How to remove Ads by Unfriend Watch

WHAT IS UNFRIEND WATCH?

Unfriend Watch is an application that might seem useful, if you want to find out who has unfriended you on Facebook. While this browser extension seems to offer a handy option for your Facebook management, in reality it is a simple adware and a potentially unwanted program (PUP) designed to trick you into downloading it and displaying all sorts of ads on your Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Mozzila Firefox browser. By saying ads we mean every type of ad you might imagine flooding your browser including sponsored ads, banners, pop-ups, add-ons, coupons, price comparison ads, underlines hyperlinks in texts which will make it virtually impossible for you to see the original content on the website you are visiting, enjoying your browser experience and fast performance of your system. Instead, you will be exposed to suspicious content that might make your system vulnerable. Recognizing the culprit will be easy because the ads will have a text immediately above or below them saying something like “Ads by Unfriend Watch”, “Unfriend Watch Ads”, “By Unfriend Watch”, “Powered by Unfriend Watch” or “Brought to you by Unfriend Watch”. While this adware has an accessible website online, this PUP has probably been installed on your computer without your explicit permission. Moreover, your browsing information including IP addresses, browsing history, websites you visit and information you provide on them might be shared with third parties. What is more, there is no chance of knowing that by clicking on these ads you will end up on legitimate websites, so we strongly advise you against visiting promoted. Get rid of Unfriend Watch adware once and for all using some reputable anti-spyware like Fortect Intego.

HOW CAN UNFRIEND WATCH HIJACK MY COMPUTER?

As we have mentioned above, Unfriend Watch adware might be installed on your computer in a bundle with some free software. Bundling is a widely practiced technique when free applications are bundled with various potentially unwanted programs like adwares and browser hijackers and distributed through third party download managers and installers. While it might pretend to offer a different functionality, its principle of operation is identical to other adwares like iWebar, Lightning newtab, MovieDea, and Browser Shop. If you install some free application, you should always check Advanced and Custom options because this is where most of the PUPs are usually hidden. Distributors of such program take advantage of the fact that users rarely check these options and skip most of the steps in the setup. If you want to prevent PUPs from entering your computer, you should avoid such behavior at all costs.

HOW TO REMOVE UNFRIEND WATCH ads?

While removing Unfriend Watch as any other application is not really difficult, you should remember you could have been potentially exposed to all sorts of questionable ads and websites. Moreover, there could have been other PUPs in the bundle that might have been installed on your computer without your permission. Therefore, you should perform a full system scan in order to make sure that no ads and viruses like Unfriend Watch are threatening the security of your system and data.

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