From MozillaZine Knowledge Base

This article will help you remove unwanted third-party toolbars from Firefox.

Toolbars from third-party software providers can be added to Firefox by visiting a website such as add-ons.mozilla.org and clicking an 'Install' link, by visiting a website and downloading a toolbar installer or, in a few cases, by installing an application that adds a Firefox toolbar as part of the installation process.

Firefox toolbars, including the Navigation toolbar, Bookmarks toolbar, and added third-party toolbars can be hidden by using the "View -> Toolbars" menu and deselecting the unwanted toolbar (see Toolbar customization - Firefox for details). You can also uninstall a third-party toolbar to remove it from Firefox, as follows.

Note: If the following solutions do not work, you should seek help from the toolbar provider (e.g., Google Toolbar Firefox Help).

Add-ons manager

Many third-party toolbars are installed as Firefox extensions, which can be uninstalled by going to the Firefox Add-ons manager ("Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions"), selecting the toolbar and clicking the 'Uninstall' button, then restarting Firefox. If the 'Uninstall' option is not working, restart Firefox in Safe Mode and try again. If you still can't uninstall the toolbar, you can use the Add-ons manager 'Disable" button as a workaround, or you can try removing it manually. See Uninstalling add-ons for details.

Toolbar settings

Many toolbars can also be uninstalled using the settings available within the toolbar itself, for example:

Google Toolbar: The Google Toolbar for Firefox can be uninstalled by clicking the "Settings" button in the Google toolbar or, in older versions, by clicking the "Google" logo. You can then choose "Help" and then "Uninstall." [1]

Winamp Toolbar: The Winamp Toolbar can be uninstalled using the toolbar settings menu ("Settings -> Uninstall"). If you cannot access the toolbar settings because Firefox does not start, use Firefox Safe Mode to uninstall the WinAmp Toolbar using the Add-ons manager (see above). [2] [3]

Yahoo! Toolbar: To remove the Yahoo! Toolbar, go to the "Pencil" menu in the toolbar, click "Uninstall", enter any feedback, then click "Uninstall" and restart Firefox. [4]

ZoneAlarm Spy Blocker toolbar: If you install ZoneAlarm and do not uncheck the "Spy Blocker" toolbar option, the Spy Blocker toolbar for IE and Firefox will be installed, which includes the Ask.com searchbar. [5] To remove this toolbar, click on the ZoneAlarm logo in the toolbar to open a drop down panel that includes an uninstall function. [6].

Uninstalling via Windows Control Panel

Depending on how you installed the toolbar, you may be able to remove it via the Windows Control panel list of installed programs ("Add or Remove Programs" list).

• The ZoneAlarm "Spy Blocker" toolbar can be removed this way. [7].

If you don't see a separate Add/Remove entry for the toolbar, you may need to uninstall the program or program component that included the toolbar.

• The Google Web Accelerator program adds a toolbar to Firefox. You can uninstall the Google Web Accelerator from the Windows Control Panel "Add or Remove Programs" list. [8]
• CA (Computer Associates) Internet Security Suite 2008 includes the Website Inspector component, which adds the CA Link Advisor and CA Toolbar extensions in Firefox. [9] You can remove the CA Link Advisor and CA Toolbar extensions by removing the Website Inspector component from CA Internet Security, as shown here. (If entries for the removed CA add-ons remain in the Extensions list, exit Firefox, open the profile folder and delete the files "extensions.cache", "extensions.ini", and "extensions.rdf". [10]

Other solutions

• Application settings: If the toolbar was added to Firefox when you installed another application, see if there is an option to remove or disable the toolbar within the application's own settings.

• Manual removal - Norton Toolbar: Recent versions of Norton 360 2.0 and Norton Internet Security add an anti-phishing toolbar to Firefox. To remove the Norton toolbar, exit Firefox completely and remove the file "coFFPlgn.dll" from the Firefox program components folder (C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\components). [11] If the file is regenerated when you restart the computer, remove it again and in its place, create an empty text file (e.g., with Notepad), rename it "coFFPlgn.dll" and change the properties to "read-only". [12] [13]