Toolbars are seemingly useful things that tell in one line of the browser all the most important information(number of unread messages, weather, exchange rates, etc.). There is only one BUT, in most cases, toolbars are installed either without the knowledge of the owner at all, or under serious camouflage (a bonus to the downloaded program, a warning in small text when installing the program). It turns out that most users install toolbars themselves without even knowing it. Thus, toolbars, like uninvited guests, take over part of the browser space, and, as a rule, only get in the way. In this article, we'll take a look at some toolbar removal programs, as well as take a look at methods for dealing with specific cases.

How to remove the toolbar manually?

Often toolbars are common browser add-ons and it is enough to simply disable them. The list of installed add-ons can be found in your browser settings:
In Chrome: go to settings > tools > extensions.
In Firefox: go to tools > add-ons (firefox > add-ons).
In Opera: opera > extensions.
Now it remains to find and remove the unnecessary toolbar.

If a simple shutdown did not help, then use Avast Browser Cleanup.

Avast Browser Cleanup

Avast Browser Cleanup is a great solution from Avast (they have some of the best best antiviruses). The beauty of this little program is that it doesn't require installation and immediately scans for bad reputation browser add-ons upon launch. Usually Avast Browser Cleanup does not make mistakes and immediately after scanning you can click "Remove all extensions", but advanced users can examine the list of found extensions and adjust it. At the time of the check, the toolbars “Mail.ru”, “Webalta” and “Delta Toolbar” were easily removed.

Toolbar Cleaner

Toolbar Cleaner - Recommended for more advanced users. At least for my beloved Firefox, the program simply displayed the entire list of add-ons, of course, so you can remove a lot of unnecessary stuff. Also Toolbar Cleaner has useful feature Windows startup cleaning.

Avast Browser Cleanup (or Avast Browser Cleanup) is a free utility to find and remove malicious, intrusive and potentially dangerous browser add-ons.

Avast browser cleaning. How to use

1. Download the utility from the official website: http://files.avast.com/files/tools/avast-browser-cleanup.exe

2. Run the downloaded file.

If necessary, confirm the intention to run the file in the User Account Control window:

3. If the program Avast Browser Cleanup will detect malicious elements in browsers, they will be listed in the list. For example, if malicious browser extensions are detected, you will see a message:

Your browser is using extensions with a bad reputation

Here you can either delete the found elements one by one using the buttons Delete opposite each, or click the button Remove all extensions to remove all elements that the utility considers malicious:

4. If malicious extensions have changed start page or the default search engine, the utility will prompt you to set a new search engine and a new start page. Select Yandex or Google from the list, then click Clear Free.

At startup intelligent scanning Avast will check your PC for the following types of problems and then offer suggestions to fix them.

• Viruses: files containing malicious code, which can affect the security and performance of your PC.
• Vulnerable software: Programs that need to be updated and can be used by attackers to gain access to your system.
• Browser extensions with a bad reputation: Browser extensions that are usually installed without your knowledge and affect system performance.
• Weak passwords: passwords that are used to access more than one account on the Internet and can be easily hacked or compromised.
• Network Threats: Vulnerabilities in your network that could allow attacks on your network devices and router.
• Performance Issues: objects ( junk files and applications, settings related issues) that may prevent your PC from working.
• Conflicting antiviruses: antivirus software installed on the PC with Avast. Multiple antivirus programs slows down the PC and reduces the effectiveness of anti-virus protection.

Note. Certain issues detected by Smart Scan may require a separate license to resolve. Detection of unnecessary problem types can be disabled in .

Solving problems found

A green check next to the scan area indicates that no issues were found related to it. A red cross means that the scan has identified one or more related issues.

To view specific details about the issues found, click solve everything. Smart Scan shows details of each issue and offers the option to fix it immediately by clicking on an item Decide, or do it later by clicking Skip this step.

Note. Antivirus scan logs can be seen in the scan history , which can be accessed by selecting Protection Antivirus.

Managing Smart Scan Settings

To change the Smart Scan settings, select Settings General Smart Scan and specify which of the listed types of problems you want to run a Smart Scan for.

• Viruses
• Outdated Software
• Browser add-ons
• Network Threats
• Compatibility Issues
• Performance Issues
• Weak passwords

By default, all types of issues are enabled. To stop checking for a specific problem when performing a smart scan, click the slider Included next to the issue type so that it changes the status to Turned off.

Click Settings next to the inscription Scanning for viruses to change scan settings.

You can use standard tools to remove aggressive browser extensions (for example, the "Configure Add-ons" dialog for IE or "Tools > Extensions" for Chrome). However, these methods do not always work and, in addition, may cause difficulties for novice users.

Designed as an easy alternative traditional methods removing extensions.

The program does not require installation and is compatible with Windows XP, 7 and 8. The Browser Cleanup distribution kit takes only 2.5MB. The program is very easy to use and supports almost all popular browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome. When launched, the program automatically checks for installed add-ons.

When any installed extension will be regarded by the utility as particularly suspicious, it will be highlighted in color in the general summary. When analyzing add-ons, those that “have a bad reputation” among avast users, or “actively distort your settings”, can be highlighted. If there are add-ons in the summary, you can learn more about them.

If the add-ons presented in the summary are not absolutely necessary, you can disable them with one click. But if you have doubts about a particular extension marked Browser Cleanup, you can either take action yourself or leave it as it is.

It is possible that the summary will not list any extensions at all. In this case, you can switch tabs on the left to view the add-ons for each specific browser. Of course, these operations can be done directly from the browser, however, Browser Cleanup has significant advantages. The program excludes safe extensions, allowing the user to focus only on potentially dangerous add-ons.

Browser Cleanup allows you to detect a potential problem and instantly fix it by disabling the appropriate add-ons. There is no delete option in the program. Apparently, the developers of avast! believe that it is safer to uninstall add-ons directly using the browser.

If a Homepage browser and search engines have been replaced by an extension, Browser Cleanup has an option to restore original settings.

Avast! Browser Cleanup is not the most powerful utility of its kind. But the program is easy to use and effective in solving a specific problem. Using a custom rating for extensions is a useful option when looking for potential threats. The program is perfect for replacing standard means browser extension management.