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  • Active
  • Severity: Medium
  • Adware
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Sep 2016

How to remove Ads by Safe Web

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

Olivia Morelli · Ransomware analyst

Description of Safe Web adware:

If you have recently decided to install Safe Web virus, you should reconsider your decision. Of course, you might think that it is a useful program at first. According to its developer Acute Angle Solutions Ltd, this program is prepared to help people to monitor their browsing on the Internet. However, we must warn you that the real target of this program might be entirely different. It appears that this program has been created for monetization purposes primarily. To be precise, this program is a tool designed to fulfill pay-per-click advertising model and generate revenue for the developers of this adware. This means that it may start showing you intrusive advertisements that may be filled with various third-party links.

Some of these links may trick you into visiting affiliate websites, so you should be very careful with them. Please, do NOT stay on these sites because they may easily trick you into downloading other questionable programs to your computer. In addition, it is possible that Safe Web or similar application will start tracking you while you are browsing on the web because there are hundreds of browser add-ons that are filled with cookie capabilities. If you don’t want to allow the developers of this program to collect information about your search terms, mostly visited websites, your email address, PC’s location or its IP address, you should simply avoid Safe Web virus. Of course, such programs sometimes are found installed on the system without downloading them there. That’s because they are actively spread using ‘bundling’. In order to get more information about this distribution method and get ability to prevent the appearance of ‘Safe Web ads’, ‘by Safe-Web.tk‘, ‘brought to you by SafeWeb‘ and similar advertisements, you should check the next paragraph. For Safe Web removal of this potentially unwanted program we recommend using FortectIntego.

Safe Web virus

How do ad-supported programs hijack computers?

If you have never heard about adware, browser hijackers and similar potentially unwanted programs, you might be surprised to discover one of these installed on your PC without your intervention. Such programs are not considered viruses, so no one is capable to stop the suspicious distribution method, which is actively used when spreading them around. It is called bundling. In order to prevent Safe Web hijack (this program is capable of hijacking each of web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, etc.), you should know that it may be added to lots of freeware and shareware. So, you should double check each of such programs when downloading them to your computer. Please, always check what it is said in Privacy Policy or End User’s license agreement. In addition, make sure you opt for Custom or Advanced installation method in order to get ability to see what is hiding in your freeware. If you see a notification about this or other browser add-ons, extensions or plugins, you should uncheck it. Otherwise, you may lead yourself to annoying Safe Web redirects, hundreds of pop-up ads, slow downs and other suspicious activities. In order to avoid them, you should avoid such programs like this one. If you think that it is already hiding in your computer, you should get rid of it. 

How to remove Safe Web virus?

Safe Web virus can be uninstalled using FortectIntego or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes software, but if you do not want to use these programs, you can try to uninstall this parasite manually. For that, please intently read Safe Web removal instructions presented below and do everything as instructed. In case you have questions related to Safe Web virus, do not hesitate to send them to our support team.

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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