This article aims to explain in detail what is the WhiteClick or White Click Toolbar and provide instructions on how to remove this potentially unsafe program from your computer.
WhiteClick toolbar is what someone who sees it in action might call a virus. In reality, this is one of those potentially unwanted programs, that aim to wreak havoc on your computer and slow it down with their annoying third-party advertisements. And these advertisements are the main reason why some people may get burned, since WhiteClick themselves are not responsible for the third-parties that these ads may lead you to and your PC might wind up getting infected by malware. This is WhiteClick is regarded as a Potentially Unwanted Program and it’s removal is highly recommended.
Threat Summary
| Name | WhiteClick |
| Type | Potentially Unwanted Program |
| Short Description | Aims to display various different types of advertisements and heavily modify your web browser so that cookies can be used to track information.. |
| Symptoms | Slow performance of your PC. Lots of advertisements. Change the home page to Ukraine site of Google. |
| Distribution Method | Bundled downloads. Web pages which may advertise it. |
| Detection Tool |
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Malware Removal Tool
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User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss WhiteClick. |
White Click – How Did I Get It
The main method of propagation that is used by the White Click software is likely software bundling. The program may be bundled into the installers of other free software that is often downloaded, like media players, torrent downloaders, etc. What happens is that during the course of installation somewhere in the installation steps there may be a prompt to add WhiteClick as a free extra to the current installation. But it is not easy to spot it either. The installation step that may be advertising WhiteClick toolbar may be concealed somewhere in the “Advanced” or “Custom” installation modes, making it easy to be missed.
Furthermore, the WhiteClick PUP may also spread by being falsely advertised as a useful complementaly software added to your web browser in order to improve your browsing experience in a way. Either method this happens, the app does not mention the possibility of your computer slowing down due to advertisements and third-party sites.
WhiteClick – Activity
Once installed on your computer, WhiteClick may heavily modify your web browser by adding itself as a browser extension. From there, the software may display it’s custom search engine and it’s custom toolbar automatically on your computer.
Once on your computer has WhiteClick added to it, the software may use the following tracking technologies on your browser:
- Cookies.
- Pixels.
- Tags.
- Geo-locators.
- LSOs (Locally Shared Objects).
Once these are dropped, they may be used by WhiteClick to obtain different information from your online activity, such as:
- Your online search history.
- Browsing history.
- Clicks you’ve made on your web browser.
- Ads you have clicked on.
The main activity of WhiteClick PUP however is to possibly connect to a remote host each several minutes or so and then transfer information in order to help it to display advertisements. The ads that are displayed by the WhiteClick PUP may be of different types:
- Pop-ups.
- Banners.
- Highlighted texts.
- Browser redirects.
Since the advertisements that are displayed by the WhiteClick PUP may lead to third-party websites, that generate money as a result of different pay-per-click schemes and other types of automated money making scams. But this is not all, there are other dangers related to those advertisements as well – these adverts may lead you to sites that may contain scamming pages, malicious pages, pages that may be of a phishing type and deceive you into entering your login details. This possibly dangerous content is the main reason why it is strongly recommended to remove the WhiteClick PUP from your computer completely.
How to Remove WhiteClick PUP from Your Computer
In order to remove this unwanted software, we advise that you follow the removal instructions underneath this article. The reason for that is that they have been designed to be manual and automatic removal methods. If manual removal is not a solution for you and the program is persistent, for maximum effectiveness, experts often recommend to download and run a scan on your PC by using an advanced anti-malware software. Such software aims to fully scan for and remove all objects, related to WhiteClick toolbar from your computer and in the same time ensure that protection against such programs and malware is always available in real-time.
Ventsislav Krastev
Ventsislav is a cybersecurity expert at SensorsTechForum since 2015. He has been researching, covering, helping victims with the latest malware infections plus testing and reviewing software and the newest tech developments. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for learning new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management, Network Administration and Computer Administration of System Applications, he found his true calling within the cybersecrurity industry and is a strong believer in the education of every user towards online safety and security.
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How to Remove WhiteClick from Windows.
Step 1: Scan for WhiteClick with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
Step 2: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode
Step 3: Uninstall WhiteClick 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:
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.
Step 4: Clean Any registries, Created by WhiteClick on Your PC.
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 WhiteClick there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:
Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.
Video Removal Guide for WhiteClick (Windows).
Get rid of WhiteClick from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall WhiteClick and remove related files and objects
Your Mac will then show you a list of items that start automatically when you log in. Look for any suspicious apps identical or similar to WhiteClick. Check the app you want to stop from running automatically and then select on the Minus (“-“) icon to hide it.
- 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 WhiteClick 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 WhiteClick files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as WhiteClick, 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.
Video Removal Guide for WhiteClick (Mac)
Remove WhiteClick 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.
Erase WhiteClick 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.
Uninstall WhiteClick 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.
Remove WhiteClick 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 WhiteClick will be removed.
Eliminate WhiteClick 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.
Remove Push Notifications from Your Browsers
Turn Off Push Notifications from Google Chrome
To disable any Push Notices from Google Chrome browser, please follow the steps below:
Step 1: Go to Settings in Chrome.
Step 2: In Settings, select “Advanced Settings”:
Step 3: Click “Content Settings”:
Step 4: Open “Notifications”:
Step 5: Click the three dots and choose Block, Edit or Remove options:
Remove Push Notifications on Firefox
Step 1: Go to Firefox Options.
Step 2: Go to “Settings”, type “notifications” in the search bar and click "Settings":
Step 3: Click “Remove” on any site you wish notifications gone and click “Save Changes”
Stop Push Notifications on Opera
Step 1: In Opera, press ALT+P to go to Settings.
Step 2: In Setting search, type “Content” to go to Content Settings.
Step 3: Open Notifications:
Step 4: Do the same as you did with Google Chrome (explained below):
Eliminate Push Notifications on Safari
Step 1: Open Safari Preferences.
Step 2: Choose the domain from where you like push pop-ups gone and change to "Deny" from "Allow".
WhiteClick-FAQ
What Is WhiteClick?
The WhiteClick threat is adware or browser redirect virus.
It may slow your computer down significantly and display advertisements. The main idea is for your information to likely get stolen or more ads to appear on your device.
The creators of such unwanted apps work with pay-per-click schemes to get your computer to visit risky or different types of websites that may generate them funds. This is why they do not even care what types of websites show up on the ads. This makes their unwanted software indirectly risky for your OS.
What Are the Symptoms of WhiteClick?
There are several symptoms to look for when this particular threat and also unwanted apps in general are active:
Symptom #1: Your computer may become slow and have poor performance in general.
Symptom #2: You have toolbars, add-ons or extensions on your web browsers that you don't remember adding.
Symptom #3: You see all types of ads, like ad-supported search results, pop-ups and redirects to randomly appear.
Symptom #4: You see installed apps on your Mac running automatically and you do not remember installing them.
Symptom #5: You see suspicious processes running in your Task Manager.
If you see one or more of those symptoms, then security experts recommend that you check your computer for viruses.
What Types of Unwanted Programs Are There?
According to most malware researchers and cyber-security experts, the threats that can currently affect your Mac can be the following types:
- Rogue Antivirus programs.
- Adware.
- Browser hijackers.
- Clickers.
- Fake optimizers.
What to Do If I Have a "virus" like WhiteClick?
With few simple actions. First and foremost, it is imperative that you follow these steps:
Step 1: Find a safe computer and connect it to another network, not the one that your Mac was infected in.
Step 2: Change all of your passwords, starting from your email passwords.
Step 3: Enable two-factor authentication for protection of your important accounts.
Step 4: Call your bank to change your credit card details (secret code, etc.) if you have saved your credit card for online shopping or have done online activities with your card.
Step 5: Make sure to call your ISP (Internet provider or carrier) and ask them to change your IP address.
Step 6: Change your Wi-Fi password.
Step 7: (Optional): Make sure to scan all of the devices connected to your network for viruses and repeat these steps for them if they are affected.
Step 8: Install anti-malware software with real-time protection on every device you have.
Step 9: Try not to download software from sites you know nothing about and stay away from low-reputation websites in general.
If you follow these recommendations, your network and all devices will become significantly more secure against any threats or information invasive software and be virus free and protected in the future too.
How Does WhiteClick Work?
Once installed, WhiteClick can collect data about your web browsing habits, such as the websites you visit and the search terms you use. This data is then used to target you with ads or to sell your information to third parties.
WhiteClick can also download other malicious software onto your computer, such as viruses and spyware, which can be used to steal your personal information and show risky ads, that may redirect to virus sites or scams.
Is WhiteClick Malware?
The truth is that PUPs (adware, browser hijackers) are not viruses, but may be just as dangerous since they may show you and redirect you to malware websites and scam pages.
Many security experts classify potentially unwanted programs as malware. This is because of the unwanted effects that PUPs can cause, such as displaying intrusive ads and collecting user data without the user’s knowledge or consent.
About the WhiteClick Research
The content we publish on SensorsTechForum.com, this WhiteClick how-to removal guide included, is the outcome of extensive research, hard work and our team’s devotion to help you remove the specific, adware-related problem, and restore your browser and computer system.
How did we conduct the research on WhiteClick?
Please note that our research is based on independent investigation. We are in contact with independent security researchers, thanks to which we receive daily updates on the latest malware, adware, and browser hijacker definitions.
Furthermore, the research behind the WhiteClick threat is backed with VirusTotal.
To better understand this online threat, please refer to the following articles which provide knowledgeable details.