Custom Buttons is a feature of Google Toolbar that displays as interactive Toolbar icons that user can use to access websites, search a specific website’s content, or display headlines from RSS and Atom feeds. While Custom Buttons is useful to quickly reach and search favorite websites, the feature has slowly gathers attraction of webmasters, and even worse, spammers.
As a result, a lot of websites are now asking visitors to add their Custom Buttons to Google Toolbar. To make matter worse, some programs may install unwanted, useless, unneeded or spam Custom Buttons icons on Google Toolbar, or install the buttons into the list for selection or enabling.
Google Toolbar only allows user to add, show or hide (enable or disable), and reorder custom buttons. There is no button or command to delete unused or disabled Custom Buttons on Google Toolbar version 6.5 and possibly other versions.
If the existent of unused, unwanted or illegally installed without knowledge or permission Custom Buttons in the list of Google Toolbar’s Options is not welcome, here’s the trick to delete, uninstall and remove any Custom Buttons from Google Toolbar, permanently.
- Run Windows Explorer.
- Navigate to the following folders:
%SystemDrive%\ProgramData\Google\Custom Buttons
%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\User Name\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Custom Buttons\
%SystemDrive%\Users\User Name\AppData\Local\Google\Custom Buttons
Note: Replace User Name with actual folder name.
- The Custom Buttons .xml files are normally stored in one of the folders above in order to be recognized by Google Toolbar, and added to the list for user’s selection.
Thus, to delete and remove a Custom Buttons, delete its .xml file. For fail-safe purpose, move the file to backup at another location.
Most Custom Buttons’ .xml source files have file names that reflect the buttons or icons. Some funny or incomprehensible file names usually is the .xml files for useless Custom Buttons.
Tip: The default Google Custom Buttons can also be removed.
Tip and Trick