How to remove TubeTab [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

The TubeTab browser hijacker infection will alter your browser’s search engine so that all searches are sent via TubeTab, that redirects to Bing, Yahoo or Google Custom Search engine which displays the search results for your query. The makers of this browser hijacker are using legitimate search engine as they may earn revenue from the ads that are displayed in the search results.

The TubeTab hijacker is not a virus, but the virus behaves similarly. As a rootkit hides in the system, introduces changes to web browsers settings, and blocks them from modifying. Also this hijacker can install additional web-browser add-ons and modules that will show advertisements and pop-ups. And finally, the TubeTab hijacker can collect lots of user info like what web pages you’re opening, what you are looking for the World Wide Web and so on. This information, in the future, can be transferred to third parties.

The TubeTab hijacker infection can alter settings of all your typical browsers, but often that the unwanted software can also infect all types of web browsers by changing their desktop shortcuts. Thus forcing the user to see TubeTab annoying page every time run the web browser.

Thus, it’s clear that the presence of browser hijacker infection on your PC is not desirable, and you need to clean up your system as quickly as possible. Follow the steps below in order to remove TubeTab from Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Microsoft Edge.

Remove TubeTab

There are several steps to deleting TubeTab, because it installs itself so deeply into Windows. You need to delete all suspicious and unknown programs, then remove malicious addons from the Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Edge and other web-browsers you’ve installed. Finally, you need to reset your web-browser settings to get rid of any changes TubeTab browser hijacker infection has made, and then scan your computer with Zemana Anti-Malware, Malwarebytes or AdwCleaner to ensure the browser hijacker is fully removed. It will take a while.

How to manually get rid of TubeTab

The following instructions is a step-by-step guide, which will help you manually remove TubeTab start page from the Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Microsoft Edge.

Remove potentially unwanted applications using MS Windows Control Panel

In order to remove PUPs like this browser hijacker infection, open the Windows Control Panel and click on “Uninstall a program”. Check the list of installed programs. For the ones you do not know, run an Internet search to see if they are ad supported software, hijacker or PUPs. If yes, uninstall them off. Even if they are just a software which you do not use, then removing them off will increase your PC system start up time and speed dramatically.

1. If you are using Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 then click Windows button, next click Search. Type “Control panel”and press Enter.
2. If you are using Windows XP, Vista, 7, then click “Start” button and click “Control Panel”.
3. It will open the Windows Control Panel.
4. Further, click “Uninstall a program” under Programs category.
5. It will open a list of all programs installed on the computer.
6. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall suspicious and unknown applications. To quickly find the latest installed programs, we recommend sort software by date.

See more details in the video guidance below.

Remove TubeTab home page from Internet Explorer

In order to restore all internet browser home page, newtab and default search engine you need to reset the Microsoft Internet Explorer to the state, which was when the Microsoft Windows was installed on your PC.

First, start the Microsoft Internet Explorer, click ) button. Next, click “Internet Options” as displayed in the following example.

In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, press Reset button. The Internet Explorer will open the Reset Internet Explorer settings dialog box. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and click Reset button.

You will now need to reboot your personal computer for the changes to take effect. It will delete hijacker infection that redirects your internet browser to undesired TubeTab page, disable malicious and ad-supported web browser’s extensions and restore the Microsoft Internet Explorer’s settings such as new tab page, homepage and search engine by default to default state.

Remove TubeTab from FF

First, start the Firefox and click button. It will open the drop-down menu on the right-part of the browser. Further, press the Help button () as shown in the figure below

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In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the web-browser adress bar and press Enter. It will display the “Troubleshooting Information” page as displayed in the following example. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.

It will open the confirmation prompt. Further, click the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Mozilla Firefox will begin a process to fix your problems that caused by the hijacker infection that alters browser settings to replace your newtab page, startpage and search provider by default with TubeTab page. After, it is finished, click the “Finish” button.

Get rid of TubeTab from Chrome

If your Google Chrome web-browser is re-directed to undesired TubeTab web page, it may be necessary to completely reset your web browser program to its default settings.

1. First run the Google Chrome and click Menu button (small button in the form of three horizontal stripes).
2. It will open the Chrome main menu. Select “Settings” option.
3. You will see the Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and click “Show advanced settings” link.
4. Scroll down again and click the “Reset settings” button.
5. The Chrome will show the reset profile settings page as shown on the screen above.
6. Next click the “Reset” button.
7. Once this process is finished, your internet browser’s new tab page, start page and search provider by default will be restored to their original defaults.
8. To learn more, read the article How to reset Chrome settings to default.

Use free malware removal utilities to completely get rid of TubeTab

Run malicious software removal utilities to delete TubeTab automatically. The free programs utilities specially made for browser hijacker infection, ‘ad supported’ software and other potentially unwanted software removal. These utilities can delete most of browser hijacker infection from Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, FF and Edge. Moreover, it can remove all components of TubeTab from Windows registry and system drives.

Scan and clean your computer of TubeTab with Zemana Free

Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) is a utility which can delete ad-supported software, PUPs, browser hijacker infections and other malicious software from your system easily and for free. Zemana is compatible with most antivirus software. It works under Windows (10 – XP, 32 and 64 bit) and uses minimum of PC resources.

Download Zemana by clicking on the link below. Save it on your Windows desktop or in any other place.

When downloading is done, close all windows on your computer. Further, start the setup file named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as displayed on the screen below, click the “Yes” button.

It will show the “Setup wizard” which will help you install Zemana on the computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once installation is done successfully, Zemana Anti Malware will automatically launch and you can see its main window as displayed on the image below.

Next, press the “Scan” button to start checking your system for the hijacker that developed to reroute your web browser to the TubeTab web-page. Depending on your computer, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. When a malicious software, ‘ad supported’ software or potentially unwanted applications are detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is finished.

Once the system scan is done, Zemana Free will open a screen that contains a list of malicious software that has been found. Next, you need to click “Next” button.

The Zemana Anti-Malware will remove browser hijacker infection which modifies internet browser settings to replace your start page, new tab and default search provider with TubeTab web-page and move threats to the program’s quarantine. Once finished, you may be prompted to reboot your PC system.

Run Malwarebytes to delete browser hijacker infection

Remove TubeTab hijacker infection manually is difficult and often the hijacker is not completely removed. Therefore, we suggest you to use the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your system. Moreover, the free program will help you to get rid of malware, potentially unwanted software, toolbars and adware that your machine can be infected too.

Download MalwareBytes from the link below. Save it on your Desktop.

After the download is complete, close all software and windows on your personal computer. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s called mb3-setup as shown on the screen below.

When the installation begins, you will see the “Setup wizard” that will help you set up Malwarebytes on your system.

Once setup is finished, you will see window like below.

Now click the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan for the browser hijacker that cause a redirect to TubeTab web-page. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your PC system. When a malicious software, ‘ad supported’ software or PUPs are detected, the count of the security threats will change accordingly.

Once finished, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) will open a list of all items detected by the scan. Review the report and then click “Quarantine Selected” button.

The Malwarebytes will now begin to delete browser hijacker that cause a redirect to TubeTab web-site. Once that process is finished, you may be prompted to restart your computer.

The following video explains steps on how to delete hijacker, adware and other malware with MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM).

Double-check for potentially unwanted software with AdwCleaner

AdwCleaner is a free removal utility that can be downloaded and run to get rid of browser hijackers, ‘ad supported’ software, malicious software, PUPs, toolbars and other threats from your PC. You can run this utility to scan for threats even if you have an antivirus or any other security program.

1. Download AdwCleaner from the link below.
   
   

   AdwCleaner download
   225260 downloads
   Version: 8.4.1
   Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: October 5, 2024
   
2. Select the folder in which you saved it as Desktop, and then click Save.
3. After downloading is finished, run the AdwCleaner, double-click the adwcleaner_xxx.exe file.
4. If the “User Account Control” prompts, press Yes to continue.
5. Read the “Terms of use”, and press Accept.
6. In the AdwCleaner window, click the “Scan” to perform a system scan with this utility for the hijacker that changes browser settings to replace your start page, newtab page and search engine by default with TubeTab web-page. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your system and the speed of your PC system. While the AdwCleaner tool is checking, you can see how many objects it has identified as being infected by malicious software.
7. When AdwCleaner has finished scanning your system, you’ll be opened the list of all detected threats on your computer. You may move threats to Quarantine (all selected by default) by simply press “Clean”. If the AdwCleaner will ask you to reboot your machine, press “OK”.

The guidance shown in detail in the following video.

Block TubeTab and other intrusive web-pages

In order to increase your security and protect your computer against new intrusive ads and malicious web-sites, you need to use ad-blocker program that stops an access to malicious ads and web pages. Moreover, the program can stop the open of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of web sites and reduce the consumption of web traffic.

Installing the AdGuard ad-blocking program is simple. First you’ll need to download AdGuard by clicking on the link below. Save it on your MS Windows desktop or in any other place.

Once the download is finished, double-click the downloaded file to start it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as shown on the screen below.

Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed and an icon will be placed on your desktop. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick guidance like below.

Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick guidance which will help you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you run your PC, AdGuard will run automatically and block popup advertisements, pages such TubeTab, as well as other malicious or misleading web sites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, which is located on your desktop.

Where the TubeTab browser hijacker comes from

The TubeTab browser hijacker actively distributed with free programs, together with the installer of these programs. Therefore, it is very important, when installing an unknown program even downloaded from known or big hosting page, read the Terms of use and the Software license, as well as to select the Manual, Advanced or Custom install mode. In this method, you can disable the installation of unneeded modules and programs and protect your computer from such hijacker infections as the TubeTab. Unfortunately, most users when installing unknown applications, simply click the Next button, and don’t read any information which the free applications show them during its setup. This leads to the fact that the web browser settings are changed and web browser’s startpage, newtab page and search engine by default set to TubeTab.

To sum up

After completing the step by step tutorial outlined above, your machine should be clean from this browser hijacker and other malware. The FF, Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge will no longer display intrusive TubeTab home page on startup. Unfortunately, if the steps does not help you, then you have caught a new hijacker, and then the best way – ask for help.

Please start a new thread by using the “New Topic” button in the Spyware Removal forum. When posting your HJT log, try to give us some details about your problems, so we can try to help you more accurately. Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with the undesired TubeTab hijacker.