you start your computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop popup advertisements, Adchoices ads, as well as other harmful or misleading pages. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, that can be found on your desktop.

How to Adchoices advertisements get installed onto PC

The ad-supported software usually is bundled with another program in the same setup package. The risk of this is especially high for the various free programs downloaded from the World Wide Web. The makers of the software are hoping that users will run the quick install mode, that is simply to press the Next button, without paying attention to the information on the screen and do not carefully considering every step of the installation procedure. Thus, the ad supported software can infiltrate your PC system without your knowledge. Therefore, it is very important to read all the information that tells the program during install, including the ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Software license’. Use only the Manual, Custom or Advanced setup mode. This mode will help you to disable all optional and unwanted applications and components.

To sum up

After completing the steps outlined above, your computer should be free from malicious software and Adchoices adware that causes web-browsers to show unwanted pop up advertisements. The Chrome, FF, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge will no longer redirect you to various unwanted sites. Unfortunately, if the step-by-step tutorial does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.