Safe ads: what it is and how to remove it

Remove its permission in the browser. The bottom line of each notification names the browser, so open that browser's notification settings and look under Allowed. Remove safe-surfing.info and any other site you do not recognise.

In Chrome and Edge this is under the site settings for notifications; in Firefox it is under Settings, Permissions and data, Notifications. Do this in every browser profile, because each one keeps its own list.

Restart the browser and wait a few minutes. If a message still arrives, read its bottom line again: the sending address can differ from the site you remember, and that is the entry still left in the list.

If you only opened the page and closed it, nothing else is needed besides removing the permission from safe-surfing.info. If the page asked for card details, a phone number or a password and you entered them, act on that: call the bank to block the card, or change the password from another device.

If it offered a download, delete the file unopened, or uninstall it from Installed apps if you ran it, then run a full scan. If you called a number shown on the page, follow the steps for callers in this guide. Finally, remove the permission so that no more messages arrive.

Safe is a push-notification spam site, a kind of adware. It earns money by showing desktop notifications, and each view, click or redirect pays whoever runs it. It is not something people usually choose; it arrives through a free download, a fake button or a misleading prompt.

Safe does not encrypt files or take control of Windows, but its ads are sold to anyone, including scam operators, so they can lead to fake virus warnings and unwanted downloads. The steps in this guide remove it from Windows and from each browser.

There are two possible reasons. If it appears as desktop notifications, a browser on this PC was given permission to receive them from safe-surfing.info, usually through a misleading prompt. That permission stays until you remove it in the browser's site settings.

If it appears as tabs or redirects, an ad on a site you visit is opening it, or an extension or program on the PC is. Test a private window: if safe-surfing.info never appears there, an extension is the likely cause. The plan above covers each case.

Only in the browsers that allowed safe-surfing.info, but checking all of them takes a minute and is worth it. We saw the notifications in Chrome, Edge and Firefox. Chrome and Edge keep their notification lists under site settings, and Firefox under Privacy & Security > Permissions.

Remove safe-surfing.info and any other unfamiliar site from each list, then turn off new notification requests if you do not need them. Remember that every browser profile has its own list, so a second profile can keep the messages coming after you clean the first.

Compare them with the details in the table above. Safe produces desktop notifications, and the clearest sign of it is notifications from safe-surfing.info. Other adware looks similar, so check the name of the sending site at the bottom of a notification, the address in the tab that opened, or the newest entries on the extensions page.

If those match, this guide fits. If you see a different name, the same kind of steps apply, but remove the item you actually find rather than guessing.

Clicking Block is safe; it only tells the browser not to show notifications from that site. Clicking Allow is not dangerous to your files either, but it gives the site a channel to your desktop that spam sites abuse at once.

The prompt itself is part of the browser, so you can trust its buttons. What you cannot trust is the text on the page around it. If a page explains why you must click Allow, choose Block or close the tab.

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.

You can hide them, but that is not the fix. In Windows 11, Settings > System > Notifications lets you switch off notifications for a whole browser, which silences the spam together with every useful notification from that browser.

The site keeps its permission and can still send messages when you switch them back on. It is better to remove the specific site in the browser's own notification settings and block new requests. That stops the messages at the source and leaves the rest of your notifications working.

No program removes Safe itself, because there is nothing on the PC to remove: the notifications come through a permission saved in the browser, and only the browser's settings take it away, as the steps above show.

What Fortect can do is check the rest of Windows. Its free scan looks for malware, unwanted programs and damaged system files, which is useful if you clicked the ads, downloaded something from the pages they opened, or are not sure what else changed on the PC.

If the scan finds nothing and the notifications stopped after you removed the permission, this problem is solved. Use Microsoft Defender as a second opinion whenever you have downloaded files from pages like these.