How to remove Ninja Loader ads

Ninja Loader (or NinjaLoader) is a potentially malicious software that is actively spreading on the Internet these days. The 2-spyware team has initiated a research on this app and found out that it is cognate to NinjaVOD, Best Price Ninja, Ninja Savings, Shopping Ninja, and many other ad-supported browser extensions. Ninja Loader virus has already been involved into ‘adware’ and ‘potentially unwanted program’ categories. Besides, it can be found on the database of the most anti-malware tools. Therefore, if you would or have already noticed signs indicating that Ninja Loader adware is lurking on your Windows/Mac OS, perform a scan with Fortect Intego or another professional anti-malware before this misleading app causes you some serious issues.

How can I recognize the presence of Ninja Loader virus on the system?

Upon a successful installation, NinjaLoader adware settles down on Windows startup, creates a new startup key, and starts executing several processes (ninjaloader.exe; ninja maintainer.exe) within Task Manager. However, these technical features can hardly be noticed immediately because they do not affect the overall PC’s performance in a noticeable way. BUT, once you open Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Opera or another web browser, you may notice that it is running abnormally. That’s because Ninja Loader hijacks all web browsers that are installed on a computer to start promoting third parties. What issues start happening during browsing?

Browser’s performance diminishes significantly;
Page loading time increases or some pages cannot be accessed at all;
Each web page visited may contain doubtful-looking advertisements (pop-up ads, textual links, banner ads, pop-under ads, interstitial, etc.);
Instead of displaying pages which URL addresses you type in a search bar, Ninja Loader redirects can expose to affiliate pages that you would never visit willingly;
Extensions that you were using may be disabled.

These are the main issues that you may notice right after Ninja Loader malware is executed. If you are in this kind of situation, do not waste your time and try to get rid of this app. Ninja Loader removal tool and manual removal guide can be found on Page2.

What risk does NinjaLoader adware pose to my PC’s security?

Ninja Loader virus is basically used to promote third party websites, software, and services. Unfortunately, but there is not guarantee that affiliates of this application are trustworthy. Thus, security experts warn that it’s very important to be careful with the pop-up ads that are marked as “Ads by Ninja Loader,” “NinjaLoader Ads,” “Brought by Ninja Loader,” “Powered by NinjaLoader,” etc. because they may be used for spreading PUPs or malware. Also, this ad-supported browser extension can make information about your web browsing activities leak to the sponsors. Consequently, you may receive targeted eye-catching advertisements or may even find email spammed.

Why most of the victims do not recall installing this application?

NinjaLoader download used to be accessible on the official page. At the moment of writing, it does not work, what means that it is spread by ‘bundling’ only. It has been found that it can be attached to various freewares, including Media Player Classic, VLC Player, Flash Player, Free Hearts, Media Downloader, and many others. Having this in mind, you should be extra cautious during the installation setup of each freeware. In other words, make sure that you NEVER install free software by clicking the ‘next’ button only. Instead of that, select either Advanced or Custom installation option and follow each installation step.

Manual and automatic removal instructions:

People claim that NinjaLoader virus will not uninstall easily. They claim that this tool cannot be uninstalled via Control Panel. Besides, the extension within web browsers reappears after disabling it manually. Such issues may be caused by the hidden components of this adware. If you want to try manual removal anyway, you can find the instructions at the end of this post. In case you do not want to leave the smallest particle of Ninja Loader malware on your machine, our advice would be to use a trustworthy malware removal tool.

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.

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.