How to Remove AVG Secure Search

AVG Technologies provides free and paid anti-virus software to users. Many of their products come with an add-on called 'AVG Secure Search' which replaces the toolbar in your Internet browser to vet your search results. This can also get...
Part 1 of 5:

Uninstalling the Program

  1. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 1How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 1
    Open the Control Panel. You'll need to uninstall the AVG Secure Search software from Windows before you start removing it from your browsers. You should be able to uninstall it like you would most programs.
    1. You can open the Control Panel from the Start menu. If you're using Windows 8, press Win+X and select "Control Panel."
  2. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 2How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 2
    Click "Uninstall a program" or "Programs and Features." This will open a list of all of the programs installed on your computer. It may take a few moments for the list to load.
  3. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 3How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 3
    Find and "AVG Secure Search" in the list of programs. It will usually be towards the top of the list.
  4. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 4How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 4
    Click the "Uninstall" button at the top of the list. Follow the prompts to uninstall the AVG Secure Search program.
Part 2 of 5:

Cleaning Internet Explorer

  1. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 5How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 5
    Open Internet Explorer. Even if you don't use Internet Explorer on a regular basis, you'll still want to reset it. This is because Internet Explorer is used for several Windows functions.
  2. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 6How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 6
    Click the Gear button or the Tools menu. If you don't see the menu bar, press Alt.
  3. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 7How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 7
    Select "Internet Options." This will open a new window with the Internet Explorer settings.
  4. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 8How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 8
    Click the "Advanced" tab and then click the "Reset" button. This will start the browser reset process, which will remove any extensions (such as the AVG Secure Search).
  5. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 9How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 9
    Check the "Delete personal settings" box and then click "Reset." This will disable the AVG Secure Search extension, and reset your home page and search engine.
Part 3 of 5:

Cleaning Chrome

  1. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 10How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 10
    Open Google Chrome. If you have Google Chrome, you'll need to reset it as well. If you don't have Chrome, move on to the next section.
  2. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 11How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 11
    Click the Chrome Menu button (☰) and select "Settings." This will open a new tab with your Chrome settings.
  3. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 12How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 12
    Click the "Show advanced settings" link at the bottom of the page. This will expand the list to show more settings.
  4. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 13How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 13
    Scroll to the bottom and click "Reset settings." This will open a new window.
  5. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 14How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 14
    Click "Reset" to confirm that you want to reset your settings. Your extensions will be disabled, and your home page will be reset. Your search engine settings will be returned to their default.
Part 4 of 5:

Cleaning Firefox

  1. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 15How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 15
    Open Firefox. If you use Firefox, you'll want to reset it to remove AVG Secure Search. If you don't have Firefox, move on to the next section.
  2. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 16How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 16
    Click the Firefox Menu button (☰) and select "?." You can find this on the bottom of the menu.
  3. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 17How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 17
    Select "Troubleshooting information." This will open a new tab.
  4. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 18How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 18
    Click the "Refresh Firefox" button. Click "Refresh Firefox" to confirm. This will remove all of your extensions, reset your home page, and return your search engine settings to default.
  5. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 19How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 19
    Navigate to "C:Program FilesMozilla Firefoxbrowsercomponents" on your computer. This folder contains a JavaScript file that will keep AVG Secure Search installed in Firefox. Use an Explorer window to open this folder.
    1. If you are using a 64-bit system, the location may be "C:Program Files (x86)Mozilla Firefoxbrowsercomponents".
  6. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 20How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 20
    Find and delete "avgMozXPCOM.js" from the folder. This will remove the JavaScript file that keeps AVG Safe Search installed.
    1. This is essential if you want to completely remove Secure Search from Firefox.
Part 5 of 5:

Running AdwCleaner

  1. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 21How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 21
    Reset your other browsers. If you use a different browser than the ones outlined above, perform a rest for that browser as well. The reset process for most browsers is usually similar to the reset processes described above.
  2. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 22How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 22
    Download the AdwCleaner tool. This free tool scans for and removes malware on your computer. It can find and remove any lingering AVG Secure Search files.
    1. You can download AdwCleaner for free from here
  3. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 23How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 23
    Run the AdwCleaner program after downloading. Make sure that all of your browser windows are closed before starting the scan.
  4. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 24How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 24
    Click the "Scan" button to start scanning your computer. The scan will usually take about 15-20 minutes to complete.
  5. How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 25How to Remove AVG Secure Search Picture 25
    Click the "Clean" button after the scan has finished. AdwCleaner will remove all of the files that it found during the scan. Your computer will reboot during the cleaning process, so make sure you save any open documents.[1]
    1. At this point, AVG Secure Search should be completely removed from your computer. Open a browser to test if the removal was successful.
5 ★ | 1 Vote