PicColor ads. How to remove? (Uninstall guide)
What is PicColor?
If your web browser displays tons of notifications ‘Ads by PicColor‘, it is likely that your system has been hijacked by an adware. Due to the fact that it infiltrates PCs using suspicious methods, it has also been labeled as potentially unwanted program (PUP). Once installed, it implements several activities that you may not be aware of. It settles down on each of web browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer, and may start tracking your browsing activities from the very beginning. It does not accumulate personally identifiable data; however, be sure that pages you visit, your approximate geolocation, IP address, browser’s type, time zone, operating system and similar information is tracked and shared with third parties. Unfortunately, you can never be sure what other information is accumulated and what third parties are capable of reaching it.
Beware that even if PicColor offers supposedly useful service, it is more likely designed for other purpose. This questionable application may start displaying tons of advertisements that are typically marked as ‘Powered by PicColor’, ‘Ads by PicColor’, or ‘Brought to you by PicColor’ for redirecting you to third party websites and increasing their page rank or sales. During the worst scenario, you may be tricked into visiting unsafe website. Therefore, if you want to avoid PicColor redirects to web pages that contain another adware, potentially unwanted programs or even malware, avoid clicking these ads.
How can PicColor infiltrate my computer?
PicColor hijacks systems without users’ permission asked because it mostly travels bundled with freewares and sharewares, such as various download managers, toolbars, video converters and so on. This application is said to be a clone of Buy4Less, GoSaveNow, Savings Vault, SpeedSave and many others that have also been spread with the help of bundling. Therefore, it doesn’t matter what download source you are going to use, you need to be extremely attentive while installing free programs. We do not recommend choosing “Recommended” installation mode as it hides notifications about browser extensions, add-ons, plug-ins and toolbars that are bundled with the program you want. Choosing Advanced or Custom installation option may help in this case. This installation option requires more time because it discloses all check boxes that may include propositions to change your home page, search engine, install extension, add-ons or plu-ins. As a result, you may easily decline such and similar options and install the program that you need without additional applications. If you have detected PicColor add-on or similar adware on your system, do not waist time and remove it immediately. The sooner you get rid of it, the lower is the chance that other adware or even malware get inside your PC.
How to remove PicColor?
Fortunately, it is not difficult to remove PicColor adware from the system and get rid of PicColor ads. For that you should follow the step-by-step guide below and perform every step in a right order. Please, be very careful because you may remove useful components. In order to protect yourself from that, we recommend you using automatic removal method. You can easily scan your PC with one of these reputable anti-spywares that are given below and remove this adware-type program automatically.
You can remove virus damage automatically with a help of one of these programs: Reimage, Malwarebytes MalwarebytesCombo Cleaner, Plumbytes Anti-MalwareMalwarebytes Malwarebytes. We recommend these applications because they detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
To remove PicColor ads, follow these steps:
Uninstall PicColor from Windows systems
-
Click Start → Control Panel → Programs and Features (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
-
If you are Windows 10 / Windows 8 user, then right-click in the lower left corner of the screen. Once Quick Access Menu shows up, select Control Panel and Uninstall a Program.
-
Uninstall PicColor and related programs
Here, look for PicColor or any other recently installed suspicious programs. -
Uninstall them and click OK to save these changes.
Remove PicColor from Mac OS X system
-
If you are using OS X, click Go button at the top left of the screen and select Applications.
-
Wait until you see Applications folder and look for PicColor or any other suspicious programs on it. Now right click on every of such entries and select Move to Trash.
Get rid of PicColor from Internet Explorer (IE)
-
Remove dangerous add-ons
Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top right corner of the browser and choose Manage Add-ons. -
You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for PicColor and other suspicious plugins. Disable these entries by clicking Disable:
-
Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Click on the gear icon (menu) on the top right corner of the browser and select Internet Options. Stay in General tab. -
Here, remove malicious URL and enter preferable domain name. Click Apply to save changes.
-
Reset Internet Explorer
Click on the gear icon (menu) again and select Internet options. Go to Advanced tab. - Here, select Reset.
-
When in the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset again to complete PicColor removal.
Erase PicColor ads from Microsoft Edge
Reset Microsoft Edge settings (Method 1):
- Launch Microsoft Edge app and click More (three dots at the top right corner of the screen).
- Click Settings to open more options.
-
Once Settings window shows up, click Choose what to clear button under Clear browsing data option.
-
Here, select all what you want to remove and click Clear.
-
Now you should right-click on the Start button (Windows logo). Here, select Task Manager.
- When in Processes tab, search for Microsoft Edge.
-
Right-click on it and choose Go to details option. If can’t see Go to details option, click More details and repeat previous steps.
-
When Details tab shows up, find every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right click on each of them and select End Task to end these entries.
Resetting Microsoft Edge browser (Method 2):
If Method 1 failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method.
- Note: you need to backup your data before using this method.
- Find this folder on your computer:
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
-
Select every entry which is saved on it and right click with your mouse. Then Delete option.
- Click the Start button (Windows logo) and type in window power in Search my stuff line.
-
Right-click the Windows PowerShell entry and choose Run as administrator.
- Once Administrator: Windows PowerShell window shows up, paste this command line after PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> and press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml -Verbose}
Once these steps are finished, PicColor should be removed from your Microsoft Edge browser.
WindowsMac OS XInternet ExplorerMicrosoft EdgeFirefoxGoogle ChromeSafariDelete PicColor from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
-
Remove dangerous extensions
Open Mozilla Firefox, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Add-ons → Extensions. -
Here, select PicColor and other questionable plugins. Click Remove to delete these entries.
-
Reset Mozilla Firefox
Click on the Firefox menu on the top left and click on the question mark. Here, choose Troubleshooting Information. -
Now you will see Reset Firefox to its default state message with Reset Firefox button. Click this button for several times and complete PicColor removal.
Eliminate PicColor from Google Chrome
-
Delete malicious plugins
Open Google Chrome, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Tools → Extensions. -
Here, select PicColor and other malicious plugins and select trash icon to delete these entries.
-
Click on menu icon again and choose Settings → Manage Search engines under the Search section.
-
When in Search Engines..., remove malicious search sites. You should leave only Google or your preferred domain name.
-
Reset Google Chrome
Click on menu icon on the top right of your Google Chrome and select Settings. -
Scroll down to the end of the page and click on Reset browser settings.
-
Click Reset to confirm this action and complete PicColor removal.
Uninstall PicColor from Safari
-
Remove dangerous extensions
Open Safari web browser and click on Safari in menu at the top left of the screen. Once you do this, select Preferences. -
Here, select Extensions and look for PicColor or other suspicious entries. Click on the Uninstall button to get rid each of them.
-
Reset Safari
Open Safari browser and click on Safari in menu section at the top left of the screen. Here, select Reset Safari.... -
Now you will see a detailed dialog window filled with reset options. All of those options are usually checked, but you can specify which of them you want to reset. Click the Reset button to complete PicColor removal process.