How do i get rid of popup false virus alerts in Windows 11?

Anonymous
2023-07-11T00:17:16+00:00

My system is clean of viruses and malware[ I have done many scans] but the false alerts continue on the right side of whatever windows is open. I tied to kill the browser process but the alert stays even on my desktop. Is there a way to stop notifications in Windows?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Security and privacy

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Anonymous
2024-02-13T17:34:39+00:00

Hi Cynthia,

I had the same problem yesterday, exact same as your screen shots. I did everything installing Malwarebytes etc and no software found anything. However trial and error suceeded! Really simple.

Go into your browser settings, I use EDGE, go to >>>>>Cookies and site permissions

                                                                                       Manage and delete cookies and site data

Top of page: Cookies and data stored

                     (***Manage and delete cookies and site data***)

Next down same page: Site permissions

                                          (**All sites**)

Next down same page: Recent activity

THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO BE!

The latest changes made to site permissions

You should see a list of recent sites, and you should open each one in turn and RESET Permissions, at th etop of the page, **** on each and every recent sites since they started popping up, I did them all.

No malware software worked at all for me and the moment I did this they all stopped immediately!

Really hope this helps as i know how frustrating it is.

Rob

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Rob Koch 26,160 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2024-02-13T18:29:46+00:00

Though Robert Reid has the general idea, the official method for dealing with these Microsoft Edge browser notifications is covered in the following Microsoft Support article.

Manage website notifications in Microsoft Edge - Microsoft Support

The reason these aren't detected as malware is because they aren't, they're simply browser notifications that you allowed by doing exactly that, clicking the 'Allow' button displayed on some web page, possibly not even named the same, that displayed as a popup while you were browsing in the past.

The other option for these more annoying advertisers is other not the obvious 'Block', but something you might not recognize like 'Maybe next time', 'Not right now', or other longer phrases that are also often displayed in light gray, which are difficult to see. So, pay attention when clicking any popup displayed, since they're often tricks by advertisers trying to get you to accept their less reputable garbage.

All major browsers like Edge and Chrome also have these, but the methods to manage them are different and so you'll need to look elsewhere for how to deal with them on 3rd-party browers.

Rob

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  1. Rob Koch 26,160 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-07-29T03:43:04+00:00

    Why doesn't Microsoft Defender delete this when I run scan?

    Nia,

    These notification popups are displayed by your browser because at some point you had to specifically click the 'Allow' button from an earlier popup that asked whether you want to allow them.

    In other words, you must have purposefully accepted them, whether you remember doing that or not, so always read any popups carefully and consider whether you truly want whatever the popup is stating.

    Though the later popups you receive via these notifications may contain undesired advertising, they are by no means malware since they're sent using the web browser notification facility, so there's no reason that Defender should detect or remove them. That's your own mind confusing the fact that since you don't desire something, its automatically malicious, which is by no means true.

    The moral of the story is to take the time to actually think before clicking a button to 'Allow', since it's just a computer doing whatever you decide to tell it to do, whether you actually make a good decision or not.

    Rob

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-07-16T14:03:29+00:00

    I was rooting around to solve a problem of false virus warnings on my wife's computer. This post solved the problem elegantly. Thanks SO much. The false virus warning popups were from cookies planted on her Edge browser. I went in and disabled the cookies and the false popups vanished. Thanks SO much.

    Tip & Laurie

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-06-01T12:05:59+00:00

    This did the trick immediately! A bazillion thanks. in fact, when I went there, I cleaned out about 50 more suspicious cookies I didn't know were there and now the system runs enormously better. Thanks again.

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