Every time, when you run your internet browser the Keep Safe web-site which you do not remember installing as startpage or search provider keeps annoying you? Keep Safe is a potentially unwanted application (PUA) from the group of hijacker infections. It can end up on your computer in various ways. In most cases is when you download and install another free program and forget to uncheck the box for the optional programs installation. Don’t panic because we’ve got the solution. Here’s a tutorial on how to remove intrusive Keep Safe search from any internet browsers, including the Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome and MS Edge.
When the Keep Safe hijacker is installed on a system, it might:
- set Keep Safe as search engine by default, newtab, and homepage;
- prevent users from replacing search provider or homepage address;
- reroute your queries to sponsored websites;
- provide altered search results;
- record your search queries;
- periodically redirects to questionable web pages;
- show intrusive ads;
- gather Internet browsing habits and share it with third-parties.
While the Keep Safe hijacker infection is active, you won’t be able to return the MS Edge, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox’ settings like default search provider, new tab page and home page. If you try to set your homepage to be Google, Bing or Yahoo, those settings will be automatically altered to Keep Safe with the next machine reboot. But this does not mean that you should just ignore it or get along with this fact. Because this is not the best option, due to the Keep Safe search you can have problems with the FF, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Chrome and Edge, unwanted advertisements and even user information theft.
The browser hijacker such as Keep Safe often modify all web-browser shortcuts which located on your Desktop to force you visit various unwanted websites and show intrusive popup advertisements. As a result, your browser can still reroute you to an unwanted web site despite your web browser is actually free of browser hijacker infection.
We recommend you to remove Keep Safe home page and free your system of browser hijacker sooner, until the presence of the hijacker infection has not led to even worse consequences. Complete the step-by-step guide below that will assist you to completely get rid of Keep Safe , using only the built-in Windows features and a few of specialized free utilities.
Remove Keep Safe Search from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
The following step-by-step guide will allow you to delete Keep Safe from the Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Chrome. Moreover, the instructions below will help you to remove malicious software like PUPs, adware and toolbars that your PC system may be infected. Please do the instructions step by step. If you need assist or have any questions, then ask for our assistance or type a comment below. Read it once, after doing so, please print this page as you may need to close your web browser or reboot your computer.
To remove Keep Safe, perform the following steps:
- How to manually delete Keep Safe
- Scan your machine and remove Keep Safe with free tools
- Stop Keep Safe redirect and other undesired web sites
- Tips to prevent Keep Safe and other unwanted software
- Finish words
How to manually delete Keep Safe
The following instructions is a step-by-step guide, which will help you manually get rid of Keep Safe start page from the Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Edge and FF.
Delete Keep Safe related software through the Control Panel of your PC system
Some of PUPs, adware and hijacker infection can be uninstalled using the Add/Remove programs utility that is located in the Microsoft Windows Control Panel. So, if you are running any version of Microsoft Windows and you have noticed an unwanted program, then first try to remove it through Add/Remove programs.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
First, press Windows button , then press Search . Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as displayed below.
After the ‘Control Panel’ opens, click the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category as displayed below.
You will see the ‘Uninstall a program’ panel as shown on the screen below.
Very carefully look around the entire list of software installed on your computer. Most probably, one of them is the hijacker infection related to Keep Safe start page. If you have many applications installed, you can help simplify the search of harmful apps by sort the list by date of installation. Once you’ve found a suspicious, unwanted or unused program, right click to it, after that click ‘Uninstall’.
Windows XP, Vista, 7
First, press ‘Start’ button and select ‘Control Panel’ at right panel like below.
Once the Windows ‘Control Panel’ opens, you need to click ‘Uninstall a program’ under ‘Programs’ as shown on the image below.
You will see a list of apps installed on your personal computer. We recommend to sort the list by date of installation to quickly find the apps that were installed last. Most likely, it’s the hijacker responsible for modifying your browser settings to Keep Safe. If you are in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. When the program which you need to remove is found, simply click on its name, and then press ‘Uninstall’ as shown in the following example.
Delete Keep Safe from Chrome
In order to be sure that there is nothing left behind, we suggest you to reset Google Chrome web-browser. It will revert back Chrome settings including default search provider, home page and new tab page to defaults.
- First start the Chrome and press Menu button (small button in the form of three dots).
- It will open the Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You will see the list of installed plugins. If the list has the add-on labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following steps: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
- You will see the Google Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and click “Advanced” link.
- Scroll down again and press the “Reset” button.
- The Chrome will display the reset profile settings page as on the image above.
- Next click the “Reset” button.
- Once this process is finished, your web browser’s newtab, start page and search engine will be restored to their original defaults.
- To learn more, read the post How to reset Chrome settings to default.
Remove Keep Safe from Mozilla Firefox by resetting web-browser settings
If the Firefox web-browser application is hijacked, then resetting its settings can help. The Reset feature is available on all modern version of Mozilla Firefox. A reset can fix many issues by restoring FF settings like new tab, search engine and homepage to its default state. It will save your personal information like saved passwords, bookmarks, and open tabs.
Click the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and press the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as on the image below.
A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button as on the image below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to revert back your FF web-browser settings to its original state.
Delete Keep Safe from Microsoft Internet Explorer
If you find that Internet Explorer web-browser settings such as newtab, default search engine and start page having been hijacked, then you may restore your settings, via the reset web-browser procedure.
First, open the Microsoft Internet Explorer, then press ‘gear’ icon . It will show the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the web-browser, then click the “Internet Options” as displayed in the following example.
In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then click the “Reset” button. The Internet Explorer will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” dialog box. Further, click the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, click the “Reset” button as shown on the screen below.
Once the task is complete, press “Close” button. Close the Microsoft Internet Explorer and reboot your machine for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your browser’s newtab page, search provider by default and startpage to default state.
Fix web browser shortcuts, altered by Keep Safe hijacker
Once installed, the browser hijacker that designed to reroute your browser to the Keep Safe page, may add an argument similar to “http://site.address” into the Target property of the desktop shortcut for the Google Chrome, FF, Edge and Internet Explorer. Due to this, every time you launch the web browser, it will open an unwanted web page.
Right click on the shortcut file of affected web browser as displayed in the figure below.
Select the “Properties” option and it’ll open the shortcut file’s properties. Next, click the “Shortcut” tab and then delete the “http://site.address” string from Target field as displayed on the screen below.
Then click OK to save changes. Repeat the step for all browsers which are redirected to the Keep Safe undesired web-page.
Scan your machine and remove Keep Safe with free tools
It’s not enough to remove Keep Safe from your internet browser by following the manual steps above to solve all problems. Some Keep Safe browser hijacker related files may remain on your personal computer and they will recover the browser hijacker infection even after you remove it. For that reason we suggest to run free anti-malware utility like Zemana, MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) and HitmanPro. Either of those programs should can search for and remove browser hijacker infection that causes browsers to display undesired Keep Safe web-page.
How to delete Keep Safe with Zemana
We advise using the Zemana Free which are completely clean your system of the browser hijacker infection. The tool is an advanced malicious software removal program designed by (c) Zemana lab. It’s able to help you delete PUPs, browser hijackers, ad-supported software, malicious software, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your personal computer for free.
Zemana Free can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your Windows desktop or in any other place.
164028 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
When downloading is finished, close all windows on your personal computer. Further, run the set up file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as on the image below, click the “Yes” button.
It will display the “Setup wizard” which will allow you install Zemana on the PC system. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once installation is finished successfully, Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) will automatically start and you may see its main window like below.
Next, press the “Scan” button to look for browser hijacker responsible for redirecting your web-browser to Keep Safe web-site. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your personal computer. While the Zemana AntiMalware application is checking, you may see how many objects it has identified as threat.
When Zemana Anti Malware has finished scanning your system, a list of all items found is produced. When you are ready, press “Next” button.
The Zemana Anti-Malware will remove browser hijacker that redirects your internet browser to unwanted Keep Safe web page and add threats to the Quarantine. When the clean-up is done, you can be prompted to reboot your PC system.
Use HitmanPro to get rid of Keep Safe startpage
HitmanPro cleans your system from adware, potentially unwanted software, unwanted toolbars, web-browser plugins and other undesired software like browser hijacker infection which created to redirect your internet browser to the Keep Safe web page. The free removal tool will help you enjoy your computer to its fullest. Hitman Pro uses advanced behavioral detection technologies to find out if there are unwanted applications in your PC system. You can review the scan results, and select the threats you want to erase.
Download HitmanPro on your PC from the following link.
Download and run Hitman Pro on your computer. Once started, click “Next” button to start scanning your PC for the browser hijacker infection that responsible for internet browser reroute to the unwanted Keep Safe site. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your personal computer and the speed of your personal computer. While the HitmanPro program is scanning, you may see number of objects it has identified as threat..
When the system scan is complete, you will be shown the list of all found threats on your personal computer.
Review the results once the tool has finished the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply click Next button.
It will show a prompt, click the “Activate free license” button to start the free 30 days trial to delete all malware found.
Get rid of Keep Safe with Malwarebytes
We suggest using the Malwarebytes Free. You can download and install Malwarebytes to scan for and delete Keep Safe from your computer. When installed and updated, the free malicious software remover will automatically scan and detect all threats exist on the PC system.
Download MalwareBytes by clicking on the link below.
326381 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
After the downloading process is finished, close all apps and windows on your system. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s called mb3-setup as on the image below.
When the installation begins, you’ll see the “Setup wizard” which will help you install Malwarebytes on your personal computer.
Once installation is complete, you will see window as on the image below.
Now press the “Scan Now” button for checking your PC for the browser hijacker infection responsible for Keep Safe start page. While the MalwareBytes is checking, you can see count of objects it has identified either as being malicious software.
Once the system scan is finished, you’ll be displayed the list of all detected items on your system. You may remove threats (move to Quarantine) by simply click “Quarantine Selected” button.
The Malwarebytes will now start to remove Keep Safe browser hijacker and other internet browser’s harmful plugins. Once the task is finished, you may be prompted to restart your system.
The following video explains few simple steps on how to remove browser hijacker, adware and other malicious software with MalwareBytes Anti-Malware.
Stop Keep Safe redirect and other undesired web sites
By installing an ad-blocker program like AdGuard, you are able to block Keep Safe, autoplaying video ads and delete a ton of distracting and annoying ads on web sites.
Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you will need to download AdGuard on your Windows Desktop from the link below.
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
When the downloading process is done, double-click the downloaded file to launch it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as displayed on the image 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 instructions as displayed in the figure below.
Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you start your machine, AdGuard will start automatically and block pop ups, web-sites like Keep Safe, as well as other malicious or misleading 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.
Tips to prevent Keep Safe and other unwanted software
The browser hijacker infection which modifies browser settings to replace your newtab, start page and default search provider with Keep Safe site, can be categorized as PUP (potentially unwanted program) which commonly comes on the PC system with other freeware. In most cases, this unwanted application comes without the user’s knowledge. Therefore, many users aren’t even aware that their PC system has been affected with malicious software. Please follow the easy rules in order to protect your PC system from any unwanted applications: do not install any suspicious software, read the user agreement and select only the Custom, Manual or Advanced setup type, don’t rush to click the Next button. Also, always try to find a review of the application on the Web. Be careful and attentive! If Keep Safe homepage has already come into your PC system, then you need to check your computer for hijacker and other malware. Use our detailed step-by-step tutorial that are listed above.
Finish words
After completing the step by step instructions outlined above, your machine should be clean from this hijacker and other malicious software. The Edge, Google Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer will no longer show undesired Keep Safe web-page on startup. Unfortunately, if the guidance does not help you, then you have caught a new browser 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 intrusive Keep Safe .