How to remove a virus from Chrome

A “virus in Chrome” is usually adware or a browser hijacker rather than a true virus, but it’s just as annoying. The signs are a home page or search engine you didn’t choose, ads where there weren’t any before, redirects to sites you never asked for, and extensions you don’t remember adding.

Here’s the order I’d work through it.

1. Remove extensions you don’t recognise

Most browser trouble lives in an extension. In Chrome, open the menu (three dots), go to Extensions, then Manage extensions. Remove anything you didn’t deliberately install, especially anything to do with search, coupons, or “PDF tools” you’ve never used.

2. Reset Chrome to its defaults

Go to Settings, then Reset settings, then Restore settings to their original defaults. This clears the changes a hijacker makes, without touching your bookmarks or saved passwords.

3. Clear browsing data

In Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data, tick cookies and cached files, choose “All time”, and clear it. That gets rid of the leftovers a dodgy site dropped on your machine.

4. Uninstall suspicious programs

Sometimes the problem isn’t only in the browser. Check the programs installed on your computer (Windows: Settings > Apps) and remove anything unfamiliar that arrived around the time the trouble started.

5. Run a proper scan

A scan with reputable antivirus or anti-malware software will pick up what’s left. If the pop-ups and redirects keep coming back after all this, something deeper is holding on.

That’s the point where it’s worth having someone go through it properly. We do it remotely while you watch, and we clean out the parts a reset doesn’t reach. Call 0477 319 160 if you’d like a hand.