How to remove Widgi Toolbar

Widgi Toolbar – adware-type program that should not be trusted

Widgi Toolbar

Widgi Toolbar is a potentially unwanted program (PUP) from Spigot Inc., which can also be categorized as an adware and a potentially unwanted program. It is presented as one of Internet Explorer components and, in most cases, can be downloaded together with IE updates.

However, it may also appear on your Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and any other web browser without any permission asked. This happens due to a prominent PUP distribution technique known as software bundling, where several apps are installed at once (instead of one).

Name	Widgi Toolbar
Type	Adware, potentially unwanted program
Developer	Spigot Inc.
Distribution	Software bundles, insecure third-party websites, fake updates
Dangers	Monetary losses, installation of other potentially unwanted programs, personal data disclosure to unknown parties
Removal	You can uninstall potentially unwanted programs manually by following our guide below or employing security software that would do the job for you automatically
System fix	Malware or adware infections can diminish the performance of your computer or cause serious stability issues (crashes, errors, shut downs, lag, etc.). Use Fortect Intego to remediate your device and ensure that the virus damage is eliminated

As soon as the Widgi Toolbar virus enters the computer, it may alter various system settings what may cause the appearance of an unknown start page, default search engine, and a new tab page on each of your web browsers. This is done in order to ensure the functionality of the PUP.

Once this toolbar finishes needed system changes, it may start messing it up by displaying continuous pop-up ads, altered search results and other questionable content during victim's browsing on the web. While many of these ads can be completely safe and lead to reputable websites, some advertisements might direct you to potentially dangerous places on the internet.

Besides, it may start slowing down your PC system or may also redirect you to unfamiliar websites. This technique is used for helping these sites to increase their page rank or sales.

No matter that this toolbar may seem like a typical search tool, you should keep in order your computer because by ignoring Widgi Toolbar redirects, you may be tricked into visiting dangerous or unsafe sites. These sites may trick you into installing more potentially unwanted programs on the system.

Finally, the app might also start collecting information about you, which may include:

IP address
Geo-location
Technical device details
Installed programs
Visited websites
Clicked links
Search queries, etc.

To sum up, no matter that technically, this program is not considered a virus, you should be very careful with it and remove Widgi Toolbar from your system for good. We recommend you eliminate it from the system as soon as it hijacks your Internet Explorer or another web browser.

The easiest way to do that is by running a full system scan with reputable anti-spyware and then eliminating malicious files that it detects. When trying to remove Widgi Toolbar, we used SpyHunter Combo Cleaner, although other security programs should suffice.

We can easily recommend you to use this program because it showed really great results when detecting this application and eliminating it from the system. Additionally, if a full system scan revealed malware on the device, you can employ Fortect Intego to ensure your computer performance is not compromised

Widgi Toolbar hijack may appear unexpectedly

You can download this application from the Internet just like any other application. It is available at download, cnet, and other download sites. However, the Widgi Toolbar virus can also infiltrate your computer unnoticed because it's actively spread in a bundle with freeware and shareware.

To prevent its infiltration, you should be very careful when downloading free programs from the Internet. Instead of clicking the “Next” button until the “Finish” comes up and letting Widgi Toolbar hijack your browsers, you should choose Custom or Advanced installation and then deselect all unfamiliar checkmarks that typically agree with the installation of various toolbars, extensions, plugins, and add-ons.

If you think it's too late because this program has already infiltrated your computer, you should follow the guide below and get rid of it.

Delete Widgi Toolbar virus along with other unwanted programs

If the Widgi Toolbar virus has already infiltrated your computer, you shouldn't leave it there because it may initiate various annoying and dangerous activities on it. In order to avoid misleading pop-up ads and security-related issues, you should delete the app in one of the following ways:

manually
automatically.

You can follow the detailed manual guide provided by our experts. After looking for unwanted programs on your machine, you should also not forget to clean your web browsers in order to prevent PUPs return after Widgi Toolbar removal. Alternatively, you could employ security software that would do all the tedious work for you instead.

While both methods can be as equally as effective, we highly recommend you remove Widgi Toolbar automatically, especially if you are a less IT-savvy individual.

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.

Reset Internet Explorer

Remove dangerous add-ons:

Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
Pick Manage Add-ons.
You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.

Change your homepage if it was altered:

Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
Select Internet Options.
In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
Click Apply and then select OK.

Delete temporary files:

Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
Under Browsing history, click Delete...
Select relevant fields and press Delete.

Reset Internet Explorer:

Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
Select Reset.
In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.

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

Remove dangerous extensions:

Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.

Clear history and website data:

Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.

Reset Safari:

Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.