What is browser hijacker and how to get rid of it?

Browser hijacker sneaks on the computer behind your back and deliberately changes browser’s settings. Hijacker can alter the start page and default search engine, redirect you to different pages from the ones you intended to visit, even stop you from accessing websites of anti-malware software. Hijacked browser might also display new toolbars, unfamiliar bookmarks and favorites, ads and pop-ups related to web searches you did recently.

Hijackers are not just annoying, though. The pages they redirect you to could be dangerous and infect your PC with more malware. Many browser hijackers would send information on you, such as your IP, search queries and webpages you visit, back to their servers, to get you more relevant advertisements. That data could later be sold to third-parties for marketing purposes. Yet more insidious hijackers could even steal your passwords or banking information.

Sometimes browser hijacker is called a hijacker virus or a redirect virus, though it is not really a virus. Hijacker is actually a potentially unwanted program (PUP). It is often delivered in a bundle with free downloads from the Internet, masquerading as an advanced search engine or a useful toolbar or something similar. It is recommended to use custom installation and unselect any unfamiliar software from being installed whenever you download and install something. You might also get browser hijacker by clicking on attachments in spam emails, on ad banners and pop-ups, or even by browsing unsafe sites. As you can see, browser hijacker is quite easy to get, but it could be very hard to get rid of.

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How remove a browser hijacker

Different hijackers use varying ways of embedding themselves into a system, and one instruction won’t work for all. Try the following methods one by one until something works.

Before removing browser hijacker, open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc or Ctrl+Alt+Del) and try to find and end hijacker’s process. Search for processes with names similar to websites you are redirected to, or the name of the unwanted toolbar, or the name mentioned in ad banners.

Remove hijacker add-on in the browser

To get rid of a browser hijacker add-on, see the article Eliminate extensions in browsers.

Uninstall browser hijacker from the list of installed programs

It might be easier to find browser hijacker in the list of programs if you sort the list by date by clicking on ‘Installed on’. Then you can look at recently installed programs and figure out which ones you didn’t mean to install.

If the browser hijacker won’t let you to uninstall it, try rebooting in Safe Mode and repeating the process.

Use anti-spyware tools

Download and run several free anti-malware tools, such as Norton 360 Anti-Malware Free, AdwCleaner, Junkware Removal Tool, Kaspersky TDSSKiller, Emsisoft Emergency Kit, HitmanPro, CCleaner. Different programs use different methods of finding malware, and one of them might succeed where others will fail.

Even when you successfully removed a browser hijacker, you might still need to fix all changes it made in the browser. Here’s what you need to do:

Change Homepage

If you think you eliminated the hijacker, yet there’s still a suspicious site on your homepage, do the following:

Google Chrome

1. Click on the menu button and choose ‘Settings’.
2. In the ‘On startup’ section choose ‘Open the New Tab page’,

or choose ‘Open a specific page or set of pages’. Click on ‘Set pages’ and type the URL of the page you want as your homepage. Click ‘OK’.

Internet Explorer

1. Click on‘Settings’ at the top right corner and select ‘Internet Options’.
2. Go to ‘General’ tab.
3. In the ‘Home page’ section type the address you want or ‘about: blank’.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Click on the menu button and select ‘Options’.
2. In the ‘General’ tab in the ‘Home page’ bar type the URL or leave it blank.

Opera

1. Click on the top left corner and select ‘Settings’.
2. In the ‘On startup’ section select ‘Open the start page’,

or select ’Open a specific page or set of page’ and click ‘Set pages’. Type the URL. Click ‘OK’.

Change default search engine

If the default search engine is still different from before, even after you got rid of browser hijackers, try this:

Google Chrome

Click on menu button and choose ‘Settings’. In the ‘Search’ section select search engine from the drop-down list.

Internet Explorer

Click on the arrow next to the search icon in the address bar and select one from the list.

Mozilla Firefox

Click on search engine icon in the search bar and select a website you want.

Opera

Click on the top left corner, select ‘Settings’. In the ‘Search’ section select one of search engines from the list.

Check browser shortcuts

If the browser still directs you to a dubious page when launched, the problem could be with the browser shortcut.

Find browser shortcuts on desktop and in start menu. Right-click on them and select ‘Properties’. Go to ‘Shortcut’ tab and look at the ‘Target’ bar. The path should end with browsername.exe”, for example, chrome.exe”, iexplore.exe”, firefox.exe”, opera.exe” (or launcher.exe” for Opera sometimes). If you see anything else after exe”, delete it. Click ‘OK’.

Look into HOST file contents

A browser hijacker can create entries in the hosts file, so that when you try to access certain sites, you will be redirected somewhere else.

1. Open ‘File Explorer’ and go to ‘C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc’.
2. Double-click on ‘hosts’ file and open it in ‘Notebook’.
3. If you see any entries with URLs of websites you frequent, delete them.
4. Save the file.

Reset browser settings

Bear in mind that resetting your browser will wipe all saved logins, passwords or bookmarks and delete extensions and toolbars.

Google Chrome

1. Click on the menu button and choose ‘Settings’.
2. Click on ‘Show Advanced Settings…’.
3. In the ‘Reset settings’ section choose ‘Reset settings’.
4. When asked to confirm, click on ‘Reset’.

Internet Explorer

1. Click on ’Tools’ and then on ‘Internet options’.
2. In the ‘Advanced’ tab click on ‘Reset…’
3. Put the mark in the ‘Delete personal settings’ checkbox and click ‘Reset’.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Click on the menu button and choose ‘Help’.
2. Click on ‘Troubleshooting Information’.
3. Click on ‘Refresh Firefox…’ at the top right corner.
4. Click on ‘Refresh Firefox’.

Opera

1. Click on menu at top left, choose ‘More tools’, ‘Clear browsing data’.
2. Check the checkmarks you need to and click on ‘Clear browsing data’.

Uninstall and reinstall the browser

It might help if you uninstall the browser, download it from the official site and install again.

Run Windows System Restore

If you have ‘System Restore’ enabled, then restoring Windows to an earlier date might resolve the issues.

1. Press ‘Windows logo’ + R.
2. Type rstrui.exe (If you have Windows XP, then type %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe) and press ‘Enter’.
3. Follow the program’s instructions.