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  • Active
  • Severity: Medium
  • Adware
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Oct 2015

How to remove Ads by DNS-Locker

A step-by-step removal guide for affected devices. Follow the verified procedure below — most readers complete it in under 10 minutes.

Ugnius Kiguolis · The mastermind

What is DNS-Locker?

DNS-Locker is yet another browser add-on that has supplemented the family of adwares and potentially unwanted programs. In fact, it’s not a genuine application but rather a clone of DNS Unlocker, DNS Unblocker, and DNS Keeper. Judging from the name of an app, DNS-Locker should be a slightly different application from the ones that we have just mentioned since it should allow users to block unwanted content. However, neither blocking nor unblocking the content can make this application useful. That’s because it’s a real adware that may start showing you tons of irritating advertisements (pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, in-text links, etc.), causing browser’s redirects, tracking you and initiating similar activities that affiliated marketing-oriented programs usually do. Therefore, if your web browser has recently started showing you “Ads by DNS-Locker”, “Powered by DNS-Locker”, “DNS-Locker Ads”, and similarly marked advertisements, stop believing that they are brought by the websites that you are visiting because it’s a clear sign of DNS-Locker hijack.

Although this program is not a malicious virus, it is set to display sponsored advertisements to the users. However, its sponsors are not specified, so there is no chance of knowing whether those advertisements can be trusted or not. Therefore, try to avoid DNS-Locker redirects as hard as you can. In addition to that, do not forget that adware-type programs may accumulate user’s browsing history and some pieces of personally identifiable information that they enter in the websites visited, so if you are not keen on sharing any details with doubtful third parties about you, make sure that you remove DNS-Locker ASAP. Fortunately, this can easily be done with the help of FortectIntego.

Ads by DNS-Locker

How did DNS-Locker infect my web browser?

DNS-Locker is a kind of a browser add-on that may slither onto PC’s without being noticed. Good news are that immediately after infiltration this app ‘announces’ about the presence by displaying tons of ads, diminishing web browser’s performance, causing redirects and initiating other activities that haven’t been happening during browsing before. Therefore, the user may start looking for the cause of aforementioned issues and remove it. Bad news are that DNS-Locker adware and other similar programs are spreading bundled with freewares. Although such distribution method is not illegal, it makes installation of free downloads a risky thing. Therefore, if you want to prevent unauthorized installation of unwanted programs, you must check Advanced/Custom settings when installing free software and untick all add-ons, plug-ins, and toolbars along the way. Otherwise, DNS-Locker can easily end up on your web browser without being noticed.

DNS-Locker FAQ:

Question: What should I do if misleading “Ads by DNS-Locker” keep showing on my screen? Usually, they cover the majority of the screen, so I’m not able to perform the simplest task during my browsing. Please help!

Answer: DNS-Locker ads show up during browsing only if the system is infected by a DNS-Locker adware. Therefore, in order to stop those disruptive advertisements from appearing on your screen, you will have to remove an adware. In order to do that, you can either perform the steps that are provided down below or initiate a full system check with a reliable anti-malware.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

  1. Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
  2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 10/8

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

  1. Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
  2. In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 7/XP

Remove the unwanted program:

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

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

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

Delete leftover files and folders:

  1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
  2. Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
  3. Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.Delete leftover files from Mac
  4. Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

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

Clear cookies and other browser data:

  1. Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. 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.Clear Edge browsing data

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

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

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

  1. Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
  2. Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
  3. Select Details tab.
  4. 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.Reset MS Edge

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

  1. Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
  2. Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chromium Edge

Clear cache and site data:

  1. Click on Menu and go to Settings.
  2. Select Privacy, search and services.
  3. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  4. Under Time range, pick All time.
  5. Select Clear now.Clear browser data from Chroum Edge

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

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

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

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

Reset the homepage:

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

Clear cookies and site data:

  1. Click Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security section.
  3. Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
  4. Click on Clear Data...
  5. Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.Clear cookies and site data from Firefox

Reset Mozilla Firefox

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

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
  2. Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.Reset Firefox 1
  3. Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
  4. Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.Reset Firefox 2

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

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

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

  1. Click on Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
  3. Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
  4. Click Clear data.Clear cache and web data from Chrome

Change your homepage:

  1. Click menu and choose Settings.
  2. Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
  3. 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:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
  3. Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
  4. Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
  5. Confirm with Reset settings.Reset Chrome 2

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

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

Clear history and website data:

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

Reset Safari:

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

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