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AdwCleaner

By Malwarebytes Free Editors' Rating

Key Details of AdwCleaner

  • Search and remove unwanted adware and toolbars from your computer
  • Last updated on 08/28/19
  • There have been 3 updates within the past 6 months
  • The current version has 0 flags on VirusTotal badge_icon

Editors' Review

Download.com Staff Sep 5, 2014

AdwCleaner frees your computer of unwanted programs and malware, including adware, toolbars, and more. Regardless of how these programs ended up on your computer, this app can remove them quickly and smoothly.

Pros

Nice interface: AdwCleaner presents all features clearly through its intuitive interface. The Progress Bar across the top of the screen shows how the chosen activity is progressing, and below that, you'll find buttons for actual tasks, including Scan, Clean, Report, and Uninstall. You'll find scan results in the bottom section of the window, organized into categories like Services, Folders, Files, Shortcuts, Scheduled Tasks, Registry, and more, to facilitate searches.

Works quickly: No matter which function you're using, you won't be stuck waiting around for it to finish. Everything from Scans to Cleanings are accomplished quickly and smoothly, making this program a good option to incorporate into your daily or weekly maintenance routine.

Cons

Aggressive default removal: This program is pretty aggressive in terms of what it removes. That's often a good thing, but it can also mean that some items you wanted or needed are purged as well from time to time. In order to avoid this, you can go through individual items and deselect anything you want to keep before running the cleaning feature. But that can get a little tedious and also significantly increases the amount of time it takes to complete the process.

Bottom Line

AdwCleaner offers a lot of nice features in an accessible, convenient, and free package. It's a good option for users of all experience levels, although the fact that it aggressively removes programs may prove a challenge for real novice users.

Full Specifications

What's new in version 7.4.1

  • Display a dedicated count for Preinstalled Software and PUPs during the scan progress
  • Display Preinstalled Software details in the scan results and logfile
  • Add a new setting to automatically reboot the computer
  • Force enable the debug logfile generation temporarily
  • Update definitions to 2019.08.27.1
  • Update translations.
  • Improve quarantine reliability
  • Freeze during cleaning no longer occurs
  • Improve MB3 in-app installer

General

Release August 28, 2019
Date Added August 28, 2019
Version 7.4.1

Operating Systems

Operating Systems Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows, Windows 7, Windows XP
Additional Requirements None

Popularity

Total Downloads 3,580,675
Downloads Last Week 221
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User Reviews

4/5
143 User Votes
5 Star
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Developer's Description

AdwCleaner is a free tool that will scan your computer and efficiently removes Adware (ads softwares), PUP/LPI (Potentially Undesirable Program), Toolbars, Hijacker (Hijack of the browser's homepage). It also features anti adware host that will help to prevent advertising software from installing on your machine. It works with a Search and Delete mode. It can be easily uninstalled using the mode "Uninstall".

AdwCleaner is now part of the Malwarebytes family. We at Malwarebytes are big fans too. That's why we've asked Jerome Boursier, Corentin Chepeau, and the rest of the AdwCleaner team to join us. We're now working together to make a malware-free existence a reality for everyone.

Don't worry--we will maintain, support, and keep AdwCleaner free for everyone. We believe in its mission, and will be integrating its technology into Malwarebytes products in the future. Learn more about the acquisition.

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