Remove “Installed by enterprise policy” extension (Removal Instructions)

“Installed by enterprise policy” – a feature that prevents uninstalling PUPs easily

“Installed by enterprise policy” is a Google Chrome feature that makes browser add-ons, plugins and extensions^[1] impossible to remove easily. There’s no doubt that this specification is highly employed by developers of potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) to keep their application longer on the infected device.

Malicious browser extensions, adware,^[2] browser hijackers and other junkware^[3] are usually installed by enterprise policy to cause more problems for the victim. Typically these suspicious applications are designed to:

alter browser’s settings;
changing default browser’s homepage, search engine, new tab URL address with a suspicious domain;
deliver an excessive amount of ads or redirect^[4] to third-party commercial websites;
track information about users;
cause other browsing-related problems.

You should avoid such suspicious browser add-ons because they may start causing lots of unwanted activities. Some of these activities are annoying pop-up ads that report about discounts, coupons, and other tricky things, redirects ^[4] to unfamiliar and sometimes really suspicious websites and other activities.

However “Installed by enterprise policy” prevents from a simple elimination of the potentially unwanted application. If you access the list of Chrome extensions, you will see that it is greyed-out and impossible to delete it by hitting Trash icon. Additionally, you won’t be able to access disable extension feature.

In order to remove “Installed by enterprise policy,” you have to remove Group Policy first. This feature allows controlling installation or uninstallation of particular apps. The malicious application restricts users from removal. However, they can change Group Policy and perform either manual or automatic elimination.

We have provided manual “Installed by enterprise policy” removal guide below. However, our team recommends terminating browser hijackers, adware and other PUPs using reputable anti-malware software, such as Fortect Intego.

Dangerous browser extension spread in software installers

There are lots of suspicious browser extensions, plugins, and add-ons that are spread using “bundling”. In fact, this is the main method used for spreading “Installed by enterprise policy” virus and you can avoid it only if you monitor installation of free software.^[5]

How can you do that? Believe us, it is not hard. For that, you should always check Privacy Policy, End User's License Agreement, and similar things. In addition, you should always opt for Custom or Advanced installation option and uncheck all browser add-ons, extensions, and plugins that may be offered to you along the way.

Please, be very attentive while installing new programs because you may miss the sentence that allows installation of some suspicious browser add-on. If you think that malicious extension using “Installed by enterprise policy” is already hiding on your computer, there is no point of waiting for its removal because there is a long list of unwanted and sometimes even dangerous activities that may be initiated by it.

Think about redirects to unsafe websites or recording of your browsing activity and decide whether you really want this to continue. If you don't, keep reading and we will explain how to delete the virus from your PC.

Reset Group Policy to uninstall “Installed by enterprise policy” extension

In order to remove “Installed by enterprise policy” extensions, add-ons or other apps, you have to change Group Policy settings firstby following these steps:

Press Windows key + X and click Command Prompt (Admin) to open the program.
In the Command Prompt enter these commands and hit Enter after typing each of them:
rd /S /Q “%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers”
rd /S /Q “%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy”
gpupdate /force

Once you hit Enter after the last command, you should receive these notifications:
User Policy update has completed successfully.
Computer Policy update has completed successfully.

It means that “Installed by enterprise policy” removal is completed and now you can uninstall all unwanted applications from the computer and the browsers. You can find manual removal guide below.

Additionally, you can remove “Installed by enterprise policy” virus from Windows and the browser using reputable anti-malware/anti-spyware that will identify and uninstall potentially dangerous or malicious applications.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.

Remove the unwanted program:

In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).

Delete leftover files and folders:

Select Go > Go to Folder.
Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.
Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Reset Internet Explorer

Remove dangerous add-ons:

Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
Pick Manage Add-ons.
You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.

Change your homepage if it was altered:

Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
Select Internet Options.
In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
Click Apply and then select OK.

Delete temporary files:

Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
Under Browsing history, click Delete...
Select relevant fields and press Delete.

Reset Internet Explorer:

Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
Select Reset.
In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
Click Remove.

Clear cookies and other browser data:

Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
Then find On startup section.
Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
Select Details tab.
Now scroll down and locate every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right-click on each of them and select End Task to stop MS Edge from running.

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and site data:

Click on Menu and go to Settings.
Select Privacy, search and services.
Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
Under Time range, pick All time.
Select Clear now.

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

Click on Menu and select Settings.
On the left side, pick Reset settings.
Select Restore settings to their default values.
Confirm with Reset.
This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
Select Add-ons.
In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.

Reset the homepage:

Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
Choose Settings.
Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.

Clear cookies and site data:

Click Menu and pick Settings.
Go to Privacy & Security section.
Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
Click on Clear Data...
Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:

Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.
Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

Click on Menu and pick Settings.
Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
Click Clear data.

Change your homepage:

Click menu and choose Settings.
Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.

Reset Google Chrome:

If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:

Click on Menu and select Settings.
In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
Confirm with Reset settings.

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.

Clear history and website data:

Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.

Reset Safari:

Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.

How to remove “Installed by enterprise policy” extension

“Installed by enterprise policy” – a feature that prevents uninstalling PUPs easily

Dangerous browser extension spread in software installers