If the Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome suddenly begins displaying the Weknow.start.me when you did not set it as your homepage or search engine, then most likely that you’ve a potentially unwanted application (PUA) from the browser hijacker family installed on the Apple Mac. A common tactic used by PUPs makers is to modify web browser’s settings like homepage, new tab and search provider so that the affected browser goes to a webpage under the creator’s control. In order to locate PUPs, remove Weknow.start.me from the Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome, you can follow the useful instructions below.
Weknow.start.me makes unwanted changes to web-browser settings
The Weknow.start.me hijacker will alter your internet browser’s search engine so that all searches are sent via “https://weknow.start.me/p/”, which redirects to Bing, Yahoo or Google Custom Search engine which shows the search results for your query. The developers of this browser hijacker are using legitimate search engine as they may make revenue from the ads which are displayed in the search results.
While the Weknow.start.me browser hijacker is active, you won’t be able to restore the Chrome, Firefox and Safari’ settings like default search provider, home page and newtab page. If you try to set your startpage to be Google, Bing or Yahoo, those settings will be automatically changed to Weknow.start.me with the next MAC restart. 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 Weknow.start.me you can have problems with the Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari, undesired ads and even confidential data theft.
In order to remove Weknow.start.me from your MAC system, clean the infected browsers and revert back the Mozilla Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome settings to its default state, please use the Weknow.start.me removal guidance below.
How to remove Weknow.start.me (Virus removal guide)
Fortunately, it’s not hard to remove the Weknow.start.me hijacker. In the following guidance, we will provide two methods to free your machine of this hijacker. One is the manual removal method and the other is automatic removal way. You can choose the solution that best fits you. Please follow the removal instructions below to remove Weknow.start.me right now!
To remove Weknow.start.me, use the following steps:
- How to remove Weknow.start.me manually
- Scan your computer and remove Weknow.start.me with free tools
- Run AdBlocker to block Weknow.start.me and stay safe online
- Why is my browser redirected to Weknow.start.me?
- Finish words
How to remove Weknow.start.me manually
The useful removal guidance for the Weknow.start.me redirect. The detailed procedure can be followed by anyone as it really does take you step-by-step. If you follow this process to get rid of Weknow.start.me let us know how you managed by sending us your comments please.
Uninstalling the Weknow.start.me, check the list of installed applications first
First, go to the Finder and delete suspicious software, all programs you don’t remember installing. It is important to pay the most attention to applications you installed just before Weknow.start.me browser hijacker appeared on your web browser. If you do not know what a program does, look for the answer on the Internet.
- Open the Finder.
- Click “Applications”.
- It will display a list of all software installed on the MAC OS.
- Scroll through the all list, and delete questionable and unknown apps. Pay maximum attention to the program you installed last.
- Drag the suspicious program from the Applications folder to the Trash.
- Empty Trash.
Get rid of Weknow.start.me redirect from Safari
By resetting Safari web browser you restore your web browser settings to its default state. This is basic when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by hijacker infection such as Weknow.start.me.
Click Safari menu and select “Preferences”.
It will open the Safari Preferences window. Next, click the “Extensions” tab. Look for unknown and suspicious plugins on left panel, choose it, then press the “Uninstall” button. Most important to remove all unknown extensions from Safari.
Once complete, click “General” tab. Change the “Default Search Engine” to Google.
Find the “Homepage” and type into textfield “https://www.google.com”.
Remove Weknow.start.me from Chrome
Another solution to remove Weknow.start.me from Chrome is Reset Google Chrome settings. This will disable harmful extensions and reset Chrome settings including newtab, homepage and search engine to default values. When using the reset feature, your personal information such as passwords, bookmarks, browsing history and web form auto-fill data will be saved.
- First, run the Google Chrome and click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
- It will open the Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You’ll see the list of installed extensions. If the list has the extension labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following tutorial: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Google Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
- Next, click “Advanced” link, that located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
- The Chrome will show the reset settings prompt as on the image above.
- Confirm the web browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, read the article How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.
Get rid of Weknow.start.me from Firefox
This step will help you get rid of Weknow.start.me, third-party toolbars, disable harmful addons and restore your default homepage, newtab page and search engine settings.
Click the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and press the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu like below.
A small menu will appear, press the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, press “Refresh Firefox” button like below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to return your Firefox internet browser settings to their default values.
Remove Weknow.start.me with free tools
Manual removal guide does not always allow to completely remove Weknow.start.me, as it’s not easy to identify and remove components of browser hijacker infection and all malicious files from hard disk. Therefore, it’s recommended that you use malware removal utility to completely remove Weknow.start.me off your MAC system. Several free malware removal utilities are currently available that can be used against the browser hijacker. The optimum way would be to run MalwareBytes.
How to remove Weknow.start.me with MalwareBytes Anti-Malware
Remove Weknow.start.me manually is difficult and often the browser hijacker infection is not completely removed. Therefore, we recommend you to run the MalwareBytes Free which are completely clean your computer. Moreover, this free program will help you to remove malicious software, PUPs, toolbars and adware that your machine can be infected too.
Installing the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware is simple. First you’ll need to download MalwareBytes Free on your computer by clicking on the link below.
20841 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: September 10, 2020
When downloading is complete, close all applications and windows on your MAC system. Open a directory in which you saved it. Run the saved file and follow the prompts.
Once installation is finished, you’ll see window as displayed in the figure below.
Now press the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the browser hijacker that cause Weknow.start.me page to appear. This process can take some time, so please be patient. When a malware, adware or potentially unwanted applications are found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly.
After the system scan is complete, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware will produce a list of unwanted programs adware. Review the results once the tool has complete the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply click “Remove Selected Items” button.
The Malwarebytes will now remove browser hijacker infection responsible for redirects to Weknow.start.me and move items to the program’s quarantine.
Run AdBlocker to block Weknow.start.me and stay safe online
It is also critical to protect your browsers from harmful web-sites and ads by using an ad-blocker application like AdGuard. Security experts says that it will greatly reduce the risk of malware, and potentially save lots of money. Additionally, the AdGuard can also protect your privacy by blocking almost all trackers.
Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you will need to download AdGuard on your MAC system from the link below.
3677 downloads
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: January 17, 2018
After the downloading process is complete, run the downloaded file. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen.
Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick instructions. Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will help you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you launch your computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop unwanted ads, block Weknow.start.me, as well as other malicious or misleading web sites.
Why is my browser redirected to Weknow.start.me?
Probably Weknow.start.me hijacker get installed onto your MAC system when you have installed some freeware such as E-Mail checker, PDF creator, video codec, etc. Because, most often, a browser hijacker can be bundled within the install packages from Softonic, Cnet, Soft32, Brothersoft or other similar pages which hosts free software. So, you should start any files downloaded from the Internet with great caution! Always carefully read the ‘User agreement’, ‘Software license’ and ‘Terms of use’. In the process of installing a new program, you need to select a ‘Manual’, ‘Advanced’ or ‘Custom’ setup type to control what components and third-party applications to be installed.
Finish words
Once you have complete the tutorial above, your MAC system should be clean from Weknow.start.me hijacker, unwanted browser’s add-ons and other malicious software. The Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox will no longer open the Weknow.start.me web-page on startup. Unfortunately, if the guidance does not help you, then you have caught a new hijacker, and then the best way – ask for help here.
