How to remove AstralPhotonica

What is AstralPhotonica

AstralPhotonica is a malicious browser extension that primarily targets popular web browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. Once installed, it often masquerades as a legitimate tool, but its true intent is to hijack user browsing sessions and inject unwanted advertisements, which can lead to a frustrating online experience. This extension is known for altering browser settings, including the default search engine and homepage, redirecting users to dubious websites filled with intrusive ads. In addition to promoting unwanted content, AstralPhotonica can also track user behavior, collecting sensitive data to further compromise privacy. The presence of this extension can significantly slow down browser performance, making it essential for users to recognize its signs and take immediate action. Removal of AstralPhotonica requires a thorough scan with reputable anti-malware tools, along with manually uninstalling the extension from the browser settings. By staying vigilant and regularly checking for unfamiliar extensions, users can protect themselves from such malicious threats.

How AstralPhotonica infects computers

AstralPhotonica is a sophisticated piece of malware that primarily targets Windows-based systems through various infection vectors, including phishing emails and malicious downloads. Once a user inadvertently executes the malicious file, the malware establishes persistence on the system by modifying registry keys and deploying additional payloads. It often utilizes social engineering tactics to deceive users into enabling macros or executing scripts that further compromise the system. Once installed, AstralPhotonica can exfiltrate sensitive data, log keystrokes, and even enable remote access for attackers. Its ability to communicate with command-and-control servers allows it to receive updates and execute additional malicious commands, making it a persistent threat. Effective removal requires a combination of reputable antivirus software, malware removal tools, and manual inspection to eliminate all traces of the infection.

1. Download AstralPhotonica Removal Tool
2. Remove AstralPhotonica from Control Panel and Applications
3. Remove AstralPhotonica extensions from browsers
4. Reset browser search and homepage settings
5. Alternative way to remove AstralPhotonica search redirects
6. Clean browser shortcuts from AstralPhotonica
7. How to protect from threats like AstralPhotonica

Remove AstralPhotonica manually for free

Here is a manual step-by-step tutorial for full AstralPhotonica removal from your computer. This works 99% and was checked with the latest versions of the AstralPhotonica an installer on operating systems with the latest updates and browser versions.

Note: AstralPhotonica can be installed as Google Chrome extension as Administrator (you may see Installed by enterprise policy or Your browser is managed by your organization inscription near it), and this will not allow removal. Therefore, before starting removal process, perform these actions:

1. Start the Command Prompt by clicking the Start menu button and typing command prompt (or just searching for “command prompt” in Windows 10 search field). Right click on the Command Prompt result and choose Run as Administrator.



2. Type in and execute the following commands:

   
rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers"
rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy"
gpupdate /force

Remove AstralPhotonica from Control Panel or Applications

To start removing AstralPhotonica you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names – “AstralPhotonica”. It should uninstall correctly, however, we recommend you to use IObit Uninstaller to clean leftover items after uninstalling. Here are instructions for Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11, or Mac.

Remove AstralPhotonica from Windows XP:

1. Click on Start button.
2. Choose Control Panel.
3. Click Add or Remove Programs.
4. Find AstralPhotonica-related or other suspicious program.
5. Click Uninstall.

Remove AstralPhotonica from Windows 7:

1. Click Start button.
2. Then go to Control Panel.
3. Click Uninstall a Program.
4. Find AstralPhotonica-related or other suspicious program and click Uninstall.

Remove AstralPhotonica from Windows 8:

1. Hover mouse pointer to the bottom-right corner to see Menu.
2. Click Search.
3. After that click Apps.
4. Then Control Panel.
5. Click Uninstall a Program under Programs.
6. Find AstralPhotonica-related or other suspicious program, click Uninstall.

Remove AstralPhotonica from Windows 10:

There are 2 ways to uninstall AstralPhotonica from Windows 10

Way one

1. Click on the Start button.
2. In opened menu choose Settings.
3. Click on the System tile.
4. Click Apps & features and locate AstralPhotonica-related or other suspicious program in the list.
5. Click on it and then click Uninstall button near it.

Way two (classic)

1. Right-click on the Start button.
2. In opened menu choose Programs and Features.
3. Locate AstralPhotonica-related or other suspicious program in the list.
4. Click on it and then click Uninstall button above.

Remove AstralPhotonica from Windows 11:

1. Right-click on the Start button.
2. In opened menu choose Settings.
3. Click on the Apps tab on the left side.
4. Click Apps & features and locate AstralPhotonica-related or other recently installed suspicious program in the list.
5. Click on 3-dots icon near it and then click Uninstall button near it.
6. Depending on the type of application (Windows Store app or classic Win32 app) it will be removed immediately or you will need to confirm the action and go through standard uninstall procedure.

Remove AstralPhotonica from Mac:

1. In the Finder sidebar, click Applications.
2. AstralPhotonica might have an Uninstaller.
3. Otherwise, drag AstralPhotonica from the Applications folder to the Trash (located at the end of the Dock).
4. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash.

Cannot uninstall AstralPhotonica in Windows

In some cases, AstralPhotonica won’t uninstall and gives you the message, that “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall AstralPhotonica. Please, contact your system administrator” when you try to remove it from Control Panel or “Access denied” error when removing the AstralPhotonica folder and files. This happens because the process or service does not allow you to do it. In this case, I will recommend you to use SpyHunter 5 or Malwarebytes or uninstall AstralPhotonica in Safe Mode. To boot in Safe Mode do the following:

1. Reboot your computer.
2. While it starts booting press F8 button.
3. This will open Advanced Boot Options menu.
4. Choose Safe Mode and wait until Windows loads.
5. Go to Control Panel > Uninstall a program and remove AstralPhotonica or other suspicious program

>> See detailed instructions and video tutorial on how to boot in Safe Mode

Cannot uninstall AstralPhotonica in MacOS

If you can’t uninstall AstralPhotonica using instructions above, or it keeps coming back, you can use free AppCleaner for Mac to remove all residual data and libraries of AstralPhotonica. Follow instructions below:

1. Download free AppCleaner.
2. Drag AstralPhotonica from Applications folder to AppCleaner window.
3. Choose files and folders you want to remove along with AstralPhotonica.
4. Click Delete button.

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

Uninstalling AstralPhotonica from Control Panel or Applications often does not bring the desired effect. It sometimes has a browser extension and it may still be active in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove AstralPhotonica extension from your browsers manually.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://extensions.
3. Find AstralPhotonica extension.
4. Click the Remove button to remove them.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:addons.
3. Find AstralPhotonica extension.
4. Click three-dots icon near it and choose Remove in the menu.
5. In opened dialog window click Remove button to confirm the action.
6. Remove all suspicious extensions from the list.

Safari:

1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Click Extensions tab.
3. Find AstralPhotonica extension.
4. Click Uninstall button to remove it.

Microsoft Edge:

1. Start Microsoft Edge browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) edge://extensions.
3. Find AstralPhotonica extension.
4. Click Remove link under the name of extension.
5. In opened dialog window click Remove button to confirm the action.
6. Remove all suspicious extensions from the list.

Internet Explorer (9, 10, 11):

Note: There is no feature to remove browser extensions from browser in latest version of Internet Explorer. To remove AstralPhotonica from Internet Explorer, please, perform instructions for uninstalling program from Control Panel. To disable AstralPhotonica, please, do the following:

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click on gear/asterisk icon in the top-right corner.
3. In opened menu Manage Add-ons.
4. Select Toolbars and Extensions.
5. Click Disable AstralPhotonica or other suspicious extensions.
6. Also disable other suspicious extensions from the list.

Opera Browser:

Generally, AstralPhotonica does not install in Opera browser however you can always double check. Do the following:

1. Start Opera browser.
2. Go to Tools > Extensions > Manage Extensions.
3. Find AstralPhotonica or other suspicious extensions.
4. Click Uninstall button.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

AstralPhotonica installs a search engine, that hijacks your browsers. Here is the instruction to reset your browser’s homepage, new tab, and search engine to default values.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://settings.
3. On the left panel expand Advanced options.
4. Choose Reset and clean up.
5. Click on Restore settings to their original defaults link and confirm by clicking Reset button.

Google Chrome > Settings > Advanced

Reset and clean up

Reset Google Chrome

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:support.
3. Click Refresh Firefox… button.
4. Click Refresh Firefox button in opened dialog window to confirm.

Reset Safari:

1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Go to the Privacy section of Safari’s preferences.
3. Click Remove All Website Data button.
4. In opened window click Remove Now button to remove data stored by websites in Safari.
5. Go to the Advanced section of Safari’s preferences.
6. Click the Show Develop menu in menu bar option.
7. In the menu click Develop and select Empty Caches from this menu.
8. Again, go to Safari menu and choose Clear History….
9. Choose to clear all history and click Clear History button.

Microsoft Edge:

1. Start Microsoft Edge browser
2. Click on 3-dots icon in the top-right corner and choose Settings.
3. On the left panel find and click Reset settings option.
4. Click on Restore settings to their default values link and confirm by clicking Reset button.

Internet Explorer (9, 10, 11):

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. Click on gear/asterisk icon in the top-right corner.
3. In opened menu choose Internet options.
4. Click Advanced tab.
5. Click Reset button.
6. Choose Delete personal settings and click Reset.

Opera Browser:

1. Start Opera browser and click on Opera icon in the top-left corner.
2. Choose Settings and click Advanced on the left side and choose Browser.
3. Scroll down to the very bottom and click on Restore settings to their original defaults link.
4. Confirm by clicking Reset button.

How to block ads and pop-ups, promoting AstralPhotonica


AdGuard main window

AdGuard general settings

AdGuard browser assistant

AstralPhotonica, in most cases, is promoted by ads and pop-ups on doubtful websites. These sites can redirect users’ browsers to AstralPhotonica ads, generating advertising revenue for the attackers. The malware is often offered through these ads, leaving users puzzled about the origin of the software. In some cases, users may unknowingly install the AstralPhotonica extension, which then injects advertisements into the websites they visit and redirects their search queries. Additionally, the malware can be distributed through other channels such as peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, misleading ads, and compromised or shady websites that trigger automatic downloads To protect your PC and browsers from phishing websites, pop-up ads, banners, malicious scripts it is recommended to use AdGuard. Download free trial here:

Download AdGuard for Windows

Download AdGuard for Mac

How to protect from threats, like AstralPhotonica, in future


SpyHunter 5 Dashboard

SpyHunter 5 Results

SpyHunter 5 System Guard

Be careful surfing the internet and downloading software, as programs like AstralPhotonica may become a real headache as they are hard to remove and break your privacy. To keep safe from such threats we recommend you always use antivirus and one of the anti-malware programs available on the market. One of the best anti-virus programs is SpyHunter 5. It can protect your PC from threats like AstralPhotonica.

Download SpyHunter for Windows

Download SpyHunter for Mac