Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" - How to remove

“Important Chrome update available” – this warning is used by some pop-up messages online. These are not real updates, however – they’re ads. They’re disguised as important updates in order to get people to click on them.

Following the instructions of the “Important Chrome update available” alerts can lead to infection by adware, browser hijackers, and other malware. It’s safest to ignore these pop-ups.

About the “Important Chrome update available” scam:

Classification	Scam, trojan.
What the “Important Chrome update available” ads look like	They look like Windows alerts, they’re actually graphics on web pages, they appear as pop-up ads.
Problems that come with these ads	Malware, adware infections downloaded by the ads, hijacked browser settings.
How to avoid the “Important Chrome update available” ads	Use antivirus apps (Spyhunter for Windows, Spyhunter for Mac, Combo Cleaner for macOS, etc.) to protect your computer from malware

What makes the “Important Chrome update available” virus dangerous

Fake Chrome update ads look like Windows alerts

Check out some examples of the “Important Chrome update available” pop-ups in the illustration below. These appear unexpectedly while you’re browsing the internet.

The “Important Chrome update available” pop-ups look just like Windows 10 alerts. Some of them even show the default Windows 10 desktop background! Clearly, they’re trying to give the impression that they’re genuine Google Chrome alerts. They’re not – they have nothing to do with Google or with Chrome.

In reality, the alerts are advertisements. They’re web pages that show graphics designed to resemble Windows alerts.

The “Important Chrome update available” warnings can be considered to be phishing scams. They’re impersonating a trusted program (Google Chrome) to get you to install something.

Fake ads spread malware and adware

We can see what these “Important Chrome update available” alerts are trying to do based on the screenshots above:

• Download and install Windows programs – though Macs might also be targeted by this scam.
• Add browser extensions.
• Subscribe to notifications.

All these actions can allow infections, some more harmful than others.

Malicious apps and programs

If an app or program is downloaded from the “Important Chrome update available” ad, it could come with adware, spyware, or even a backdoors trojan. These infections could steal your information, install additional malware (ransomware, miners, etc.), and add your computer to a botnet. Luckily, antivirus programs stop most such infections.

Browser hijackers

Browser extensions have less potential for harm, but they can still be dangerous. They can force your browser to open unwanted or even dangerous sites. Some of them can spy on you. Some, such as AlphaRecord, are very difficult to remove. And antivirus programs aren’t always good at recognizing bad extensions.

Notification spam

Sometimes, the “Important Chrome update available” alerts ask you to click “Allow” – usually this refers to web push notifications. These are messages from sites to browsers. They appear as little boxes in the corner of your screen. Malicious sites use notifications to show advertising spam. Since this adware infection is nothing but a setting in your browser, antivirus programs might not detect it.

How to avoid the “Important Chrome update available” virus

Avoid sites that show obnoxious ads. And use ad blockers to block malicious pop-ups and redirects.

It’s also a good idea to use an anti-malware program (Spyhunter for Windows, Spyhunter for Mac, Combo Cleaner for macOS, etc.) and to never disable it for downloading and installing software.

Fake Google Chrome update alerts come in many shapes:

• Chrome Update Center
• You are using an older version of Chrome
• Click Allow to update your browser

Remember – by default, Chrome and other browsers download updates and install them automatically, without asking you. If an update for your Chrome browser is pending, you will see an unintrusive reminder about it – an icon colored green, orange, or red.

Remove malware

If you did download something from the “Important Chrome update available” ads, then it’s recommended to scan your computer with an anti-malware program.

You can also manually review your apps, programs, and extensions. Remove those that came from the “Important Chrome update available” alerts and other unwanted programs.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove unwanted programs and extensions

How to remove Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

How to remove Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" from macOS

Delete Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" app.
5. Select it and right-click it (or hold the Ctrl and click the left mouse button).
6. In the dropdown, click Move to Bin/Trash. You might be asked to provide your login password.

TopHow To remove Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available", reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How To remove Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" from Firefox:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Options → General. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Restore to Default.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available", reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• ChooseTroubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on theReset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.

How to remove Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.

• Click on the three-dot menu on the browser toolbar and Select Settings

• Select Privacy and Services and scroll down. Press on Address bar.

• Choose Manage search engines.

• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list: open the three-dot menu and choose Remove.

• Go back to Settings. Open On start-up.
• Delete malicious search websites at Open specific page or pages by opening the three-dot menu and clicking Delete.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available", reset the settings of your browser to its default settings

• Click on Edge's menu button and select Settings. Click on the Reset Settings button on the left.
• Press the Restore settings to their default values option.

• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How to remove Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available" and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings(older versions) If you are still experiencing any issues related to Fake Ads - "Important Chrome Update Available", reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari…
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.