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

How to remove Ads by LifeSaver

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

Gabriel E. Hall · Passionate web researcher

What is LifeSaver?

LifeSaver browser add-on pretends to be another ‘shopping assistant’ that is capable of saving users’ time and money. Unfortunately, but it just pretends. In reality, it’s just another ‘adware’ and ‘potentially unwanted program’ (PUP) that may initiate various activities in order to generate advertising income. As stated in the EULA of this tool:

Third parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you (“Third Parties”), may send (or “serve”) advertisements directly to your browser, from our Site, our Plugin or any of our Service, and from other websites and automatically receive your IP address when this happens.

It means that part of the LifeSaver ads is powered by the developer of the add-on, while the other part is sponsored by third parties. Unfortunately, there is no chance of knowing which of them are which because all the pop-ups, banners, in-text links generated by LifeSaveradware are labeled as “Ads by LifeSaver”. Therefore, if you are not keen on visiting doubtful/suspicious/malicious third-party domains, bypass each of those advertisements. In general, you should take needed actions and remove LifeSaver virus without a delay because it may not only display intrusive and misleading advertisements. It may also spy on the users with an intention to find more about their browsing habits, likes, and dislikes. That’s why it may gather search terms, websites that are visited every day, clicks, IP address, PC’s location, email address, and so on. However, the problem is that gathered data is used not only for improving the service and increasing the amount of LifeSaver redirects. It may also be transmitted to suspicious third parties who may employ such and similar information for more suspicious activities. Therefore, don’t waste your time and run a full system check with FortectIntego if this adware has recently ended up on your web browser.

LifeSaver virus

How did LifeSaver hijack my computer?

Even though it’s possible, it’s very unlikely that you have installed LifeSaver with a reason. It is spread via the official website, but people are becoming less naïve and seldom fall for believing that money-saving apps are genuine. Therefore, developers of potentially unwanted programs have started spreading them using the help of other freewares and sharewares. Such distribution is known as ‘bundling’. Potentially unwanted programs like, for instance, various browser add-ons, plug-ins, and toolbars may be hidden under Advanced or Custom settings. Therefore, it’s very important to check those settings when installing freewares and make sure whether you have selected the one that carries ‘optional downloads’ or not. If you find a check box saying that you agree to install Life-Saver or another unfamiliar browser add-on, make sure that you untick it before hitting the ‘next’ button.

How to remove LifeSaver virus from Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox?

In the previous sections, we have shortly explained what LifeSaver adware is and what issues it may cause on computers. We believe that you also want to know what is the easiest way to remove this adware for good. In fact, the easiest way is to check your machine with a reliable anti-spyware. Nevertheless, you may initiate this task without an additional software by yourself. For this, you should follow the instructions provided below:

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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