How to remove Red Shell spyware

What is Red Shell?

Red Shell is a spyware that once installed starts to track users’ browsing activity. All the collected data is sent to 3rd-party companies. Then it floods your browser with customized pop-up advertisements as well as causes redirects to advertising websites. More than that it can lock your screen with some pop-ups making it difficult to view pages. Although it’s not a virus we still advise you to remove Red Shell as it greatly reduces browsing experience and might lead to information leakage. It is worth noting that manual removal might be not sufficient for this type of infection since it intends to leave some files behind so that it can be re-launched anytime. That’s why it will be better to use automated removal tools in this case that will do it much faster. Below you will find an outline of procedures and step-by-step instructions that you may use to completely remove Red Shell.

How to remove Red Shell from your computer?

It scans your computer and detects various threats like Red Shell Adware, then removes it with all of the related malicious files, folders and registry keys. After deep scanning of your system, it will easily find and delete Red Shell. Use this removal tool to get rid of Red Shell for FREE.

Download Norton

Norton 360 Antimalware – this program will help you to get rid of Red Shell adware. It can find a malicious program that is corrupting your system and clean up junk files after removal.

Download MalwareBytes

Solution for Mac users:
CleanMyMac
Combo Cleaner

How to remove Red Shell manually

Step 1: Remove Red Shell via Command Prompt

1. Launch Command Prompt as Administrator
2. In Windows 10/8 or Windows 7 click Start and type: “cmd” in the search box.
   Right-click on the found result and select Run as Administrator.
3. Copy and Paste following text:
   
   ​@echo off
   set hostspath=%windir%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
   echo 0.0.0.0 redshell.io >> %hostspath%
   echo 0.0.0.0 api.redshell.io >> %hostspath%
   echo 0.0.0.0 treasuredata.com >> %hostspath%
   echo 0.0.0.0 api.treasuredata.com >> %hostspath%
   echo Host file edited.
   pause
   exit
   
4. Press “Any key”. Red Shell should be removed

Step 2: Remove Red Shell from Control Panel

In order to get rid of Red Shell, first thing you need to do is to uninstall malicious program from your computer. When removing Red Shell, try to find suspicious recently installed programs and delete them too, as it’s pretty common that any malware comes with some other unwanted programs.

Windows XP:

1. Select Start.
2. Control Panel.
3. Then choose Add or Remove Programs.
4. Search for Red Shell.
5. Click Uninstall.

Windows 7/Windows Vista:

1. Select Start.
2. Then Control Panel.
3. Choose Uninstall a Program.
4. Find Red Shell and choose Uninstall.

Windows 8/Windows 8.1:

1. Open the Menu.
2. Select Search.
3. After that choose Apps.
4. Next Control Panel.
5. Then as in Windows 7, click Uninstall a Program under Programs.
6. Find Red Shell, select it and choose Uninstall.

Windows 10:

1. Click on the Start button (or press the Windows key) to open the Start menu, then select Settings at the top.
2. Choose App & features on the left menu.
3. On the right side, find Red Shell and select it, then click on the Uninstall button.
4. Click on Uninstall to confirm.

Mac OSX:

1. Launch Finder
2. Select Applications in the Finder sidebar.
3. If you see Uninstall Red Shell or Red Shell Uninstaller, double-click it and follow instructions
4. Drag unwanted application from the Applications folder to the Trash (located on the right side of the Dock)

Note: If you can’t find required program, sort programs by date in Control panel and search for suspicious recently installed programs. If you still can’t locate any suspicious program or not sure what some application is for, we advise you to use SpyHunter free scanner in order to track down what malicious program is infecting your system.

Red Shell won’t uninstall

There are a lot of options in any Windows version for removing applications. Still, not all the programs can be completely deleted using these options. Adware, Badware and Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) are too stubborn to be removed, more than that, there are created this way, created to be hard to get rid of them. That’s why sometimes you can’t uninstall them using standard Windows options. You’ll probably get this message: “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall Red Shell. Please, contact your system administrator.” To remove stubborn Red Shell, you can use SpyHunter removal tool, it will completely remove Red Shell from your computer. Or you may try to use Safe Mode:

For Windows XP, Vista, 7

1. Turn off your PC;
2. Turn it on and immediately press F8 button;
3. You’ll see Advanced Boot Options menu;
4. Select Safe Mode with arrow buttons;
5. In Safe Mode navigate to Control Panel, then choose Uninstall a program and remove “Red Shell”.

For Windows 8/8.1 and 10

1. Press the Win+R buttons, type msconfig in box and press Enter;
2. Choose Boot tab, and click on Safe Boot check box;
3. Select the type of Safe Mode: Minimal or Network;
4. Press OK and reboot your PC;
5. In Safe Mode navigate to Control Panel, then choose Uninstall a program and remove “Red Shell”.

You can also perform Clean Boot. You need to turn off all the startup programs that may be the reason why the program won’t uninstall.

1. Press Windows + R;
2. In the Run window type msconfig;
3. Choose Services section;
4. Find Hide all Microsoft services line, tick the box;
5. The click Disable all;
6. Return back to General section;
7. Find the line Selective startup and untick the box Load startup items;
8. Select Apply, then OK;
9. Reboot your PC;
10. Remove Red Shell from Control Panel.

Step 3: Remove Red Shell from browsers

Once you’ve uninstalled the application, remove Red Shell from your web browser. You need to search for recently-installed suspicious add-ons and extensions.

Google Chrome:

1. Open Google Chrome
2. Push Alt + F.
3. Choose Tools.
4. Select Extensions.
5. Search for Red Shell.
6. Select the trash can icon to remove it.

Safari:

1. Click Preferences from Safari menu
2. Select Extensions.
3. Find Red Shell or other extensions that look suspicious.
4. Click Uninstall button to remove it.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Firefox.
2. Push Shift + Ctrl + A.
3. Select Red Shell.
4. Choose Disable or Remove option.

Internet Explorer:

1. Open IE.
2. Push Alt + T.
3. Choose Manage Add-ons option.
4. Click Toolbars and Extensions.
5. Next select Disable Red Shell.
6. Choose More information link in the left-bottom corner.
7. Click Remove button.
8. If this button is grayed out – perform alternative steps.

How to block malicious pop-ups in browsers

Adguard is a perfect application that will get rid your system of annoying ads, online tracking and will provide reliable protection from malware. The main advantage of Adguard is that you can easily block any types of ads whether legitimate they or not within your browser. Use it for FREE.

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