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AdwCleaner is Malwarebytes' free single-purpose scanner for Windows that hunts down adware, browser hijackers, toolbars and other unwanted programs bundled installers leave behind, running from one file with nothing to install.
AdwCleaner is a free Windows scanner from Malwarebytes that looks for one specific kind of mess: the adware, toolbars and unwanted programs that arrive bundled with something else.
It is a single file with nothing to install, so it runs once, does its job and leaves.
It is also not an antivirus, and that limitation is the point rather than a shortcoming.
Why a Codecs Site Is Hosting an Adware Remover
Because the two problems are the same problem. For twenty years the fastest way to end up with a browser toolbar you never asked for was to install a codec pack from somewhere careless, and the installers that did it were rarely honest about what they were adding.
The codec packs we host are the clean ones, and every download here is checked. But readers arrive having already tried something they found elsewhere, and the symptom that brought them is usually this one.
Worth saying plainly while we are here: on Windows 10 and 11 most people never needed a codec pack at all. Our Codec Finder will tell you what your file actually needs, and a modern player from the media players section carries its own decoders.
What It Removes
AdwCleaner targets four things, and it is deliberately narrow about all four.
- Adware: software that shows advertisements on the desktop or injects them into pages, usually installed alongside something you did want.
- Potentially unwanted programs: the registry cleaners, driver updaters and system optimisers that arrive uninvited and then ask for money.
- Browser hijackers and toolbars: the reason your homepage changed and your searches go somewhere unfamiliar.
- Preinstalled software: manufacturer bloat that shipped with the machine, handled as a separate confirmation step during cleaning.
Everything it removes goes to quarantine rather than being deleted outright, so a wrong call is reversible. If it flags something you know is legitimate, right-click the entry in the scan results and choose Report False Positive.
What It Does Not Do
It is not an antivirus and Malwarebytes does not sell it as one. Viruses, trojans, ransomware, rootkits and botnets are outside its scope entirely, and a clean AdwCleaner result says nothing about whether those are present.
It also has no real-time protection. Nothing sits in your tray, nothing runs at startup, nothing watches downloads. You open it when you have a reason to and that is the whole model.
Malwarebytes' free and paid antivirus products cover the rest, and Microsoft Defender is already running on your machine either way. If Windows is claiming otherwise, our news piece on Windows saying virus protection is off explains what is usually going on.
How a Scan Goes
- Run the downloaded file. There is no installer and no setup wizard.
- Press Scan Now and wait. A typical scan takes a couple of minutes.
- Review what it found, tick the items you want gone, and click Next.
- If it detected preinstalled manufacturer software, it asks separately. Tick what you want removed and click Quarantine.
- Save and close anything you are working on, then click Continue.
- Restart when prompted. The cleanup is not finished until you do.
- After you log back in, AdwCleaner reopens with the results. View Log File shows the detail, and past runs stay in the Log Files tab.
The One Button Not to Press
At the end of the cleanup, AdwCleaner offers you Run Basic Repair alongside Skip Basic Repair. Take the skip.
Do not run Basic Repair on your own initiative. Malwarebytes' own documentation says in capitals not to click it unless a support agent tells you to. It resets a set of Windows network and system components, and on a machine that did not need it that is a way to create a new problem while fixing an old one.
This is worth knowing in advance because the button sits right where you expect the finish button to be, and it is the single most common way people make things worse with this tool.
Use a Current Copy, Not the One on Your USB Stick
Technicians keep AdwCleaner on a rescue drive and run the same executable for years. That is a bad habit with this particular tool, for two reasons that are both in the release notes.
Version 8.7.0 fixed a privilege escalation vulnerability, CVE-2025-67905. Version 8.8.1 fixed a DLL sideloading issue. Both are the kind of flaw where the fix matters most on exactly the machine you are running it on, which is by definition a machine you already suspect.
The detection definitions are bundled into the executable as well, so an old copy is looking for old junk. Download a fresh one each time; the file is small and it takes seconds.
What Changed Recently
- 8.8.1, 13 May 2026: fixed the DLL sideloading security issue, and stopped the scanner terminating SetMe processes. No new features.
- 8.8.0, 5 May 2026: excluded the Set Me screen control application from being closed during scans, updated the bundled definitions, and improved oplock handling so scans and cleans stop locking up.
- 8.7.1, 20 February 2026, and 8.7.0, 17 December 2025: the latter fixed CVE-2025-67905 and made the JSON parser faster and more robust.
What You Need to Run It
- Windows 8.1, 10 or 11. Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 are no longer supported.
- An 800 MHz processor with SSE2, 512 MB of RAM and 10 MB of free disk space. Nothing made this century will struggle.
- Administrator rights, since it is modifying things installed for the whole machine.
- An internet connection, and a firewall that lets it out on port 443. It contacts Malwarebytes for definitions and sends telemetry, including to a domain belonging to the tool's original author.
Note that Malwarebytes' feature overview still says Windows 7 and above while its system requirements page says 8.1 and above. The requirements page is the current one, and the one their product page links as the tech specs.
Who Should Look Elsewhere
The clearest tell is what you are actually seeing. If files are encrypted, if a program is demanding payment, or if your antivirus is naming a trojan, this is not the tool. AdwCleaner does not touch that class of thing and running it will only waste time you do not have.
The second tell is that the junk came from the manufacturer rather than the internet. For factory bloat and Windows' own preinstalled clutter, CrapFixer and Win11Debloat are built for the job and show you every change before making it.
The third is that you simply want a program gone cleanly. Revo Uninstaller Free removes the leftovers a normal uninstall misses, which is a different problem from something hiding.
And if what you want is disk space or privacy rather than adware removal, that is the Drive Cleaners section instead.
- BleachBit clears junk files and browser caches, and is open source.
- CCleaner does the same job with a friendlier interface and an optional paid tier.
- Privacy Eraser Free wipes browsing history and activity traces across a hundred or so applications.
None of those find adware, and a cleaner reporting gigabytes freed is not evidence that anything unwanted was removed. They are different jobs that get confused constantly.
Quick questions
Is AdwCleaner free?
Yes, completely, with no trial period, no scan-then-pay wall and no feature locked behind an upgrade. Malwarebytes gives it away and sells separate paid antivirus products alongside it.
Do I need to uninstall it afterwards?
No, because there is nothing to uninstall. It runs from the single file you downloaded, and deleting that file removes it, although it does leave its quarantine and log folders behind in case you need to restore something.
Is it the same as Malwarebytes Free?
No. Malwarebytes Free is a general malware scanner covering viruses, trojans and ransomware as well as adware, while AdwCleaner does only the adware and unwanted-program half and does it as a portable one-shot tool. Running both is reasonable; they are not substitutes.
It flagged something I actually use. What now?
Untick it before cleaning, and if it has already gone, restore it from the Quarantine tab. You can also right-click the entry in the scan results and choose Report False Positive so it gets looked at.
Does it work on Windows 7?
Not any more. Current versions require Windows 8.1 or later, and Malwarebytes has dropped XP, Vista, 7 and 8. One of their older help articles still says Windows 7 and above, but the system requirements page is the one to trust.
Why does my browser still redirect after cleaning?
Usually because the hijack lives in a browser extension or a synced profile rather than in an installed program, so it comes back when the browser syncs. Check your extensions, reset the browser's search and startup settings, and if it survives that, reinstalling the browser from a clean download is the reliable fix.
Where It Sits
AdwCleaner is the clean-up end of the Security Tools section, dealing with what already got in rather than keeping things out.
Proton VPN covers the privacy side of that category, and Wireshark is the diagnostic end for anyone who wants to see what a suspect machine is actually sending.
For general Windows housekeeping rather than anything adversarial, Microsoft PC Manager is Microsoft's own free maintenance app and a sensible thing to run afterwards.
Malwarebytes publishes the full release history and the supported-version table on its own site, in the product lifecycle table and the 8.8.1 release notes.
Download AdwCleaner 8.8.1 and see what it turns up, or tell us what it found if you have used it before.
Restart before you judge the result. The cleanup only finishes after the reboot, so a browser that still misbehaves before you restart has not been cleaned yet. Check again once the machine has come back up.
