How to remove the Swagbucks toolbar and search.swagbucks.com
The Swagbucks toolbar, now the SwagButton extension, is a rewards add-on from Prodege that sets search.swagbucks.com as your search page and, when it arrives without your choice, counts as unwanted. To remove it, delete the add-on in each browser, uninstall the Swagbucks program and set your own search engine.
Facts checked October 6, 2026. Removal steps tested on Windows 11 (26H2) and checked against Microsoft's and the browser makers' current documentation.
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Swagbucks toolbar: summary
| Type | Rewards-site toolbar and browser extension (SwagButton), plus the search page search.swagbucks.com; unwanted when it arrives without your choice |
|---|---|
| Risk | Low to medium: the website was quiet on one visit; the add-on reads browsing data; bundled installs can bring more |
| Symptoms | A Swagbucks add-on or toolbar you did not add; home page, new tabs or search opening search.swagbucks.com; a Swagbucks entry in the app list |
| How to get rid of it | Remove the add-on in each browser, uninstall the Swagbucks program, set your own search engine and home page, scan |
| Our check (6 October 2026) | No notification request, pop-ups, redirects or service worker on one visit; 12 hosts contacted; we did not install the add-on |
| Running since | swagbucks.com registered on 29 October 2007; our first report 24 May 2018 |
| 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 12 more facts
| Also known as | Swagbucks Toolbar, SwagButton, SB Toolbar, Swagbucks search, Swagbucks Button |
|---|---|
| Made by | Prodege, LLC (El Segundo, California), as named in the Chrome Web Store |
| Installed on the PC | A browser extension; on Windows a program called SB Toolbar for Internet Explorer; on a Mac an app under Applications > Toolbars |
| Detection | No Microsoft detection name is known: we searched and found none for the toolbar. Spybot's forum lists it as the adware SwagBucks.Toolbar, a Chrome extension called Swag Bucks Community Toolbar (old thread, not checked by us) |
| Damage | Changed home page and search engine; the add-on can read browsing data; no harm to files seen |
| Distribution | The Swagbucks sign-up, ads (the old report names Facebook), and free-program bundles from download sites |
| Evidence | Our test of the website, RDAP records, Swagbucks help page, Chrome Web Store listing, WinTips, a Mozilla support thread |
| Name | Swagbucks toolbar |
| Search page | search.swagbucks.com |
| Browsers | Chrome, Edge and Firefox |
| First seen | 24 May 2018 |
| Facts checked | 6 October 2026 |
Facts checked on 6 October 2026 against our own test of the website in desktop Chromium from Lithuania, the registry's RDAP record, Swagbucks' help pages, the Chrome Web Store listing, WinTips and a Mozilla support thread. We did not install the add-on.
What the Swagbucks toolbar is, and what it is not
Swagbucks is a rewards website run by Prodege, LLC, and its toolbar, now sold as the SwagButton extension, is a browser add-on that earns points for shopping and searching. It is not a virus. It becomes unwanted when it, or the search page search.swagbucks.com, lands in your browser without you choosing it.
- What it is
- A rewards service: members collect points (SB) for shopping, searching, surveys and videos, and swap them for gift cards or PayPal cash
- The add-on
- SwagButton in the Chrome Web Store, from Prodege, LLC: coupons, cash-back alerts, Swag Codes and a web search; 300,000 users and 4.2 stars from 12,500 ratings on 6 October 2026, last updated 27 May 2026
- The old toolbar
- Swagbucks' own help page still lists an "SB Toolbar" for Internet Explorer and a Swagbucks.com toolbar for Safari on the Mac
- The search page
search.swagbucks.com, which Swagbucks invites people to make their default search engine on a page of its own- Domain
- swagbucks.com, registered on 29 October 2007 and paid until 29 October 2027
Our 2018 report called the program a virus that redirects your browser to sponsored pages. We have corrected that. The company is a real business, its own help page tells you to remove the add-on with the normal tools, and what we can show today is a rewards site, not a redirect. The complaints we can still back are about how the toolbar arrives: through an ad, a free-program installer or another person's sign-up, and then keeps opening its search page.
Is Swagbucks toolbar dangerous? What it collects
Our test on 6 October 2026
We opened www.swagbucks.com and search.swagbucks.com as a visitor would, in a clean desktop Chromium browser from Lithuania: no sign-in, no downloads, no extension installed, no search typed.
www.swagbucks.com and search.swagbucks.com · desktop Chromium · Lithuania (EU) · 6 October 2026
- Notification requestNo prompt appeared on this one visit, and the browser's permission for the site stayed on "ask" (
default). - Pop-ups and new tabsNone on this one visit: the browser held one tab only.
- Redirects on loadNone. The address stayed on
www.swagbucks.com, and the plainhttp://address answered with a permanent redirect (301) tohttps://www.swagbucks.com/. - Service workerNone registered on this one visit, so nothing was left running in the browser.
- Download or install promptThe home page showed a sign-up box (Google, Apple or e-mail) and a cookie-choices banner with Accept, Reject and More Options. It started no download.
- Who else is contactedThe page loaded files from 12 hosts, among them
prdgsvc.comaddresses (consent and experiments),js.swagbucks.com, Cloudflare Insights, Google and Apple sign-in, andcf-enrich.prod.verisoul.ai. We did not inspect what they collect. - What we did not testWe did not install SwagButton, run a search, open the Mac or Internet Explorer toolbars, or visit from a phone, another country or through the ad that readers describe.
Low risk for the website On this one visit the website was quiet: no notification request, pop-ups, redirects or service worker. That says nothing about other countries, devices or a second visit, and it does not clear the add-on or the bundled installers readers describe. The verdict covers the website only.
How the toolbar looked, and what changed
September 2015
A Mac user cannot shake off the search page
A Firefox user on OS X 10.10.5 wrote to Mozilla's support forum that every new window opened
search.swagbucks.com/?f=5, even after he removed the Swagbucks extension, set a new home page and deleted the Swagbucks search engine. A volunteer pointed him to Mozilla's Search Reset add-on and a Mac malware scanner. We could not check whether that add-on still works.October 2017
A reader cannot uninstall it
A reader wrote to us that after installing the toolbar it "delivers so many ads" and asked how to uninstall it. We answered, and the answer is the steps further down.
24 May 2018
Our first report: the widget and the search page
Our report showed a Swagbucks widget with Search, Prizes, Blog, Swag Codes and Sign Up buttons, an advert for free rewards and the search page in an Internet Explorer window.
From our 2018 report: an advert for free rewards, a small Swagbucks widget with Search, Prizes, Blog, Swag Codes and Sign Up, and search.swagbucks.com in Internet Explorer with the line "Powered by Yahoo!". 2018
The toolbar advert for Chrome
The same report showed the advert for the toolbar: a search box with a Search & Win button, a Swag Code check and a points counter, headed "Earn Swag Bucks 3X faster with the new toolbar".
From our 2018 report: the Swagbucks Toolbar for Chrome advert with its Download Now button, and the plain search page below it. 6 October 2026
Our new check
The toolbar has become the SwagButton extension, still published by Prodege, with 300,000 users. The website was quiet on one visit; the unwanted installs readers describe are not something one visit can show.
What can actually go wrong
Nothing in our test infects the PC. The real concerns are about the setting, what the add-on can see and what rides along with it.
- Medium
The add-on can see where you browse
In the Chrome Web Store, Prodege says SwagButton handles personally identifiable information, authentication information, location, web history and website content, and declares that the data is not sold to third parties. That is how a shopping add-on knows which store you are on, and it is also a lot of access to give to an add-on you did not choose.
- Medium
A bundled installer may have brought more
If the toolbar arrived with a free program or an ad, other add-ons may have come the same way. The old guide listed extra apps and extensions among the problems. That is what a scan and the installed-apps list are for.
- Medium
Searches and new windows go to one company
When
search.swagbucks.comis your default, what you type goes to Swagbucks. The 2015 forum thread shows a case where new windows kept opening it after the add-on was removed. - Low
Aggressive ads or redirects to risky sites
The old report and a 2017 reader complaint spoke of many ads and redirects to questionable pages. We saw none on one visit to the website, so they stay as reader reports.
- Low
Surveys and personal details
The old guide warned against giving personal details to surveys and polls, since you cannot know who uses them. That holds for any rewards site: read what a survey asks before you answer.
What a search engine or shopping add-on can see
- Search words you type
- Pages and stores you visit
- IP address and rough location
- Browser and device details
- Links you click
True of every default search engine and every shopping add-on, which is why a setting you did not choose is worth fixing.
How Swagbucks toolbar got into your browser
The old report named two routes, an ad and a free-program installer. Wintips adds download portals. Check them in this order, from the most common to the least.
| Route | What you would see | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| You or someone at the PC signed up | A Swagbucks add-on or toolbar from the sign-up, and the search page as home page | Extensions page of the browser; the Swagbucks account e-mail |
| An ad promised free gift cards | The toolbar appeared right after clicking an ad, often on Facebook (reader and old-report claim) | Browser history for the minutes before the change |
| It came with a free program | The home page changed the same day as a download from a portal or a bundle | Settings > Apps > Installed apps, sorted by install date |
| A Mac app or Safari extension | A Swagbucks entry in the Applications folder, under Toolbars, or in Safari's extensions | Finder > Applications and Safari Settings > Extensions |
| A setting the add-on left behind | New windows keep opening the Swagbucks search page after the add-on is gone | Home page, new-tab page and search engine settings |
Bundling is why the program gets called a virus. A free-program installer on its Quick or Recommended path accepts extras for you, and the Custom or Advanced path lets you untick them. WinTips says its removal guide covers a hijacker that sets search.swagbucks.com as home page and search in Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox, and that such hijackers are usually bundled with freeware from download sites. We cannot say how many installs come that way.
How to remove Swagbucks toolbar
How to remove Swagbucks toolbar and get your search engine back
Remove the extension first.
The search settings only stay fixed once nothing on the PC can change them again.
Which browser shows the ads?
Set another search engine
Open Settings > Search engine, click Change next to the search engine used in the address bar and pick the one you want. Then open Manage search engines and site search and delete any entry you did not add.
Remove extensions you do not recognise
Paste
chrome://extensionsinto the address bar and click Remove on anything you did not install yourself, especially "search" or PDF helpers added recently.Full procedure with screenshots: Remove a browser extension
Clear the site data
Press Ctrl + Shift + Delete, choose All time, tick Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files, and click Delete data.
Reset Chrome
Open Settings > Reset settings > Restore settings to their original defaults and confirm with Reset settings. This resets the start page, search engine and pinned tabs and turns off extensions; bookmarks and saved passwords stay.
Full procedure with screenshots: Reset a browser and fix a hijacked search engine
Set another search engine
Open Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Address bar and search and choose the search engine used in the address bar. Check Manage search engines for entries you did not add.
Remove extensions you do not recognise
Paste
edge://extensionsinto the address bar and click Remove under anything you did not install yourself.Full procedure with screenshots: Remove a browser extension
Clear the site data
Open Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Delete browsing data > Choose what to clear, set All time, tick Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files, and click Clear now.
Reset Edge
Open Settings > Reset settings > Restore settings to their default values and confirm with Reset. Extensions are turned off and the start page goes back to default; favourites, history and saved passwords stay.
Full procedure with screenshots: Reset a browser and fix a hijacked search engine
Set another search engine
Open Settings > Search and pick another engine under Default Search Engine. Under Search Shortcuts, remove "Swagbucks" and any entry you did not add. Then open Home and set your own home page and new-window page.
Remove the Swagbucks add-on
Paste
about:addonsinto the address bar, open Extensions and choose Remove from the three-dot menu of the Swagbucks entry, then restart Firefox. Swagbucks' help page gives the same steps: Extensions, Remove, restart.Full procedure with screenshots: Remove a browser extension
If it is not removable
If there is no Remove option, the program that installed it controls it. Uninstall the Swagbucks program in Windows first, then open the menu > Help > Troubleshoot Mode and try again.
Refresh Firefox
Open the menu > Help > More troubleshooting information and click Refresh Firefox. Add-ons and custom settings are removed and the home page goes back to default; bookmarks, history and passwords stay.
Full procedure with screenshots: Reset a browser and fix a hijacked search engine
Run the Swagbucks uninstaller
Open Finder > Applications, scroll to Toolbars, open Swagbucks.com, double-click Uninstall and enter your Mac user name and password (Swagbucks' help page).
Set another search engine
Open Safari > Settings > Search and choose a different Search engine. In General set your own home page.
Remove extensions you do not recognise
In Safari > Settings > Extensions, select anything you did not install yourself and click Uninstall. Check Finder > Applications for apps you do not remember and move them to the Bin.
Clear the site data
In Safari > Settings > Privacy > Manage Website Data, remove the site's data, or use History > Clear History > all history.
Check the Mac for leftovers
In System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions, remove unknown items, and empty the Bin.
Then, whichever browser you use
Step 1: Uninstall programs you did not mean to install
Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps in Windows 11, or Settings > Apps > Apps & features in Windows 10, and sort the list by install date. Look at what appeared around the day the problem started and uninstall every program you do not recognise or did not choose.
Free converters, PDF and video tools, "system optimizers" and unknown browsers are the usual carriers of Swagbucks toolbar. If a name is unclear, search for it before you remove it, so you do not uninstall a driver or a Windows component.
Full procedure with screenshots: Uninstall a program or app in Windows On uGetFix
Step 2: 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
After removal: keep your search engine and start page
On a Mac and in Safari
The old report said the Mac is where people struggle most. Swagbucks' own page gives an Applications-folder uninstaller for Safari, so start there, and use the Safari tab in the removal section for the rest.
- 1
Run the Swagbucks uninstaller
Open Finder > Applications, scroll to Toolbars and open Swagbucks.com, double-click Uninstall and type your Mac user name and password when asked. This is the method on Swagbucks' help page; we did not run it on a Mac.
- 2
Move unknown apps to the Bin
Look through Applications for anything you do not remember installing, such as a video player or a download helper from the day the home page changed. Check the name first, then drag it to the Bin.
- 3
Remove the Safari extension and reset the search
In Safari > Settings > Extensions uninstall any Swagbucks entry, then in Search choose another search engine. Open General and set your own home page.
- 4
Scan with a security app you trust
If the page keeps coming back, scan the Mac with an up-to-date security app of your choice. The old guide made the same point: when manual removal fails, scan.
The old report said Safari users suffered most, citing Los Virus. We could not find that claim anywhere else and have not repeated it. What we can show is the 2015 thread: a Firefox user on a Mac had the same trouble, so check every browser on the Mac.
If the toolbar came with something else
Removing the add-on and resetting the search is enough if only the setting changed. If an ad or an installer brought it, do these four things as well, in this order.
- 1
Uninstall the Swagbucks program
Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps in Windows 11 (Apps & features in Windows 10), find SB Toolbar or Swagbucks and uninstall it (Uninstall a program or app in Windows On uGetFix). Swagbucks' help page names the same entry, "SB Toolbar", in the Windows program list.
- 2
Uninstall other programs from the same day
Sort the list by install date and remove anything you did not mean to install on the day the home page changed. Leave an unknown program on the PC only if you chose it yourself.
- 3
Scan, then scan offline
Run a Microsoft Defender Full scan, then the Microsoft Defender Antivirus (offline scan), which finds programs that hide while Windows runs.
- 4
Reset every browser you use
Check Chrome, Edge and Firefox one at a time: the extension, the home page, the new-tab page and the search engine. Our removal tabs above give the steps, down to a full reset if a setting keeps coming back.
How to keep it from happening again
Do
- Stay away from ads that promise free gift cards for little work, and do not click links from people you do not know.
- Choose Custom or Advanced setup in installers and untick every extra program, add-on and pre-ticked search or home-page change.
- Download programs from their makers' sites or the Microsoft Store, not from download portals.
- After installing free software, open the browser's search engine and home page settings and check them once.
- Keep a current backup of your files (File History or OneDrive), so an infection or a failed disk does not cost you your documents.
- On public networks, a VPN hides your IP address from the sites and ad networks you visit; it does not block ads or malware.
Don't
- Click through Quick or Recommended setup without reading it.
- Accept "make this your search engine" prompts from programs you did not go to install.
- Give a rewards site details you would not give a stranger.
- Assume an add-on is harmless because the brand is well known; look at what it asks to read.
Questions about Swagbucks toolbar
Is the Swagbucks toolbar a virus?
No, it is not a virus, but it is unwanted when you did not choose it. Swagbucks is a rewards website run by Prodege, LLC, and its toolbar and the SwagButton extension are shopping and search add-ons. In our check on 6 October 2026 the website asked for no notifications and opened no pop-ups or redirects on one visit.
Our 2018 report called it a virus that redirects your browser; we have corrected that. The complaints are about how it arrives, through an ad or a free-program installer, and about the home page and search settings it changes. Remove it if you did not install it yourself.
How do I remove the Swagbucks toolbar?
Remove the add-on in each browser, then uninstall the program and reset the search. Swagbucks' own help page says you may uninstall it at any time with the normal tools.
In Chrome open Settings > Extensions, find the Swagbucks extension and remove it, then restart. In Firefox open the add-ons page and choose Remove. In Windows 11 open Settings > Apps > Installed apps and uninstall SB Toolbar if it is listed.
Then choose your own search engine and home page, and run a Microsoft Defender full scan. The removal tabs on this page give the steps for Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari.
How do I get rid of Swagbucks on a Mac or in Safari?
On a Mac, start with the Swagbucks uninstaller, then clean Safari. Swagbucks' help page says to open Finder > Applications, scroll to Toolbars, open Swagbucks.com and double-click Uninstall, then type your user name and password. After that open Safari > Settings > Extensions and uninstall any Swagbucks entry, and pick another search engine under Search.
Check Applications for apps you do not remember installing and drag them to the Bin. We did not run these steps on a Mac, so if the page keeps coming back, scan the Mac with a security app you trust and check every browser on it.
Why does search.swagbucks.com keep opening in new tabs?
Usually because the add-on or a setting it left behind still points at that page. A Firefox user on a Mac wrote to Mozilla in 2015 that every new window opened search.swagbucks.com even after he removed the extension, set a new home page and deleted the search engine. Check three places in each browser:
- the new-tab or start-up setting
- the default search engine
- the extensions page
Then uninstall any Swagbucks program from the app list and restart. If it still returns, a program from the same installer may be setting it again; a Defender offline scan finds those.
Is Swagbucks legitimate, and can I trust it?
Swagbucks is a real rewards business, but trust the website and the add-on for different reasons. The company behind it, Prodege, LLC, is named in the Chrome Web Store, and the site has been registered since 29 October 2007.
Its extension lists personal information, location and web history among the data it handles, and says the data is not sold to third parties. We did not verify payouts or that claim.
Use it if you want it, install the extension yourself, and read what a survey asks before you answer. If it arrived without your choice, remove it.
Does the Swagbucks toolbar steal my data?
We cannot show theft, but the add-on does have wide access. The Chrome Web Store listing for SwagButton says it handles personally identifiable information, authentication information, location, web history and website content, and that the data is not sold to third parties or used for unrelated purposes.
That is the declared use of a shopping add-on that must know which store you are on. We did not install it or watch its traffic. If you did not choose it, the safe move is to remove it and change any password you typed while it was active.
Can a Facebook ad install Swagbucks?
Our old report and some readers say so, but we could not reproduce it. The old report said the toolbar can arrive after clicking an ad on Facebook, and a reader in 2017 described the toolbar appearing with many ads. Our 2026 test did not click ads.
What we can say is that an ad can send you to the sign-up page, where installing the extension is your own click, and that bundled free-program installers are the other route. If you clicked such an ad, check your extensions and the installed-apps list, and remove what you did not choose.
Should I use an antivirus scan to remove Swagbucks?
Scan, but remove the add-on by hand first. The add-on is removed with the normal browser and Windows tools, as Swagbucks' help page says. A scan then catches what came along with it:
- other add-ons
- a changed home page
- a program installed the same day
In Windows 11 use Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Scan options > Full scan, then Microsoft Defender Antivirus (offline scan). Will Fortect or another tool remove it for you? A tool can help find bundled programs, but we have no evidence for a removal claim about this toolbar.
How do I stop Swagbucks from changing my search engine?
Set your own search engine and check that nothing changes it back. In Chrome open Settings > Search engine and choose the engine for the address bar, then open Manage search engines and site search and delete entries you did not add. In Edge use Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Address bar and search.
In Firefox use Settings > Search. If Swagbucks returns, remove the extension and the Swagbucks program first, then restart. Swagbucks also offers a page that makes it your default search, so only use that page if you want it.
Will Fortect remove Swagbucks toolbar?
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 Swagbucks toolbar, 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
- Our site test of www.swagbucks.com and search.swagbucks.com: two page loads, desktop Chromium, 6 October 2026 (read October 6, 2026)
- Verisign RDAP: swagbucks.com registration record (read October 6, 2026)
- Swagbucks Help Center: How do I uninstall the Swagbucks.com SwagButton? (read October 6, 2026)
- Swagbucks: Default Your Search (read October 6, 2026)
- Chrome Web Store: SwagButton by Prodege, LLC (read October 6, 2026)
- WinTips: Remove Swagbucks.com search and SwagBucks Toolbar (updated 3 October 2024) (read October 6, 2026)
- Mozilla Support: Swagbucks searchs, get rid of on my Mac (thread of 18 September 2015) (read October 6, 2026)