Name | Desktop Bar |
Type | Adware, PUP |
Short Description | The application may generate advertisements in the browser – banners, pop-ups, in-text ads. |
Symptoms | Advertisements with text similar to ‘Ads by Desktop Bar’. |
Distribution Method | Bundling, shareware download pages. |
Detection tool | Download Malware Removal Tool, to See If Your System Has Been Affected By Desktop Bar |
A suspicious program has appeared going by the name Desktop Bar. Security researchers classify it as a potentially unwanted program and are convinced this app is ad-supported and closely cooperates with third-parties for profit-generating purposes. Desktop bar employs different tracking technologies to collect personal and non-personal user information. Also, the application developers include a statement that they may share this information with other parties such as affiliates and contractors to some extent.
Desktop Bar – How Did I Get It?
There are couple of ways by which you could have installed this application. It is possible that you have clicked on an online advertisement that may have redirected you to Desktop Bar’s download web link. Another way to get it is directly from their website. However, this does not exclude the most profitable marketing strategy that such apps use to distribute – bundling. It involves the insertion of PUPs like Desktop Bar in other free software Setups. This marketing tool is being employed by third-party software providers that offer a lot of free programs.
More About Desktop Bar
After being installed on your machine, the application may consume a lot of the PCs memory. We have attempted to install it on a Windows 7 virtual machine with 3 GB ram and 60 GB of HDD space along with. As soon as the installer started, a command prompt window appeared, saying the program is too big to fit memory as seen below. This was in contradiction with the 2.50 MB file size of the program setup.
More so, we have examined further the site that is advertising the app, only to establish that the program may have a paid and ad-supported version. Ad-supported applications may cooperate with any third parties with the one and only purpose of profit making. So, bottom line is that the creators may make money either from pay-per-click schemes or by receiving users`s funds for an app that may or may not work.
Also, when we have looked into the privacy policy on the site, it clearly stated that they may or may not collect and store both personal and non-personal user information.
More to it than that, this application is associated with third-parties, and they are the main reason experts regard such programs as unwanted. Some of the third-party sites may scam users out of their money using different schemes, and some are even reported to infect PCs with malware. What is more, the software employs tracking technologies to display different advertisements based on a user’s most visited websites and most sought interests.
Removing Desktop Bar
To remove Desktop Bar, it is essential to take immediate actions. One good way to do it is by following the step-by-step tutorial below to manually uninstall the software. Also, make sure you download and install an advanced anti-malware protection. This is because programs, like Desktop Bar, may leave leftover files within your %appdata% or %temp% directories as well as values and keys in the Windows Registry Editor.
1. Remove/Uninstall Desktop Bar in Windows
Here is a method in few easy steps to remove that program. No matter if you are using Windows 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program get left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, mistakes with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:
Select the program that you want to remove, and press “Uninstall” (fig.3).
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall Desktop Bar.
2. Remove Desktop Bar from your browser
Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu
Select Desktop Bar and click “Remove”
After Desktop Bar is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red “X” in the top right corner and start it again.
Select Desktop Bar to remove, and then click ‘Disable’. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected toolbar, and some additional toolbars might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click ‘Disable’.
After Desktop Bar has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red ‘X’ in the top right corner and start it again.
Open the drop menu by clicking on the sprocket icon in the top right corner.
From the drop menu select ‘Preferences’
In the new window select ‘Extensions’
Click once on Desktop Bar
Click ‘Uninstall’
A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall Desktop Bar. Select ‘Uninstall’ again, and the Desktop Bar will be removed.
3. Use an advanced anti-malware program to scan your computer for any left-over objects such as registry entries and other files after uninstall.
To clean your computer you should download an updated anti-malware program on a safe PC and then install it on the affected computer in offline mode. After that you should boot into safe mode and scan your computer to remove all Desktop Bar associated objects
- Guide 1: How to Remove Desktop Bar from Windows.
- Guide 2: Get rid of Desktop Bar from Mac OS X.
- Guide 3: Remove Desktop Bar from Google Chrome.
- Guide 4: Erase Desktop Bar from Mozilla Firefox.
- Guide 5: Uninstall Desktop Bar from Microsoft Edge.
- Guide 6: Remove Desktop Bar from Safari.
- Guide 7: Eliminate Desktop Bar from Internet Explorer.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
How to Remove Desktop Bar from Windows.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Desktop Bar





Step 2: Uninstall Desktop Bar and related software from Windows
Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:



Step 3: Clean any registries, created by Desktop Bar on your computer.
The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by Desktop Bar there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:



Before starting "Step 4", please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Get rid of Desktop Bar from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall Desktop Bar and remove related files and objects
1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:
- Go to Finder.
- In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
- Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
- If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.
In case you cannot remove Desktop Bar via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 2: Scan for and remove Desktop Bar files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as Desktop Bar, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. SpyHunter for Mac offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove Desktop Bar from Google Chrome.
Step 1: Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu
Step 2: Move the cursor over "Tools" and then from the extended menu choose "Extensions"
Step 3: From the opened "Extensions" menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its "Remove" button.
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Erase Desktop Bar from Mozilla Firefox.
Step 1: Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window
Step 2: Select the "Add-ons" icon from the menu.
Step 3: Select the unwanted extension and click "Remove"
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Uninstall Desktop Bar from Microsoft Edge.
Step 1: Start Edge browser.
Step 2: Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.
Step 3: From the drop menu select "Extensions".
Step 4: Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.
Step 5: Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove Desktop Bar from Safari.
Step 1: Start the Safari app.
Step 2: After hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click on the Safari text to open its drop down menu.
Step 3: From the menu, click on "Preferences".
Step 4: After that, select the 'Extensions' Tab.
Step 5: Click once on the extension you want to remove.
Step 6: Click 'Uninstall'.
A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall the extension. Select 'Uninstall' again, and the Desktop Bar will be removed.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Eliminate Desktop Bar from Internet Explorer.
Step 1: Start Internet Explorer.
Step 2: Click on the gear icon labeled 'Tools' to open the drop menu and select 'Manage Add-ons'
Step 3: In the 'Manage Add-ons' window.
Step 4: Select the extension you want to remove and then click 'Disable'. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click 'Disable'.
Step 5: After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red 'X' button located at the top right corner and start it again.