How to Quickly Remove Unwanted Browser Toolbars
All modern browsers have built-in toolbars that help you navigate the internet, save favorite pages for quick access, access useful plugins, and more.
There can also be additional toolbars developed by companies other than the browser-makers. Some of them get installed covertly and eventually become an annoyance as you use the browser. What’s more, these toolbars, which usually get onto your computer along with other apps, may cause ad pop-ups, track your web history, and otherwise invade your privacy.
Some of these annoying toolbars are a result of malware or adware getting onto your computer. So be sure to use dedicated security software such as MacKeeper to protect your Mac.
However, if you’ve already got the toolbars you want to remove, let’s do it in a browser you use:
How the toolbars and plugins get installed
As we already mentioned, annoying toolbars and plugins may come along with free programs that you find online, games you download, and so on.
However, most of the time, these add-ons are labeled, and they need your permission to be installed.
To avoid the appearance of such elements, be sure to read every dialogue box while installing new programs or games as there might be an already checked box that gives the app the authority to install toolbars and plugins to your Mac.
The story is similar to unwanted browser extensions that we’ve covered earlier. Now let’s learn about getting rid of browser toolbars.
How to clear unwanted elements from the Applications folder
Starting from macOS Catalina, all extensions and add-ons are saved in the Applications folder. Therefore, in order to remove extensions or toolbars from your Mac, you need to delete all the installation files from your Application folder:
1. Open Applications folder
2. Find the Toolbars folder and open it
3. Remove all the unwanted toolbars. This process will delete the main software for the installed toolbars
4. You can also check these locations to delete all the toolbars’ installation remainings:
- /Library/LaunchAgents/
- /Library/LaunchDaemons/
- /Library/StartupItems/
- /Library/InputManagers/
- HD/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/
- HD/Library/Input Methods/
- HD/Library/InputManagers/
- HD/Library/ScriptingAdditions
5. That’s it, now you can proceed to delete the toolbars from your browsers
This is a universal step, regardless of the browser you use. However, if you don’t seem to find the Toolbars folder or if you use an older macOS version, just take the following steps.
How to remove toolbars from Chrome and reset it
1. Uninstall Chrome toolbars
1. Launch Google Chrome
2. In the upper-right corner of the browser window, click the menu icon and select Settings
3. Click Extensions
4. This will open a list of all the toolbars and add-on installed on your Mac
5. Find the toolbars you want to uninstall and disable or completely delete the unwanted toolbars by clicking on the trashcan icon
Note: You can temporarily turn off the toolbar by unchecking the box next to Enable so you can turn it back whenever you want.
2. Reset Google Chrome homepage
Most of the time those annoying toolbars will change your homepage and default search engine. Therefore, we need to revert the browser settings in order to change it back.
To reset your Google Chrome homepage:
1. Click the Menu button
2. Select Settings
3. Navigate to the On startup tab
4. Click Set pages
5. Remove all websites that you don’t want
6. Add the websites you want to start when Chrome launches (if any)
3. Reset Google Chrome default search engine
Add-ons and toolbars can also change your Chrome default search engine (Google) to another search engine such as Ask or Bing.
To reset Google Chrome default search engine:
1. Click the Menu button
2. Select Settings
3. Navigate to the Manage search engines tab
4. This will open a list of the search engines installed on Google Chrome
5. Delete all the unwanted search engines from your default search engine settings
6. Set your preferred engine as the default by pressing the Make default button
4. Remove toolbar cookies from Google Chrome
Sometimes toolbars can leave cookies behind that can reinstall the toolbar or even steal your personal information. Therefore, you have to always remove all the toolbars cookies from your Chrome browser.
1. Click the Menu Button
2. Select Settings
3. Navigate to Privacy and Security
4. Click Clear browsing data
6. Check the box next to Cookies and other site data
7. Click Clear browsing data
Learn more about deleting Chrome cookies and other history elements.
That’s it, you successfully got rid of all the annoying toolbars on your Google Chrome browser. Now, just restart Chrome and enjoy browsing.
How to remove toolbars from Safari and reset it
1. Uninstall Safari toolbars
1. Launch Safari
2. Click the Safari drop-down menu and choose Preferences
3. Navigate to the Extensions tab
4. This will lead you to a window with all your installed add-ons, extensions, and toolbars
5. Highlight the toolbar that you want to remove and click Uninstall
2. Reset Safari homepage
Toolbars and add-ons can change your Safari preferred settings such as homepage, startup page, and many more. Thus, you need to reset your homepage.
To reset Safari homepage:
- Click the Safari drop-down menu and choose Preferences
- Navigate to the General tab
- Find the Homepage field
- Enter your desired startup page
3. Delete toolbar cookies from Safari
Extensions and add-ons can leave cookies on your Mac to collect data or reinstall the toolbar back.
To delete all the toolbars’ cookies:
1. Click the Safari drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Navigate to the Privacy tab
3. Click Remove All
For more details, see this article on deleting cookies in Safari.
That’s it, now all you need to do is to restart Safari and it should work just fine.
How to remove toolbars from Mozilla Firefox and reset it
1. Uninstall Firefox toolbars
1. Launch Mozilla Firefox
2. Click the Menu button and select Add-ons
3. Navigate to the Extensions tab
4. This will open a list of all the toolbars and add-on installed on your Mac
5. Browse or search the Extensions and Plugins lists for any unwanted toolbars
6. Remove or disable all the unwanted toolbars
2. Reset Mozilla Firefox homepage
Extensions will most likely change your homepage. To reset the homepage settings:
1. Click the Menu button and select Options
2. Navigate to the General tab
3. Find the Homepage field and change it to your desired startup page
3. Reset Mozilla Firefox default search engine
In most cases, installed add-ons and extensions will change your default search engine settings, which can be really annoying.
Luckily, you can easily fix it. All you need to do is:
- Go to Firefox Preferences at the top of the browser
- Select Manage Search Engines
- Delete the unwanted search engines by clicking on the Remove button
4. Delete toolbar cookies from Mozilla Firefox
Some of the add-ons and extensions work as malware and can download cookies to collect your data, steal your information, and even reinstall the toolbar again.
Therefore, you need to delete the related cookies:
1. Click the Menu button and select History
2. Click Clear Recent History
3. Select the box next to Cookies
4. Click Clear
For more details, you can check this article on how to clear Mozilla Firefox cookies.
That’s it, now just restart Mozilla Firefox and it should work perfectly.
How to remove toolbars from Opera and reset it
1. Uninstall Opera toolbars
1. Go to Opera menu in the upper-left corner of your screen
2. Select View > Show Extensions
3. Check the installed extensions and toolbars; disable the unwanted ones with a Disable button or remove them completely with a cross on each pane
2. Reset Opera homepage
Extensions can change your default startup home settings to a really annoying and badly designed page. However, you can easily restore your old home page:
1. Go to Opera menu in the upper-left corner of your screen
2. Select Preferences
3. In the On startup section, set your preferred homepage or select other suitable option for Opera launch
3. Reset default Opera search engine
In addition to changing your homepage, add-ons can also change your default search engine. To reset your search engine preferences:
1. Go to Opera menu in the upper-left corner of your screen
2. Select Preferences
3. Choose your preferred search engine from the dropdown menu
4. Delete toolbar cookies from Opera
- Go to Opera menu in the upper-left corner of your screen
- Select Preferences
- Go to Advanced > Privacy and Security
- Click Clear browsing data
- Select Cookies and other site data and click Clear data
What to do if the toolbar still won’t go
If none seems to work, you can make a browser reset. This action will restore your browser to its default settings and disable all toolbars as well.
Be careful with this action because together with unwanted plugins the browser reset will wipe out all personal settings, such as passwords, add-ons, and bookmarks. Make sure that you remember all important data or use the password manager to access your email and favorite sites.
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As promised, we provided you with all the information you need to delete toolbars from the most popular browsers. Now you should be able to easily remove toolbars and extensions whether you use Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, or Opera. We hope you enjoyed this article and found it helpful. Stay tuned for more Mac tips and tricks from MacKeeper.
