Click-this-special.video ads: what it is and how to remove it
Fake errors, warnings, and other messages are widely used by online fraudsters to get what they want. Click-this-special.video, in particular, does exactly what its domain states.
Facts checked October 6, 2026. Removal steps tested on Windows 11 (26H2) and checked against Microsoft's and the browser makers' current documentation. Sections marked as our earlier report are the original text: they describe the threat as it was then and have not been reviewed since. The 2026 status, the removal steps and the questions are current.
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Click-this-special.video ads: summary
| Distribution | Redirects from other shady websites |
|---|---|
| NAME | Click-this-special.video |
| TYPE | Push notification spam in the form of pop-ups, banners |
| SYMPTOMS | Intrusive commercial content is displayed even when the browser is closed |
| DANGERS | Clicking on links that are inserted in pop-up windows can lead to downloading harmful files |
| Detection names | No Microsoft detection name is known |
| Removal | Scan the PC with security software to find and remove the malware and anything installed with it. Fortect scans Windows for malware and repairs the system files and settings it damaged. Remove it nowTo use the full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Fortect. The scan is free. |
Show 8 more facts
| Damage | Not recorded in the old report |
|---|---|
| Name | Click-this-special.video |
| Type | Ad-supported program |
| Symptoms | An unknown program in Installed apps |
| Evidence | 5 write-ups by security sites; details still limited |
| Program | Click-this-special.video |
| First seen | 17 August 2021 |
| Facts checked | 6 October 2026 |
Is Click-this-special.video ads dangerous?
From our report of Aug 2021 · not reviewed since
Click-this-special.video website shows fake messages
Fake errors, warnings, and other messages are widely used by online fraudsters to get what they want.
Click-this-special.video, in particular, does exactly what its domain states. It displays a picture of a loading screen and tells users that in order to see the "special" video, they have to click the "Allow" button.
Of course, people do not receive anything and instead start getting spammed with annoying pop-ups. You see, clicking the button turned on website permissions on your browser to send you push notifications, and it is all it wanted from you. Now you are just a part of a money-making machine for its creators because they get paid for every ad you click.
Pay-per-click advertising is not harmful in nature. It is an amazing opportunity for small business owners and large companies to promote their products and services online. They only have to pay when a person clicks on the ad, so it is an effective way to advertise.
Of course, this new opportunity was not overlooked by people who want to cash in. Creators of rogue websites like this act as middlemen between users and advertisers. The problem is, they do this in an illegitimate way by not being honest about it.
Probably because no one would agree willingly to be spammed with ads while minding their business. And what is worse, they do not care about your safety, so they do not check what promoters go through them. Among real ads, you might get fake ones that lead to other dangerous websites.
From our report of Aug 2021 · not reviewed since
Adware is not something you should rely on
If going to your browser settings and removing the intruder yourself did not eliminate the problem, it could be hiding deeper.
The most probable reason is, you have adware installed in your system. This could have happened if you were installing freeware from unofficial sources and it came attached as a package. Software bundling is a common way to spread potentially unwanted programs.
For this reason, you should never rush through the installation process and pay close attention. Always choose "Advanced" or "Custom" methods. If you see any files that seem unrelated to the one you are downloading, make sure to untick the boxes next to them.
If you do not know which program could be responsible for such behavior, use , , or any other trusted professional security tools which can detect these applications and eliminate them automatically.
From our report of Aug 2021 · not reviewed since
More from our earlier report on Click-this-special.video
- You can stop invasive notifications by going to your web browser settings.
- If you think you have adware, it is best to use security software to delete it effectively
- After removal, cleaning web browsers is your best next move.
From our report of Aug 2021 · not reviewed since
Dangers of pop-up advertising
Not all pop-ups are used for advertising purposes.
Some of them are planted with malicious intent. They can be used to distribute adware, spyware, and more destructive types of malware.
Clicking on one of these windows could lead to a shady site that prompts you to download a harmful program by using social engineering tactics or a page designed to lure out your personal information, which can later be used for identity theft or sold off in underground forums.
Social engineering techniques have become a primary choice for fraudsters to fool people online. It is easy to pray on human vulnerabilities and use them to get a person to act before thinking. Scare tactics are very effective in the effort to manipulate someone.
For example, you can end up on a website which states that you are in danger and your personal information is exposed. To make it more believable, it can show publicly available information like your IP address, location, etc. Not so technologically savvy people might not know that this information is seen by every web page they visit.
The next thing fraudsters need to do is suggest some "useful" software that will protect them, like a VPN, which actually might put them at risk.
Fun announcements that say, "You are the lucky winner!" I am afraid, are also fake. Giant tech companies like Google or Microsoft do not pick random visitors and shower them with gifts.
This type of scam could be used to lure out your private information like name, address, phone number, email, and worse. The aftermath might look like this - you start receiving phone calls from unknown callers from different countries, spam emails because the information you gave probably got sold to a leaked data site.
If you are lucky, you were redirected to this site and allowed notifications yourself. Because this way, the removal process will be the easiest. You can remove Click-this-special.video website permissions manually by going to your browser settings. More detailed steps for the most popular search engines are below:
Google Chrome (desktop):
Google Chrome (Android):
MS Edge (Chromium):
- Open Google Chrome browser and go to Menu > Settings.
- Locate the Privacy and security section and pick Site Settings > Notifications.
- Look at the Allow section and look for a suspicious URL.
- Click the three vertical dots next to it and pick Block. This should remove unwanted notifications from Google Chrome.
- Open Google Chrome and tap on Settings (three vertical dots).
- Select Notifications.
- Locate the unwanted URL and toggle the button to the left (Off setting).
- Open Mozilla Firefox and go to Menu > Options.
- Click on Privacy & Security section.
- Under Permissions, you should be able to see Notifications. Click Settings button next to it.
- In the Settings – Notification Permissions window, click on the drop-down menu by the URL in question.
- Select Block and then click on Save Changes. This should remove unwanted notifications from Mozilla Firefox.
- Click on Safari > Preferences...
- Go to Websites tab and, under General, select Notifications.
- Select the web address in question, click the drop-down menu and select Deny.
- Open Microsoft Edge, and click the Settings and more button (three horizontal dots) at the top-right of the window.
- Select Settings and then go to Advanced.
- Under Website permissions, pick Manage permissions and select the URL in question.
- Toggle the switch to the left to turn notifications off on Microsoft Edge.
- Open Microsoft Edge, and go to Settings.
- Select Site permissions.
- Go to Notifications on the right.
- Under Allow, you will find the unwanted entry.
- Click on More actions and select Block.
- Open Internet Explorer, and click on the Gear icon at the top-right on the window.
- Select Internet options and go to Privacy tab.
- In the Pop-up Blocker section, click on Settings.
- Locate web address in question under Allowed sites and pick Remove.
How to remove Click-this-special.video ads
Uninstall first, then remove what stays behind, so the ads do not come back after a restart.
Step 1: Uninstall Click-this-special.video
Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps in Windows 11, or Settings > Apps > Apps & features in Windows 10. Sort the list by install date and find Click-this-special.video, then choose Uninstall from the three-dot menu next to it (in Windows 10, click the entry and then Uninstall).
Remove anything else installed on the same day that you do not recognise, because such programs usually arrive together in one installer. If the uninstaller opens a browser page with an offer or a survey, close it: the program is removed either way.
Full procedure with screenshots: Uninstall a program or app in Windows On uGetFix
Step 2: Remove it from startup
Whatever Click-this-special.video installed usually starts with Windows. Open Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc, go to Startup apps in Windows 11 or the Startup tab in Windows 10, and disable what you do not know, starting with entries that have an empty Publisher column.
Open file location on the right-click menu shows the file, which helps you decide and tells you what to delete later. Disabling is safe: if something you need stops working, switch it back on.
Full procedure with screenshots: Stop apps from opening at startup On uGetFix
Step 3: Delete the folders left behind
What the uninstaller leaves behind is usually in the user folders. Open File Explorer, switch on View > Show > Hidden items (in Windows 10 View > Hidden items), and go through
%LocalAppData%,%AppData%, %ProgramData% and the two Program Files folders.Sort by Date modified and delete folders that appeared together with the problem and belong to no program you use. Folders with random names that hold
.exe,.dll, .js or .ps1 files are the strongest sign.Full procedure with screenshots: Remove what malware leaves behind in Windows
Step 4: Reset the browser
Finish the browser part with a reset, which puts the search engine, start page, new tab page and site permissions back to their defaults and switches extensions off. Chrome: Settings > Reset settings > Restore settings to their original defaults.
Edge: Settings > Reset settings. Firefox: Help > More troubleshooting information > Refresh Firefox, which also removes its extensions. Your bookmarks and saved passwords are kept, and the menus are the same on Windows 11 and Windows 10.
Chrome on Windows 11: Settings > Reset settings. Full procedure with screenshots: Reset a browser and fix a hijacked search engine
Step 5: Scan the PC, then run the offline scan
Open Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Scan options, run a Full scan and remove everything it finds. Then select Microsoft Defender Antivirus (offline scan) and click Scan now: the PC restarts and scans before Windows loads, which finds files that hide while Windows runs.
Save your work first, because the offline scan takes about 15 minutes. Both scans are built into Windows 11 and Windows 10, and a second scanner from another vendor is a useful extra opinion.
Windows 11: Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Scan options. Full procedure with screenshots: Run a Microsoft Defender Offline scan
Instructions for each browser and system
The detailed steps for every browser and system this guide covers. Open the one you use.
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.
Stream videos without limitations, no matter where you are
There are multiple parties that could find out almost anything about you by checking your online activity.
While this is highly unlikely, advertisers and tech companies are constantly tracking you online. The first step to privacy should be a secure browser that focuses on tracker reduction to a minimum.
Even if you employ a secure browser, you will not be able to access websites that are restricted due to local government laws or other reasons. In other words, you may not be able to stream Disney+ or US-based Netflix in some countries. To bypass these restrictions, you can employ a powerful VPN, which provides dedicated servers for torrenting and streaming, not slowing you down in the process.
Data backups are important - recover your lost files
Ransomware is one of the biggest threats to personal data.
Once it is executed on a machine, it launches a sophisticated encryption algorithm that locks all your files, although it does not destroy them. The most common misconception is that anti-malware software can return files to their previous states. This is not true, however, and data remains locked after the malicious payload is deleted.
While regular data backups are the only secure method to recover your files after a ransomware attack, tools such as can also be effective and restore at least some of your lost data.
Questions about Click-this-special.video ads
Can I safely uninstall Click-this-special.video?
If you did not install Click-this-special.video yourself and it is not part of your hardware or a program you rely on, yes. Uninstalling an unwanted program does not harm Windows. Before you do, search the exact name and publisher to be sure it is not a driver tool, a printer utility or a game launcher with an odd name.
Then remove it from Settings, Apps, Installed apps. Ignore any offers or warnings in its uninstaller about losing protection or performance. Afterwards check Startup apps and your browsers for leftovers, and restart once to confirm that it does not reinstall itself.
Click-this-special.video came back after I uninstalled it. Why?
Something else is reinstalling it. Common causes are a second program from the same publisher, a scheduled task that downloads it again, or a browser extension that keeps prompting for it. Sort Installed apps by install date and uninstall each entry from the same day that you did not choose.
Then open Task Scheduler and look in the Task Scheduler Library for tasks with updater-style names that you do not recognise. Check Startup apps in Task Manager too. If Click-this-special.video still returns, start Windows in Safe Mode, uninstall it there and run a Microsoft Defender offline scan, which looks for loaders that ordinary scans can miss.
Is uninstalling Click-this-special.video enough?
Often, but not always. Uninstalling Click-this-special.video through Settings > Apps > Installed apps removes the main part. Ad-supported programs, however, frequently arrive together with others from the same installer, and some leave a scheduled task or a browser extension behind.
After uninstalling, sort the list of installed apps by date and look at what else appeared that day, check Task Manager > Startup apps, and open the extension page in every browser. A Microsoft Defender full scan at the end catches leftover files.
I let a "support technician" from an ad connect to my PC. What should I do?
Act quickly but calmly. Disconnect the PC from the internet first, so the connection ends. Uninstall the remote access tool they asked you to install and check Installed apps for anything else added during the call.
Run a Microsoft Defender full scan and offline scan. From another device, change your e-mail and banking passwords and sign out of all sessions.
If you paid by card, bank transfer or gift card, contact your bank or the card issuer immediately, and report the scam to the police. Do not answer if they call back.
Can an adware pop-up infect my PC just by appearing?
No. A pop-up, a notification or a new tab is only a web page or a message. It cannot run programs on Windows by itself, provided the browser and Windows are up to date. Infection needs a step from you:
- running a downloaded file
- installing an extension
- giving a stranger remote access
That is why scam pages work so hard to make you click. Close such pages with the tab's X or by closing the browser, not with buttons inside the page, which may start a download.
Why is my browser so slow since the ads started?
Each page now does extra work. An adware extension reads the page, decides where to put ads, loads them from ad servers and reports your visit, and that happens on every tab. Ad-supported programs add their own background activity.
Removing the extension or program usually makes the browser fast again at once. If it stays slow, open the browser's own task manager with Shift+Esc in Chrome or Edge and look for extensions using a lot of memory or processor time.
Did Click-this-special.video collect my data?
Adware typically collects what it needs to choose ads:
- the sites you visit
- search terms
- approximate location
- browser and system details
Extensions with permission to read and change data on all websites can technically see everything on those pages, including forms. That is a privacy problem rather than proof of theft.
If you typed card details or passwords while it was active, changing the most important passwords is a reasonable precaution. Clearing cookies after removal ends the tracking sessions it may have started.
My scan found nothing, but the ads continue. Why?
Because the source may not be a file a scanner looks for. Browser notifications are a permission stored in the browser, and many adware extensions are not flagged because they come from an official store.
Some ad-supported programs are only reported if you enable detection of potentially unwanted apps. So a clean scan does not mean the job is done. Check each browser's notification permissions and extension list by hand, and turn on Potentially unwanted app blocking in Windows Security before scanning again.
Will Fortect remove Click-this-special.video?
Fortect scans Windows for malware and unwanted programs and repairs the system files and settings they change, and its free scan shows what it finds on your PC before you decide anything.
For Click-this-special.video, follow the plan above as well: the browser steps take back permissions and settings that no scanner treats as a threat, and uninstalling the program that brought it removes the source.
Run Microsoft Defender's full scan and, if anything was found, its offline scan as a second opinion. If the symptoms are gone after the plan and both scans are clean, there is nothing more to do.
Sources
- Imperva: Social Engineering (read October 6, 2026)
- kaspersky: What is VPN? How It Works, Types of VPN (read October 6, 2026)
- Google Chrome Help: Use notifications to get alerts (no longer online) (read October 6, 2026)
- FTC: How to recognize, remove and avoid malware (read October 6, 2026)
- Microsoft Learn: Microsoft Defender Offline (read October 6, 2026)