Free2you - How to remove

Free2you is the name of yet another coupon and discount-focused browser plugin that ends up being just an adware infection. It’s not related to other services named similarly – this one is just a browser extension. Free2you travels bundled with other free applications and gets installed on users’ computers without them even being aware of that. Immediately after it’s installed, Free2you starts to display various advertisements on all web browsers that are used on the infected PC. The ads show up on online commerce sites and appear on top of site content. Having Free2you installed on a computer can be very frustrating and lead you to some unwanted cyber-security problems, therefore you need to eliminate it as soon as possible. In case you are looking for a description of how to do this, you have come to the right place. In this article, we will provide you with a full step-by-step Free2you removal guide.

How to remove Free2you adware

You should know that there are two most common ways to get rid of the Free2you adware infection – manually or automatically. It’s much easier and more efficient to do it automatically, so we recommend you to choose this way. Simply download a trustworthy anti-malware, such as Spyhunter for PC, Malwarebytes, or Combo Cleaner, and scan your computer with it. It will automatically detect most adware infections and you can even use it to remove the threat. However, Free2you can also be uninstalled manually (although this method doesn’t account for other suspicious applications being on your computer, so I still recommend a thorough scan, just in case). Scroll down to the end of this article – there you will find our step-by-step Free2you removal guide. Follow all steps closely and you will be able to free your browser from this adware infection.

Free2you memo:

Classification	Browser hijacker PUP (potentially unwanted program) Adware
Removing Free2you	Scan your computer with anti-malware tools (Combo Cleaner for Mac, SpyHunter for PC) Uninstall Free2you manually
Problems with Free2you adware	Ads on e-commerce sites and other websites Misleading ads with unsafe content Browsing habits and other data are used to tailor personal ads
How Free2you adware is distributed	Installed with free programs as an additional offer Advertised online

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask them in the comments section below and we will do our best to answer them. In case you would like to learn more about the specific features of this infection, please continue reading the article.

About the Free2you browser hijacker

Unwanted and dangerous ads

Free2you works as a browser add-on that can be added to your browser to help you save money when shopping online by helping you find discounts, coupons, and giveaways. At least, that’s what Free2you’s description says.

Even though it’s described as a useful tool that will help you to save both your time and money, Free2you is nothing more than another adware plugin. All of its ads and offers are displayed as floating ads, pop-ups, pop-unders, in-text ads, and banner advertisements. These ads are labeled by Free2you. They appear completely randomly but regularly and trying to surf the web with Free2you installed is a test of patience. You’re constantly forced to dismiss each ad and no doubt occasionally click on it accidentally. It wastes time and is really frustrating.

Moreover, many of the advertisements by Free2you are fake – they look really appealing but it’s just a trick to win your attention and make you click on one of them. Some of them are for counterfeits, others are fake virus alerts, fake browser update warnings that install more adware, and fake lotteries that steal your private information. Free2you can be described as an advertising network for shady advertisers whose products were rejected by self-respecting ad-networks. Since they are banned from all legitimate advertising platforms, those actors use adware like Free2you to promote their products, schemes, and scams.

Privacy breach

Another unwanted attribute of Free2you is data collection. Once installed, it will collect various information about your web browsing habits. Data such as:

• Your browsing history
• Most visited sites
• Search queries
• Demographic data (age, location)
• Other installed extensions

This data will be recorded and used for marketing purposes – Free2you can do that because it’s inside your browser, so it has access to what you’re doing. This data is shared with third parties who adjust their advertisements according to the collected data and make them even more relevant and attractive based on your browsing habits. And that’s what the owners of Free2you adware are trying to do – make users click on those advertisements, because they get paid for every click users make. They generate web traffic and collect sales leads, while you get to be bombarded with pop-ups and see no returns.

This is all that browser extensions like Free2you, Coupon Club App, Free-coupons.network, and other adware applications are trying to do – they advertise to you, which makes them money, but they don’t provide any useful function or generate content. This is why Free2you can be considered a browser hijacker and an unwanted program.

Distribution Methods of Free2you

As we have mentioned before, Free2you travels bundled with other free applications. It gets installed on browsers without users even being warned about it when they’re installing free software downloaded from unreliable websites. In this case, you should be really careful when installing free applications: do not skip any steps and always opt for custom/advanced mode to see all the options. Reading all terms and conditions would be considered wise as well. Look for various checkboxes that can be already marked for you. If you notice that some additional software (such as extensions like Free2you that talk about new browser tabs and custom search) that you are not aware of is being installed alongside – don’t allow this installation to be completed because it can possibly be Free2you or any other malware.

Besides that, ads promote the Free2you hijacker and they will use deceptive methods and social engineering to get you to install this plugin. It’s always important to be careful when downloading files or following the instructions of websites. If you’re required to install something and the reason is not clear to you, pause and research the site/plugin/program. Scan it with an anti-malware program. Don’t risk installing things you don’t trust because removing malware can be very difficult.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manual removal of Free2you ads

How to remove Free2you using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Free2you 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 Free2you . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Free2you 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 Free2you from macOS

Delete Free2you from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the Free2you 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.

TopRemove malicious extensions from Internet Explorer

• Press on the Gear icon→Manage Add-ons.
  
• Go through Toolbars and extensions. Remove everything related to Free2you and items you do not know that are made not by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle or Adobe.
  
• Close the Options.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Free2you, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Press on the Gear icon->Internet Options.
  
• Choose the Advanced tab and click on the Reset button.
  
• Select a “Delete personal settings” checkbox and click on the Reset button.
  
• Click on the Close button on the confirmation box, then close your browser.
  

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

TopRemoving Free2you from Chrome

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Google Chrome window. Select “Settings”.
  
• Click “Extensions” on the left menu bar.
• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Free2you. Click on the trash bin icon next to Free2you or other add-ons you want to remove.
  
• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.
  
• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.
  
• Restart Chrome.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Free2you, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

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

TopRemoving Free2you from Firefox

• 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 Free2you 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.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Free2you, 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.
  
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

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

How to remove Free2you from Microsoft Edge:Top

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

• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Free2you. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Free2you or other add-ons you want to remove.

• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.

• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.

• Restart Microsoft Edge.

TopRemoving Free2you from Safari (Mac OS X)

• Click on the Safari menu.
• Choose Preferences.
  
• Click on the Extensions Tab.
• Click on the Uninstall button near the Free2you. Remove all other unknown or suspicious entries too. If you are not sure whether you need the extension or not, you can simply uncheck the Enable check-box to disable the extension temporarily.
  
• Restart Safari.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Free2you, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the 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.