Are you seeing lots of unwanted ads signed with Folder Share in the Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge and Chrome every time you use the internet browser to browse the Internet? This means that your web browser has become the victim of the Folder Share software from the adware family. The adware looks the entire traffic generated by you and on this basis, it opens a ton of unwanted popup ads. Currently, adware are widely spread, due to the fact that most people are trying to find free software, download and install them on the PC system without proper attention to the fact that an adware can be installed onto the PC system along with them.
The Folder Share adware that causes multiple intrusive ads and pop ups, is the part of the software that is used as an online promotional utility. It’s developed with the sole purpose to show dozens of pop up advertisements, and thus to promote the goods and services in an open browser window. Moreover, the adware can substitute the legitimate advertising links on misleading or even banners that can offer to visit malicious web-sites. The reason is simple, many advertisers agree on any ways to attract users to their web pages, so the makers of ‘ad supported’ software, often forcing users to click on an advertising link. For each click on a link, the creators of the ad supported software receive income.
The malicious programs from the adware family that alters the settings of internet browsers usually affects only the Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and MS Edge. However, possible situations, when any other internet browsers will be affected too. The ad-supported software may alter the Target property of a internet browser’s shortcut file, so every time you run the web browser, instead of your home page, you will see an annoying page.
Instructions that is shown below, will help you to clean your system from the Folder Share adware as well as get rid of any undesired pop up ads from the IE, Firefox, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge and other browsers.
Remove Folder Share
Without a doubt, the ad supported software is harmful to your PC. So you need to quickly and completely remove this Folder Share ‘ad supported’ software that causes web browsers to open annoying pop-ups. To get rid of this ad supported software, you can use the manual removal guide that are given below or free malicious software removal utility such as Zemana AntiMalware, MalwareBytes or Hitman Pro (all are free). We suggest you use automatic removal way which will help you to get rid of Folder Share easily and safely. Manual removal is best used only if you are well versed in computer or in the case where adware is not deleted automatically. Read this manual carefully, bookmark or print it, because you may need to shut down your web browser or reboot your computer.
To remove Folder Share, perform the steps below:
- Delete Folder Share adware without any tools
- Uninstalling the Folder Share, check the list of installed software first
- Clean up the web-browsers shortcuts which have been hijacked by ad supported software
- Delete Ads by Folder Share from Mozilla Firefox
- Remove Folder Share ads from Chrome
- Remove Folder Share ad supported software from IE
- Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks
- How to automatically delete Folder Share
- Run AdBlocker to stay safe online
- How to avoid install of Folder Share
- To sum up
Delete Folder Share adware without any tools
If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the Folder Share adware from the Firefox, Edge, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome internet browsers.
Uninstalling the Folder Share, check the list of installed software first
First of all, check the list of installed apps on your PC and uninstall all unknown and recently installed apps. If you see an unknown program with incorrect spelling or varying capital letters, it have most likely been installed by malicious software and you should clean it off first with malicious software removal utility such as Zemana Anti-malware.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
First, click Windows button
, then press Search 
. Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as displayed in the following example.
After the ‘Control Panel’ opens, click the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category like below.
You will see the ‘Uninstall a program’ panel as shown below.
Very carefully look around the entire list of software installed on your PC system. Most probably, one of them is the Folder Share adware that causes browsers to open annoying advertisements. If you’ve many software installed, you can help simplify the search of malicious apps by sort the list by date of installation. Once you’ve found a suspicious, unwanted or unused program, right click to it, after that press ‘Uninstall’.
Windows XP, Vista, 7
First, click ‘Start’ button and select ‘Control Panel’ at right panel like below.
Once the Windows ‘Control Panel’ opens, you need to press ‘Uninstall a program’ under ‘Programs’ as shown in the following example.
You will see a list of apps installed on your computer. We recommend to sort the list by date of installation to quickly find the apps that were installed last. Most probably, it is the Folder Share adware that causes intrusive popup ads. If you are in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. After the application which you need to uninstall is found, simply click on its name, and then press ‘Uninstall’ as shown on the image below.
Clean up the web-browsers shortcuts which have been hijacked by ad supported software
Important to know, most antimalware programs that are able to get rid of Folder Share ‘ad supported’ software that causes web-browsers to open annoying pop up advertisements, but unable to find out and recover modified shortcuts. So, you need to fix the desktop shortcut files for your MS Edge, Google Chrome, IE and Mozilla Firefox web browsers manually.
Open the properties of the web-browser shortcut. Right click on the shortcut of affected browser and choose the “Properties” option and it will open the properties of the shortcut. Next, choose the “Shortcut” tab and have a look at the Target field as displayed in the following example.
Normally, if the last word in the Target field is chrome.exe, iexplore.exe, firefox.exe. Be sure to pay attention to the extension, should be “exe”! All shortcut files which have been altered by an adware, usually point to .bat, .cmd or .url files instead of .exe as shown below
Another variant, an address has been added at the end of the line. In this case the Target field looks such as …Application\chrome.exe” http://site.address as displayed in the figure below.
In order to fix the infected shortcut file, you need to insert right path to the Target field or remove an address (if it has been added at the end). You can use the following information to fix your shortcuts that have been altered by Folder Share ad-supported software that redirects your browser to undesired ad pages.
| Chrome | C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe |
| C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe | |
| Mozilla Firefox | C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe |
| Internet Explorer | C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe |
| C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe | |
| Opera | C:\Program Files (x86)\Opera\launcher.exe |
| C:\Program Files\Opera\launcher.exe |
Once is complete, press OK to save changes. Repeat the step for all internet browsers that are redirected to an undesired web page.
Delete Ads by Folder Share from Mozilla Firefox
If your FF internet browser is re-directed to Folder Share ads without your permission or an unknown search engine shows results for your search, then it may be time to perform the browser reset.
Click the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and press the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu like below.
A small menu will appear, press the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, press “Refresh Firefox” button as displayed below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to restore your Firefox browser settings to its original state.
Remove Folder Share ads from Chrome
Like other modern web browsers, the Google Chrome has the ability to reset the settings to their default values and thereby recover the web-browser’s settings like default search engine, new tab page and home page that have been changed by the Folder Share adware.
- First start the Google Chrome and click Menu button (small button in the form of three dots).
- It will open the Chrome main menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You will see the list of installed plugins. If the list has the extension labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following tutorial: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Chrome menu once again, press the “Settings” menu.
- You will see the Google Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and press “Advanced” link.
- Scroll down again and press the “Reset” button.
- The Google Chrome will show the reset profile settings page as on the image above.
- Next click the “Reset” button.
- Once this task is complete, your web-browser’s search provider by default, startpage and newtab will be restored to their original defaults.
- To learn more, read the blog post How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.
Remove Folder Share ad supported software from IE
In order to recover all internet browser newtab page, search engine by default and homepage you need to reset the Internet Explorer to the state, that was when the MS Windows was installed on your system.
First, launch the Microsoft Internet Explorer. Next, press the button in the form of gear (
). It will display the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” as shown in the following example.
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 displayed on the image below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then press “Reset” button.
You will now need to reboot your PC for the changes to take effect.
Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks
If the annoying Folder Share ads opens automatically on Windows startup or at equal time intervals, then you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and delete all the tasks that have been created by malicious program.
Press Windows and R keys on the keyboard at the same time. This displays a prompt that titled with Run. In the text field, type “taskschd.msc” (without the quotes) and press 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. Please 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 PC system. If you are not sure that executes the task, check it through a search engine. If it’s a component of the malicious software, 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 as on the image below.
Delete a task
Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks that have been created by the Folder Share. Once is finished, close the Task Scheduler window.
How to automatically delete Folder Share
After completing the manual removal instructions above all unwanted software, malicious web-browser’s addons and Folder Share that causes browsers to show annoying pop-ups should be removed. If the problem with Folder Share ‘ad supported’ software is still remained, then we suggest to scan your machine for any remaining malicious components. Run recommended free ‘ad supported’ software removal programs below.
Use Zemana Anti-malware to delete Folder Share
Zemana Anti-malware highly recommended, because it can scan for security threats such adware and ad supported softwares that most ‘classic’ antivirus apps fail to pick up on. Moreover, if you have any Folder Share removal problems which cannot be fixed by this tool automatically, then Zemana Anti-malware provides 24X7 online assistance from the highly experienced support staff.
Visit the page linked below to download the latest version of Zemana for Microsoft Windows. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
164107 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
After downloading is done, close all programs and windows on your personal computer. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup as displayed on the screen below.
When the setup begins, you will see the “Setup wizard” that will help you install Zemana Free on your personal computer.
Once installation is complete, you will see window as displayed in the following example.
Now click the “Scan” button . Zemana Anti-Malware application will scan through the whole PC system for the Folder Share adware which designed to redirect your web browser to various ad pages. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your system.
When finished, Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) will open a scan report. When you are ready, click “Next” button.
The Zemana Free will remove Folder Share that causes a huge number of undesired popup advertisements and add items to the Quarantine.
Run Hitman Pro to delete Folder Share ‘ad supported’ software
HitmanPro is a portable utility which finds and uninstalls undesired apps like hijackers, ‘ad supported’ software, toolbars, other web browser plugins and other malware. It scans your computer for Folder Share that causes browsers to open undesired pop ups and creates a list of items marked for removal. Hitman Pro will only erase those undesired programs that you wish to be removed.
Visit the page linked below to download the latest version of HitmanPro for MS Windows. Save it directly to your Windows Desktop.
Once downloading is done, open the file location and double-click the Hitman Pro icon. It will start the Hitman Pro utility. If the User Account Control dialog box will ask you want to launch the program, click Yes button to continue.
Next, press “Next” to perform a system scan with this tool for the Folder Share that causes a large number of undesired pop up ads. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your system and the speed of your machine. When a malware, adware or PUPs are detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is finished.
After that process is done, HitmanPro will produce a list of unwanted and adware as displayed on the image below.
Review the scan results and then click “Next” button. It will open a prompt, press the “Activate free license” button. The Hitman Pro will remove Folder Share adware that causes multiple annoying ads and pop ups and move threats to the program’s quarantine. Once that process is complete, the tool may ask you to reboot your system.
Run Malwarebytes to remove Folder Share adware
We suggest using the Malwarebytes Free which are completely clean your PC of the ad-supported software. The free tool is an advanced malware removal program made by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular anti-malware technology. It is able to help you get rid of intrusive Folder Share adware from your web-browsers, potentially unwanted software, malware, browser hijackers, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your personal computer for free.
- Download MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) from the link below.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326461 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- After downloading is finished, close all applications and windows on your computer. Open a file location. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- Further, press Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once installation is done, click the “Scan Now” button . MalwareBytes Free program will scan through the whole computer for the Folder Share which redirects your web browser to annoying ad web-pages. This process can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the tool is checking, you may see how many objects and files has already scanned.
- After that process is complete, MalwareBytes Free will open a list of found items. All found items will be marked. You can remove them all by simply click “Quarantine Selected”. When the procedure is complete, you may be prompted to reboot your system.
The following video offers a few simple steps on how to delete browser hijackers, ‘ad supported’ software and other malware with MalwareBytes.
Run AdBlocker to stay safe online
We recommend to install an ad blocking program which may block malicious, misleading and other unwanted sites. The ad-blocking utility such as AdGuard is a application that basically removes advertising from the Internet and blocks access to malicious web sites. Moreover, security experts says that using ad blocking software is necessary to stay safe when surfing the Net.
- Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you’ll need to download AdGuard by clicking on the link below.
Adguard download
26656 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After the downloading process is finished, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- When the installation is finished, click “Skip” to close the install program and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you start your system, AdGuard will launch automatically and block ads, as well as other harmful 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 icon called AdGuard, that is located on your desktop.
How to avoid install of Folder Share
The adware actively distributed with free software, as a part of the install package of these applications. Therefore, it’s very important, when installing an unknown application even downloaded from well-known or big hosting site, read the Terms of use and the Software license, as well as to select the Manual, Advanced or Custom install mode. In this mode, you can disable the installation of unneeded modules and software and protect your system from the Folder Share adware that cause unwanted pop up ads to appear. Do not repeat the mistakes of most users when installing unknown apps, simply press the Next button, and do not read any information which the freeware open them during its installation. In many cases this leads to one – the web-browser begins displaying tons of unwanted advertisements such as Folder Share popup advertisements.
To sum up
Now your personal computer should be free of the Folder Share ad supported software that causes a large amount of undesired popup ads. We suggest that you keep Zemana Anti Malware (to periodically scan your machine for new adwares and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you stop undesired pop-ups and malicious web-sites). Moreover, to prevent any adware, please stay clear of unknown and third party programs, make sure that your antivirus program, turn on the option to detect PUPs.
If you need more help with Folder Share adware related issues, go to our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
