How to remove CouponScanner virus

What is CouponScanner?

CouponScanner is a program that has initiated many questions and doubts. Both, internet users and security experts have already added this program to adware and potentially unwanted program categories. This has been done because of suspicious activity that is usually initiated by CouponScanner. Besides, it may show up on your computer without your approval because it has been activity promoted in a bundle with freeware and shareware as an optional component. If you don't want to download CouponScanner without understanding that, you need to start monitoring installation of every free download by selecting Custom or Advanced installation option. After doing so, make sure you uncheck all these check marks that claim that you want to download CouponScanner or other questionable browser add-on to the system.

If CouponScanner adware manages to infiltrate its target PC system, the first thing that is initiated by it is system's modification. Typically, this application drops its own files onto the system and also hijacks every web browser, including Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, etc. After doing so, this program starts flooding its victim with tons of intrusive CouponScanner ads. That is the main reason why this application has been labeled as an adware and a potentially unwanted program. Besides, if you are concerned about your privacy, you should remove this untrustworthy program because just like any other adware and ad-supported extension, this program may start tracking and recording its victim's browsing habits and similar information. Typically, they collect such personally non-identifiable information: mostly visited websites, clicked links, search queries, data that you add when visiting your favorite websites, etc. Usually, CouponScanner acts this way in order to use this data about your browsing habits for displaying targeted advertisements; however, there is no guarantee that this information will not be used against you. That's why we think that you should remove CouponScanner adware, especially if it has showed up on your machine without downloading it. For that you can use either Fortect Intego (compatible with Windows OS) or Fortect Intego (compatible with Windows and Mac OS X).

How can CouponScanner hijack my computer?

CouponScanner may easily redirect you to some doubtful website. If you want to protect your computer from these intruders in the future, you should know how this program works and how it travels. So, it usually relies on freewares and sharewares for its distribution. To be more precise, you may experience CouponScanner redirects right after installing a doubtful program from unfamiliar download source. This unfair tactic is usually exploited by various advertisers and adware developers. Not many internet users are attentive enough when it comes to installing programs from the internet. Therefore, in order to protect your computer from potentially unwanted applications, you have to check what programs you install and if these programs are safe enough. For that, read its end-user license agreement part and attentively follow the entire installation process one step at a time.

How to remove CouponScanner virus from my computer?

If you think that this dubious application has already infiltrated your system, you should not hesitate and eliminate it. CouponScanner ads can be very annoying. Follow these guidelines and get rid of this ad-supported intruder.

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.