DirectionsAce Toolbar - How to remove

Travelers frequently require information about their destination to be displayed to them as fast as possible. DirectionsAce Toolbar poses as an application for navigation while actually working as a search hijacker to make money off of you searching the web.

About DirectionsAce Toolbar

DirectionsAce Toolbar is founded by the questionable developer Mindspark Interactive Network, Inc. It falls into the family of precarious unwanted programs (PUP) and, more specifically, is intended to operate as a browser hijacker.

DirectionsAce Toolbar invades your computer system and can be seen as a new bar on your browser below your address bar, as part of the new tab page that it sets. This website is now your start-up page and loads every time you open a new tab on your browser. On that page, there is a search bar that, if you use it, returns search results in search.myway.com. When you search form the address bar, you might land in ask.com. And that’s not enough hijacking, as DirectionsAce might try to install a couple more browser extensions. You might notice that even if you remove this browser virus, another one appears in its place.

DirectionsAce is a browser virus (VirusTotal report) that benefits from hijacking users’ search settings:

DirectionsAce classification	Adware Browser hijacker
Consequences of using DirectionsAce	Search engine and new tab page are hijacked Browsing data is collected by DirectionsAce for advertising purposes Other browser hijackers might ahve been installed in the background
Distribution	Downloaded from a website Installed by another program (bundled)
Remove DirectionsAce	Uninstall unwanted programs, especially the ones installed around the time that your browser was hijacked Delete malware using antivirus tools ( for PC, Combo Cleaner for Mac) Remove browser extensions related to DirectionsAce and restore browser settings

If you test the Ask and MyWay search engines practically when DirectionsAce is installed, you might notice that there are plenty of ads to pad out the genuine results. Your search results might be tempered with and display content from unreliable sources. If malicious ads are shown, following them could lead to malicious, infected, or fraudulent websites. Thus, DirectionsAce is considered a threat to your cybersecurity even though it does not directly introduce malware into your system.

DirectionsAce Toolbar also will follow your activity online and collect sensitive information for their benefit. It suggests seemingly useful services: tools for directions, maps, provides information about gas prices and other details. But the design of this toolbar is really poor. DirectionsAce relies on other websites, sometimes totally unrelated, to deliver the content that the extension is supposed to provide. It may as well have given you a list of useful links. This means that the hijacker takes over your browser completely unnecessarily.

Well, the owners of DirectionsAce see it as necessary – the search hijacking is the whole point of this extension and the many other ones, including DirectionsOnline, MyMapsExpress, and MapsGalaxy (all by Mindspark). Adware is a way to make money for those who don’t have good-enough content or services to attract genuine users – and it’s a growing threat not only to your desktop,  but to your cellphone, as well.

Distribution Methods of DirectionsAce Toolbar

There are two possible scenarios for how this DirectionsAce Toolbar found its way to your computer system. Firstly, it can be deliberately downloaded from its official page as an allegedly safe addition to your browser. Ads are used to promote it, even adware viruses might distribute it. Deceptive installation is used to trick people to download DirectionsAce when they might believe they’re accessing a one-time service. Some sites might automatically download and install DirectionsAce – there are plenty of complaints about this behavior by other extensions made by the same company. Browse carefully and consider blocking malicious websites or using real-time protection.

There is also a possibility that this toolbar might have been inserted into your computer during unsafe setups of free programs. It is not officially spread around in file-sharing websites, rather, free software is bundled with enclosed applications. These concealed programs might be browser hijackers, adware, or other types of malware that can be installed without your consent. If you don’t refuse these offers during the installation (during Setup, choose Advanced or Custom setup settings to see all the bundled programs), you might end up with unknown software on your computer that you never truly agreed to install.

Either way, it is possible that malware has been added to your system that can prevent DirectionsAce from being removed in the normal way. If you can’t uninstall the extension (the “Remove” button doesn’t work or the add-on keeps coming back after being deleted), that malware needs to be deleted first.

But usually, DirectionsAce Toolbar can be completely erased manually and we are providing you with steps for its elimination. Given the circumstances of the numerous threats against the safety of your computer, we counsel you to use scanners to exercise regular check-ups. Spyhunter for Windows, Combo Cleaner for Mac OS, or Malwarebytes will clearly indicate whether your computer is facing problems and perform its tasks to forbid any threats from entering your computer system.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manual removal of DirectionsAce Toolbar

How to remove DirectionsAce Toolbar using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like DirectionsAce Toolbar install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to DirectionsAce Toolbar . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make DirectionsAce Toolbar easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

How to remove DirectionsAce Toolbar from macOS

Delete DirectionsAce Toolbar from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the DirectionsAce Toolbar app.
5. Select it and right-click it (or hold the Ctrl and click the left mouse button).
6. In the dropdown, click Move to Bin/Trash. You might be asked to provide your login password.

TopHow To remove DirectionsAce Toolbar from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to DirectionsAce Toolbar, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How To remove DirectionsAce Toolbar from Firefox:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything DirectionsAce Toolbar related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Options → General. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Restore to Default.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to DirectionsAce Toolbar, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• ChooseTroubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on theReset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.

How to remove DirectionsAce Toolbar from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.

• Click on the three-dot menu on the browser toolbar and Select Settings

• Select Privacy and Services and scroll down. Press on Address bar.

• Choose Manage search engines.

• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list: open the three-dot menu and choose Remove.

• Go back to Settings. Open On start-up.
• Delete malicious search websites at Open specific page or pages by opening the three-dot menu and clicking Delete.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to DirectionsAce Toolbar, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings

• Click on Edge's menu button and select Settings. Click on the Reset Settings button on the left.
• Press the Restore settings to their default values option.

• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How to remove DirectionsAce Toolbar from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall DirectionsAce Toolbar and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings(older versions) If you are still experiencing any issues related to DirectionsAce Toolbar, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari…
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

Manual removal