Steel Cut - How to remove

Steel Cut might look as a useful tool at first sight, but it’s just another malicious application that you should not keep installed on your computer. Due to this adware your PC can get infected with other viruses or you can even get scammed and lose your hard earned money. It’s not difficult to indicate if your computer is infected with Steel Cut adware because usually advertisements displayed by this malware are labeled with phrases “Ads by Steel Cut” or “Brought to you by Steel Cut”. So if you have noticed this occurrence on any of your web browsers, your computer is definitely infected and you need to take care of this.

There are two most common ways to eliminate this malware. You can do it either manually or automatically. In case you have no previous experience in removing cyber infections, you should do this automatically because it’s much easier and faster. All you have to do is to download a reliable anti-malware application, such as Spyhunter or Malwarebytes and scan your computer with it. One of these applications will automatically detect and eliminate the threat in no time. It will also protect your computer from similar infections in the future, so it’s a wise move to install such an app. You can use other anti-malware software as well.

However, if for some reasons you would like to eliminate Steel Cut manually, simply follow our step-by-step Steel Cut manual removal guide. You can find it at the end of this article.

If you have some questions related to this topic feel free to ask them in the comments section below and we will be glad to help you. In case you would like to learn more about Steel Cut, please continue reading this article.

About Steel Cut adware

Even though it’s described as a useful application that should save both your time and money when shopping online by providing you with various coupons, deals and commercial offers, this is not true. All those deals and commercial offers come in an annoying form of web advertisements. They can be displayed in all kinds of forms, such as pop-up, pop-under, in-text, banner or contextual advertisements. A new tab or even window with an advertisement can be opened on your web browser as well.

Those ads by Steel Cut usually appear on e-commerce websites, such as eBay or Amazon and offer you to purchase some particular goods at an appealing price rate. It can work as a price comparison tool as well. Don’t fall for that trick – usually those offers are fake. Their creators are trying to win your attention and make you click on one of those ads this way. And we don’t recommend you to do that.

If it happens so that you click on one of those ads displayed by Steel Cut, you will be immediately redirected to other websites that may be owned by cyber criminals, such as hackers or scammers. This way your computer can get infected or in case you attempt to purchase something there you can even get scammed and lose your hard earned money this way. That’s why it is dangerous to keep Steel Cut installed on your system.

The tool works as a browser add-on that can be added to all most popular web browsers, including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer or even Safari. This means, Apple users can get infected as well. Steel Cut can be described as an advertising network for cyber criminals. As you might already know, they are banned from all legitimate advertising networks like Google ads or Facebook ads, therefore they use adware like this to drive some traffic to their websites. This being said, if you keep Steel Cut installed on your computer, cyber criminals can reach your right on your web browser on a daily basis. And that’s really dangerous.

That’s not even all malicious attributes of Steel Cut yet. Once installed, this application will collect your personal information, such as browsing history, search queries, most visited sites or even your IP and email addresses. This information is used for marketing purposes. The third parties adjust those advertisements according to the collected data and make them even more relevant and attractive to you this way, so chances that you will click on one of those ads rise. And that’s the main goal of Steel Cut – its owners get paid for every click you make. They also generate web traffic and collect sales leads.

Distribution Methods of Steel Cut

Steel Cut is traveling the same way as most of other adware – bundled with free software that can be downloaded from the Internet. For example, when you download and install some media player or download manager from a website that looks suspicious, there is a chance that Steel Cut will be downloaded and installed alongside, without even warning you about this.

The best move would be not to download software from unreliable sources at all. However, sometimes you have no other option, so be really attentive during the installation of freebies. Don’t skip any steps (don’t just click ‘next’ and ‘agree’ buttons all the time without reading all information first) and opt out for a custom or advanced install mode if possible. This will allow you to see all available options and make changes. Look for various check boxes that can be already selected for you. Don’t rush because some of the most important information can be displayed in a very tiny font and you don’t want to overlook that. Reading all terms and conditions would be considered wise as well. In case you notice that some additional software that you are not aware of is being installed alongside – don’t allow this installation to be completed because it can possibly be Steel Cut or any other potentially unwanted program. If it’s too late and your computer is already infected with Steel Cut, wait no more and take needed actions to eliminate the malware before it’s too late.

How to get rid Steel Cut adware

How to remove Steel Cut using Windows Control Panel

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

Delete Steel Cut from your applications.

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

• Click on the Safari menu.
• Choose Preferences.
  
• Click on the Extensions Tab.
• Click on the Uninstall button near the Steel Cut. 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 Steel Cut, 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.