Clean My Chrome Adware
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is Clean My Chrome?
Clean My Chrome is a deceptive application that supposedly allows users to quickly clean their browser histories and cookies. Judging on appearance alone, this application may seem legitimate and useful, however, it is classed as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and adware.
Clean My Chrome infiltrates systems without users’ permission, delivers intrusive online advertisements, and continually records various information relating to web browsing activity.
Clean My Chrome generates pop-up, coupon, banner, and other similar intrusive ads. Research shows that these advertisements are often displayed using a "virtual layer" - a tool that enables placement of third party graphical content on any site. Therefore, they often conceal visited website content, significantly diminishing the browsing experience.
Furthermore, intrusive ads can lead to malicious websites and/or activate scripts that download and install malware/PUPs. Therefore, even accidental clicks might result in high-risk computer infections. Clean My Chrome continually tracks browsing activity by gathering various user-system information.
This behavior is very common to PUPs. Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, website URLs visited, search queries, pages viewed, and other collected information might contain private details. PUP developers aim to generate as much revenue as possible by selling this information to third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who also misuse private details to increase their revenue.
Therefore, the presence of an information-tracking program such as Clean My Chrome can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft. For these reasons, we strongly advise you to uninstall this PUP immediately.
| Name | Ads by Clean My Chrome |
| Threat Type | Adware, Unwanted ads, Pop-up Virus |
| Symptoms | Seeing advertisements not originating from the sites you are browsing. Intrusive pop-up ads. Decreased Internet browsing speed. |
| Distribution methods | Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake flash player installers. |
| Damage | Decreased computer performance, browser tracking - privacy issues, possible additional malware infections. |
| Malware Removal (Windows) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
This adware is identical to Tabs2Grid, Bookmarks Access, History Cleaner, and many others. There are hundreds of other adware-type applications that share many similarities with Clean My Chrome. All are deisgned to generate revenue for the developers and have identical behavior.
By offering various "useful features", these PUPs attempt to trick users to install, however, they deliver no value for regular users. Rather than providing the functionality promised, they generate intrusive online advertisements (using the "Pay Per Click" advertising model) and continually gather various information (which is mostly shared with third parties to generate revenue).
How did Clean My Chrome install on my computer?
Clean My Chrome is free for anyone to download on its official website, however, cyber criminals also proliferate PUPs using intrusive advertisements and via a deceptive marketing method called "bundling" - stealth installation of additional software with regular (mostly free) programs/applications.
Many users rush the download/installation processes and skip steps. Aware of this, developers hide "bundled" programs within the "Custom/Advanced" settings. Therefore, skipping steps and clicking various ads exposes systems to risk of various infections and compromises users' privacy.
How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?
The main reasons for computer infections are poor knowledge and careless behavior. To prevent installation of adware-type applications, be cautious when browsing the Internet and downloading/installing software. Never click advertisements. Research shows that cyber criminals invest a great deal of time and money into making intrusive ads appear legitimate.
Therefore, determining if ads originate from visited (legitimate) websites becomes virtually impossible. Therefore, do not take the risk of clicking any ads, no matter how tempting they may appear. Be aware that criminals proliferate PUPs using the "bundling" method.
Therefore, select the direct download URL where possible (rather than using third party downloaders), carefully analyze each download/installation step, and cancel offers to download/install additional apps.
Third party download tools often conceal additionally-included programs, thereby preventing users from canceling their installations, and so you are strongly advised to avoid using these tools.
IMPORTANT NOTE! Clean My Chrome installs its Google Chrome extension as Administrator (read more here), thereby preventing removal. Therefore, before taking any further removal steps, perform these actions:
1) Open the Command Prompt by clicking the start menu button and typing "command prompt". Right click the "Command Prompt" result and select "Run as Administrator":
2) Execute the following commands:
- rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers"
- rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy"
- gpupdate /force
After performing these actions, you can proceed with further removal steps for this adware.
Instant automatic malware removal:
Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
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Quick menu:
- What is Clean My Chrome?
- STEP 1. Uninstall Clean My Chrome application using Control Panel.
- STEP 2. Remove Clean My Chrome adware from Internet Explorer.
- STEP 3. Remove Clean My Chrome ads from Google Chrome.
- STEP 4. Remove 'Ads by Clean My Chrome' from Mozilla Firefox.
- STEP 5. Remove Clean My Chrome extension from Safari.
- STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.
Clean My Chrome adware removal:
Windows 11 users:
Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.
Windows 10 users:
Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.
Windows 7 users:
Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.
macOS (OSX) users:
Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.
In the uninstall programs window, look for "Clean My Chrome", select this entry and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".
After uninstalling the potentially unwanted program that causes Clean My Chrome ads, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components or possible malware infections. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.
Remove Clean My Chrome adware from Internet browsers:
Video showing how to remove potentially unwanted browser add-ons:
Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:
Click the "gear" icon 
(at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for "Clean My Chrome", select this entry and click "Remove".
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the ads by clean my chrome, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.
Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.
In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.
Click the Reset button.
Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
Click the Chrome menu icon 
(at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate "Clean My Chrome", select this entry and click the trash can icon.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the ads by clean my chrome, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.
After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:
Click the Firefox menu 
(at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click "Extensions", in the opened window, remove "Clean My Chrome".
Optional method:
Computer users who have problems with ads by clean my chrome removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.
Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.
Select Troubleshooting Information.
In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.
Remove malicious extensions from Safari:
Make sure your Safari browser is active, click Safari menu, and select Preferences....
In the opened window click Extensions, locate any recently installed suspicious extension, select it and click Uninstall.
Optional method:
Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...
In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.
Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:
Click the Edge menu icon 
(at the upper-right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and click "Remove" below their names.
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the ads by clean my chrome, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.
In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.
Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
- If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.
Summary:
Commonly, adware or potentially unwanted applications infiltrate Internet browsers through free software downloads. Note that the safest source for downloading free software is via developers' websites only. To avoid installation of adware, be very attentive when downloading and installing free software. When installing previously-downloaded free programs, choose the custom or advanced installation options – this step will reveal any potentially unwanted applications listed for installation together with your chosen free program.
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Outstanding!
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