Remove 123movies.co (Removal Guide)

123movies.co is a browser hijacker that promises free access to movies and TV series but might compromise online privacy

123movies.co hijacker

123movies.co is the redirect that adware-type intruder triggers. These reroute, pop-ups, and other contents that appears out of nowhere are triggered by a potentially unwanted program^[1] that establishes its homepage, new tab address and search engine without adequately asking for permission to do so. For such reasons, the PUP is categorized as a browser hijacker which can affect Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, and Safari. 123movies.co hijack initiates an intense advertisement of sponsored websites and their products/services, allowing the authors to generate revenue. Unfortunately, the end user is the one who has to deal with persistent redirects and altered search results. Additionally, browser hijackers are known to congregate non-personally identifiable information about internet browsing habits and other data.

Summary
Name	123movies.co
Type	Browser hijacker / Potentially unwanted program
Distribution	Software bundling, unsafe sites, pop-up ads
Main dangers	Malware infections, data leak
Symptoms	Altered homepage of the browser, unwanted redirects, altered search results, etc.
Elimination	You can employ manual removal guide below or usa anti-malware software for automatic termination
System recovery and optimization	Potentially unwanted programs might leave a mess on your machine, e.g., changed registry entries. To revert the damage done and ensure optimization of your computer, scan it with Fortect Intego

123movies.co hijacker is most likely established after the installation of third-party software that is initiated by users themselves. This method is called software bundling, and many freeware and shareware developers make use of it.

While legal, many researchers believe that it is highly unfair, as it uses deceptive tricks to make users skip some vital installation steps that install additional components on the machine. For such reason, the unwanted app can be called 123movies.co virus by some.

While browser hijackers like this are often considered to be just a nuisance, they actually bring in much more than an annoyance. Those who are not wary enough might end up on malware-laden sites where malicious JavaScript could abuse software vulnerabilities^[2] to inject much more prominent malware. In such a case, users might not even notice the infiltration, as they do not have to initiate any downloads and a simple redirect to an unsafe site is enough.

Additionally, this PUP could initiate the infiltration of additional add-ons, toolbars, browser extensions and other potentially unwanted programs. Therefore, experts^[3] suggest not to click on any hyperlinks, ads, pop-ups or other questionable content and remove 123movies.co from their browsers instead. Only then the unwanted activity can be terminated.

Those who do not think that redirects could cause danger should be reminded about the collection of information. Data collection is a common practice among browser hijackers, and such tracking technologies as cookies can be used to gather:

IP address;
Geolocation;
Sites visited;
Search queries;
Technical details;
Links clicked;
Bookmarks added, etc.

Therefore, if you value your privacy, start 123movies.co removal immediately. You can rely on our instructions below for that. Additionally, we recommend users to scan their computers using Fortect Intego, or other PC repair software after the browser hijacker is eliminated.

123movies.co potentially unwanted application

Install free applications caefully: PUPs might be hidden inside

It surprising how many individuals are still not aware of PUP distribution method – bundling. However, it manages to stay unnoticed and not is generally not publicized, hence many users do not know of its existence. Unfortunately, but freeware and shareware developers are quick to abuse this fact, and employ bundling technique to add optional installs into the setups of free applications that they offer. Because the suggested apps are free, this way of monetizing greatly benefits their creators.

Unfortunately, it does the opposite to regular users, as they let in PUPs without even noticing. The trick is to hide additional applications, add-ons, toolbars, system optimizers, and similar useless software under Advanced or Custom Installation mode. It is well known that most users rush the installation process and pick Recommended/Quick settings. Therefore, select Advanced settings and eliminate the pre-selected tick boxes before proceeding.

Additionally, users can also install the PUP when clicking on misleading advertisements.Therefore, it is recommended to refrain from installing browser extensions and add-ons that are advertised on random websites.

Get rid of 123movies.co redirects by using our instructions

Many users might not realize what is causing an increased amount of ads, redirects, and other unwanted activities on their PCs. However, if your search engine is turned to 123movies.co, and you are unable to revert these changes, your computer needs to be cleansed from PUPs.

Our team prepared a set of instructions that can help you remove 123movies.co virus from your computer. Therefore, please follow each step carefully and in the correct order. Do not attempt manual elimination if you are not that computer savvy, however, and rely on security software instead.

Automatic 123movies.co removal can be performed in just a few minutes. All you have to do is download and install reputable security software and bring it up to date. Then, you should run a full system scan which will detect all the unwanted apps installed on your machine and get rid of them automatically.

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.

How to remove 123movies.co

123movies.co is a browser hijacker that promises free access to movies and TV series but might compromise online privacy

Install free applications caefully: PUPs might be hidden inside