How to remove NanoPhotonus

What is NanoPhotonus

NanoPhotonus is a malicious browser extension that poses significant risks to users’ online security and privacy. Primarily targeting popular web browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge, this extension is often disguised as a legitimate tool to enhance user experience. Once installed, it can hijack browser settings, redirect users to unwanted websites, and inject intrusive advertisements into web pages, ultimately leading to a frustrating browsing experience. Additionally, it may track users’ online activities and collect sensitive information such as login credentials and browsing habits, which can be exploited for nefarious purposes. The distribution of NanoPhotonus typically occurs through deceptive websites, bundled software downloads, or misleading advertisements, making it crucial for users to exercise caution when installing new extensions. To combat this threat, users are advised to regularly review and manage their installed extensions and utilize robust security software to detect and remove any malicious components. Staying informed about such threats is vital in maintaining a safe online environment.

How NanoPhotonus infects computers

NanoPhotonus is a sophisticated piece of malware that primarily targets Windows operating systems, utilizing advanced techniques to infiltrate computers. It typically spreads through malicious email attachments or compromised software downloads, often masquerading as legitimate files to deceive users. Once executed, the malware establishes a foothold by exploiting known vulnerabilities, allowing it to bypass security protocols and gain elevated privileges. It then connects to a command-and-control server, enabling remote attackers to execute commands, exfiltrate sensitive data, or deploy additional payloads. The stealthy nature of NanoPhotonus makes it particularly dangerous, as it can reside undetected on infected systems for extended periods, further complicating removal efforts. Continuous vigilance and the use of robust security solutions are essential to defend against such threats.

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

Remove NanoPhotonus manually for free

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

Note: NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus from Control Panel or Applications

To start removing NanoPhotonus you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names – “NanoPhotonus”. 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 NanoPhotonus from Windows XP:

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

Remove NanoPhotonus from Windows 7:

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

Remove NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus-related or other suspicious program, click Uninstall.

Remove NanoPhotonus from Windows 10:

There are 2 ways to uninstall NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus-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 NanoPhotonus-related or other suspicious program in the list.
4. Click on it and then click Uninstall button above.

Remove NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus-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 NanoPhotonus from Mac:

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

Cannot uninstall NanoPhotonus in Windows

In some cases, NanoPhotonus won’t uninstall and gives you the message, that “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall NanoPhotonus. Please, contact your system administrator” when you try to remove it from Control Panel or “Access denied” error when removing the NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus or other suspicious program

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

Cannot uninstall NanoPhotonus in MacOS

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

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

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

Uninstalling NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus extension from your browsers manually.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://extensions.
3. Find NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus from Internet Explorer, please, perform instructions for uninstalling program from Control Panel. To disable NanoPhotonus, 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 NanoPhotonus or other suspicious extensions.
6. Also disable other suspicious extensions from the list.

Opera Browser:

Generally, NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus or other suspicious extensions.
4. Click Uninstall button.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus


AdGuard main window

AdGuard general settings

AdGuard browser assistant

NanoPhotonus, in most cases, is promoted by ads and pop-ups on doubtful websites. These sites can redirect users’ browsers to NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus, in future


SpyHunter 5 Dashboard

SpyHunter 5 Results

SpyHunter 5 System Guard

Be careful surfing the internet and downloading software, as programs like NanoPhotonus 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 NanoPhotonus.

Download SpyHunter for Windows

Download SpyHunter for Mac