What should I know about Start.Facemoods.com search engine?
When searching the internet for the information, it is not only important what you are looking for but also where you are doing it. So, if you use Start.Facemoods.com website to search the Internet, we advise you to consider using services of some other, more trustworthy web search provider, because using this particular search engine can cause some serious computer problems. In fact, Start.Facemoods.com is not a reliable or useful search engine at all. It only pretends to be one, when actually, it is listed as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and referred to as a browser hijacker. The essence of these type of programs is the hijacking of your web browser, alteration of its settings and, furthermore, redirecting to the potentially hazardous sites. Let us elaborate on these steps one by one.

First, you should know that programs like Start.Facemoods.com hijack the system unnoticed, especially, if you are careless about downloading and installing free software from the Internet. As soon as it gets into your computer, this virus takes control over your browser and starts altering its settings. You may notice that your homepage, default search engine, and new tab page are assigned to Start.Facemoods.com. Furthermore, if you try reverting these settings, additional minor programs also installed by this virus will bring the previous settings back. Furthermore, the search results on this bogus search engine will most probably be irrelevant for your search queries since the primary goal of this virus is to push advertisements and promote sponsored links, rather than supply you with useful information. Finally, we advise you to be especially careful by clicking on the links provided in the search results, because browser hijackers like Start.Facemoods.com redirect their users to suspicious sites, which may contain infectious content and further contaminate your system. So, if you notice any of these symptoms appear while browsing the Internet, we highly recommend you to remove Start.Facemoods.com and its related contents from your computer as soon as possible. To do that, we strongly recommend you to use a professional spyware removal program, for instance, FortectIntego.
How did my computer get infected with Start.Facemoods.com virus?
It is actually a question, which bothers most of the other PC users that experience browser hijacking. The answer is an aggressive marketing method referred to as “bundling”. Nowadays, the majority of the potentially unwanted programs are distributed together with various popular free software, which can be found around the web. Usually, download links of these bundled programs are shared on untrustworthy download websites.
Even if the user downloads such software package, it is still possible to prevent unwanted programs from entering the computer’s system. First, you have to be attentive to all the steps of the software installation. Be sure to use “Custom” or “Advanced” installation settings, which will help you to keep track of what programs besides your downloaded one may also be included in the package. Also, do not forget to uncheck the pre-checked options allowing changes to your browser.
The Start.Facemoods.com removal can be a lengthy process, however, if you notice this program in your computer, do not hesitate to spare some time to get rid of this possible threat to your system. We have prepared comprehensive instructions on how to remove Start.Facemoods.com malware from your computer. They are provided on the second page of this article.
How do I remove Start.Facemoods.com from my computer?
You should be aware that simply deleting the program with which the infected application was bundled will not be enough. Even if you uninstall it, the browser settings will still remain unchanged. To wipe Start.Facemoods.com virus out of your computer, you must locate files that belong to it and delete them.
You can get rid of Start.Facemoods.com browser hijacker manually – just follow the step-by-step guide provided below. However, if you would like to scan your computer with a reputable anti-malware software and check whether there are any other possibly dangerous programs on it, we recommend using one of the following programs:
Uninstall from Windows
Uninstall from Windows 10/8:
- Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.

Remove the unwanted program:
- In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
- If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.

Delete from macOS
Remove the unwanted application:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).

Delete leftover files and folders:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
- Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.

- Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.
Remove from Microsoft Edge
Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:
- Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
- From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
- Click Remove.

Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.

Restore new tab and homepage settings:
- Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
- Then find On startup section.
- Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.
Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:
- Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
- Select Details tab.
- Now scroll down and locate every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right-click on each of them and select End Task to stop MS Edge from running.

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge
Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):
- Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
- Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and site data:
- Click on Menu and go to Settings.
- Select Privacy, search and services.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Under Time range, pick All time.
- Select Clear now.

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- On the left side, pick Reset settings.
- Select Restore settings to their default values.
- Confirm with Reset.
- This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
- Select Add-ons.
- In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.

Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Settings.
- Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.
Clear cookies and site data:
- Click Menu and pick Settings.
- Go to Privacy & Security section.
- Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
- Click on Clear Data...
- Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.

Reset Mozilla Firefox
If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
- Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.

- Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
- Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.

Remove from Google Chrome
Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
- Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
- In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:
- Click on Menu and pick Settings.
- Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
- Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
- Click Clear data.

Change your homepage:
- Click menu and choose Settings.
- Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
- Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.
Reset Google Chrome:
If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
- Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
- Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
- Confirm with Reset settings.

Delete from Safari
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
- Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.

Clear history and website data:
- Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
- Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.

Reset Safari:
- Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
- Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.

Did this guide help?
4 comments
Pia
I could not remove it manually... Should I download SpyHunter? is it trustworthy? I am using Windows 10
zilla
I searched Applications and Mozilla Firefox extensions and could not see anything related to this program on my PC...
Inger
Yeah, it is. I do not have it but my brother has it, it blocks bad programs if you try to download them on your PC.
Adaoha89
Initiates obtrusive redirects... very bad search engine, hope i will manage to remove it manually