How to Remove Adware from Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox browser is one of the favorite targets of malware and adware authors. With the millions of users of this popular browser, chances are that the majority of them may acquire potentially unwanted programs from various makers.

Even if security software is installed, there are still slim chances that the Firefox browser may be infected by adware or malware. For this reason, we are providing a simple and yet effective way to remove adware and malware from Mozilla Firefox.

ff-virus

Ways to get rid of Adware and Malware from Firefox Browser

The removal steps on this page don’t require technical expertise to successfully remove adware from Mozilla Firefox. All you have to do is follow what is exactly stated in the guide and use all the suggested tools. Keep in mind to download tools and programs only from the official web page, as stated in this method.

Step 1 : Remove Unwanted Add-ons from Firefox Browser

Add-ons and extensions are often used by most adware to integrate themselves into the Mozilla Firefox web browser. In this topic, we will discuss how you can remove the add-on to stop activities such as browser redirects, pop-up ads, and other unwanted functions caused by the adware.

1. Open the Mozilla Firefox browser.

2. Press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard to bring out ‘Add-Ons Manager’. Alternatively, you can type ‘about:addons‘ in the address bar. This will provide a list of all extensions and plugins installed.

3. Under Manage your Extensions area, select the adware entry and click the Options (…) to reveal the selections.

Screenshot of Add-ons on Firefox

4. Click the Remove button to get rid of the unwanted add-on. Please confirm your selection to proceed.

5. Please restart Firefox and see if the changes you have made are successful.

Step 2 : Change Add-on Preferences

On some instances, removing the extensions alone will not get rid of the adware from Firefox. In this case, there is a trick to delete other hidden components using the configuration box.

The stability and security of Firefox may be impacted by changing advanced options. Only experienced users should utilize this.

1. On Firefox address bar, please type about:config.

2. If this is the first time you are using this feature, you will receive a warning, “Proceed with Caution!” please click “Accept the Risk and Continue.

Screenshot of Firefox About Config
3. There is a search box below the address bar. Input the name of the adware to display a list of related entries.

4. One by one, highlight the adware entries and click the Toggle button to set the preferences to False. Please refer to the image below.

Screenshot of Extension Toggle on Firefox

Step 3 : Scan the Computer with AdwCleaner

1. Download the tool called AdwCleaner from the location stated below.
Click here to download AdwCleaner (this will open a new window)

2. Once you have completed the download, please close all running programs on the computer.

3. Locate the file and double-click on adwcleaner_Ver.exe to start running the tool. Then, click on Scan button.

AdwCleaner

4. It searches for presence of harmful programs, plug-ins, add-ons, or any data that were found malicious and linked to adware or malware. You need to Clean all items detected by this tool.

5. Once scan is done, the tool may need to reboot your computer to finalize the cleaning process.

6. After reboot, AdwCleaner will display the log file of the recent scan.

Step 4 : Use Malwarebytes Anti-malware to totally clean Firefox

1. Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware from the link below. Save the file on your hard drive.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Download Link (this will open a new window)

2. Once the download completes, double-click on the file MBSetup.exe to run the program.

3. Select desired option whether you are installing on Personal Computer or Work Computer.

MBAM Install Option

4. On next window, click on Install button to load the basic requirements to run Malwarebytes Anti-malware.

MBAM Default Install

5. It it prompts for License Agreement, you must accept this and click the Next button.

6. Proceed with the succeeding prompts until you reach the window that says Installing…

MBAM Installing

7. Installation process will take less than a minute. The program should run automatically after the setup process.

8. When Malwarebytes Anti-Malware interface appears, please select Scan from menu to begin the process. The program will check for any available update before proceeding. Do not skip this step. Virus scan may take a while, please wait for the process to finish.

MBAM Scanner Page

9. When scanning is done, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will display the list of identified threats. Remove all identified threats and restart the computer to finalized the scan process.

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