Plugins Button Ads - How to remove

Plugins Button is a browser extension for Google Chrome and if you have it, you should notice a puzzle piece next to your three dot menu. The application is distributed in the official website and has an entry in the Chrome Web Store as well. By allowing the tool to be inserted into your browsers, you will immediately see some of the permissions that it will receive: to read and to change the content of websites you visit, to display messages and control other programs, extensions and themes. The purpose of this small add-on is simple: to quickly arrange all active Chrome extensions in a list.

Research about this Chrome add-on

The official website of Pluginsbutton.com is hosted from two IP addresses: 89.39.104.110 and 107.182.230.6. One of them is located in the Netherlands, and the other one is in the United States of America. The application can be found in the Chrome Web Store and it is being completely trashed in the “Reviews” section. We are surprised that Google has not yet removed the tool from its store, but we hope that this malicious application will soon be gone. You are invited to read several comments that former users have left to warn others:

This is malware that you can’t uninstall. Reported abuse.

Malware and it can’t uninstall.

Unable to remove. Malware.

Malware!!!!!!!!!! Unable to uninstall.

The domain for the application was created in May of 2017, which means this is the approximate date when the tool began to be distributed. It was last modified quite recently, on 3rd of July. We have some suspicions that the creators of this browser extension have no interest in concluding their activity anytime soon: the website is meant to expire only in 2020. Speaking of the creators of this adware, its identity is protected by Privacy Corp. However, we do know that this is not the first malware-sample that these people have produced.

They have produced several malicious browsers’ extensions: Cookies On/Off and Cookies Control. Open Plugins add-on serves an identical purpose to the Plugins Button. If any of these suspicious variants have obtained a position among your active apps for browsers, you should remove them. However, malware could be putting up a fight and refusing to let leave. Therefore, you will be still regularly bothered by potentially damaging advertisements, websites and other material.

We found a testimonial of a client that suffered from Plugins Button. It actually engaged in activities that were similar to hijackware infections as it constantly redirected him/her to Yahoo search engine. It did not matter that a person attempted to enter Bing or Google: the URL in the address bar soon became replaced with Yahoo. Additionally, the complaint also suggested that pop-ups showed up regularly and disrupted the browsing experience.

If you wish to remove the malware without any obstacles that might help the malicious tool return, you should can your device with Spyhunter or Malwarebytes. They should be able to find a specific location that the malware is hiding. If you are more interested in the manual option, we have included instructions to help you during this process.

In the future, try to always read about the application that you have found and wish to install. Reading reviews and feedback from other clients is very useful: if you were considering to get this specific browser extension, you would have been restrain from doing this once you became familiar with the negative comments. However, if there are no articles or reviews to read, you should pay attention to the EULA and Privacy Policy documents that the service introduces. In case you cannot find these texts, then this is a hint that a program should not be downloaded.

Manual removal of Plugins Button Ads

How to remove Plugins Button Ads using Windows Control Panel

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

Delete Plugins Button Ads from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the Plugins Button Ads 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 Plugins Button Ads 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 Plugins Button Ads, 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 Plugins Button Ads 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 Plugins Button Ads. Click on the trash bin icon next to Plugins Button Ads 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 Plugins Button Ads, 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 Plugins Button Ads 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 Plugins Button Ads 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 Plugins Button Ads, 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 Plugins Button Ads 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 Plugins Button Ads. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Plugins Button Ads 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 Plugins Button Ads from Safari (Mac OS X)

• Click on the Safari menu.
• Choose Preferences.
  
• Click on the Extensions Tab.
• Click on the Uninstall button near the Plugins Button Ads. 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 Plugins Button Ads, 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.