How to remove Brothersoft toolbar

Brothersoft toolbar – a potentially unwanted program that hijacks your Google Chrome or another browser

BrotherSoft toolbar (also known as BrotherSoft Extreme2 B1 Toolbar) is a program that belongs to 'adware' and a potentially unwanted program category. The app, which is more commonly downloaded from third-parties without asking direct permission, changes web browser settings of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge, or another web browser. To be precise, it alters the web address of the homepage and new tab URL to search.conduit.com and appends a custom search engine.

As a result, users who have the BrotherSoft virus installed would be presented with alternative results, filled with ads and sponsored links. In the background, that app would track various information and use it for marketing purposes.

Name	BrotherSoft toolbar
Type	Browser hijacker, potentially unwanted program
Distribution	Software bundles, deceptive third-party websites, fake updates
Homepage changes	Once installed, it changes homepage and new tab address to search.conduit.com
Risks	Installation of other PUPs, monetary losses
Removal	Follow instructions below or perform a scan with anti-virus software
Optional steps	Computer infections can cause significant damage to system files or disrupt normal settings. To revert these changes and remediate the operating system, perform a full system scan with a Fortect Intego repair tool

This program is not a virus, so if you believe that it can give you the ability to add a variety of links to Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc., on the top of your web browsers and then helping you to make the login process easier.

However, before downloading this program to your computer, you should know that it may initiate not only harmless activities. Beware that it may cause some potentially-unwanted activities on your computer that will be revealed in this and second paragraphs.

First of all, the Brothersoft toolbar may try to infiltrate your computer without your permission asked because it is actively spread in a bundle with other programs.

In most of the cases, programs that spread this hijacker without an appropriate users' permission asked are various download managers, PDF creators, video streaming software, etc..

Also, it can easily affect all Internet browsers, including Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and other web browsers, without users' permission asked.

Besides, it may alter the homepage, the default search engine, the new tab page, and other settings on each of these web browsers. Sometimes such activity may create an impression that this program is actively used for promoting search.conduit.com.

If you have no idea where the Brothersoft toolbar came from, you should check your computer with updated anti-spyware. It will help you to make sure that all suspicious programs are gone. For that, we highly recommend using such trustworthy programs as Fortect Intego. They have been showing great results when dealing with such applications.

Browser hijackers are installed unintentionally – here's how to avoid them

The toolbar can be installed from brothersoft.com and other download sites offering it and other programs for free. In fact, nothing is for free these days, so you have to be very careful with every freeware and shareware. No matter how each of these programs looks, you have to double-check them because they may be involved in distributing the Brothersoft toolbar and other PUPs.

As you may have already understood, after being installed, such programs may affect each of the web browsers and alter the default settings of your PC system. Also, the program may start displaying commercial ads and sponsored links in each of its search results.

Besides, it may collect information about your browsing activity and alter search results according to them. As you can see, the app has nothing in common with viruses, but it can easily initiate unwanted system changes on your computer. If you want to avoid it, you have to double-check each of the freeware before its installation.

When installing new software, always choose one of the following instead of Recommended/Quick options:

Advanced
Custom

This would let you not to install optional apps, as long as you untick the correct checkboxes.

Brothersoft toolbar elimination process

If you want to remove Brothersoft toolbar, you can use two approaches for the purpose. If you are computer savvy and have dealt with program uninstallation before, you can try getting rid of it manually. Keep in mind that this app attaches itself to various web browsers, so it is important to clean them properly – we provide the instructions below.

However, if you do not wish to waste your time or are not familiar with operating system functions, we highly recommend performing automatic Brothersoft virus removal instead. For that, you should employ powerful anti-malware software – it would also be useful for checking your system for invisible threats that might be running in the background.

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.

Reset Internet Explorer

Remove dangerous add-ons:

Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
Pick Manage Add-ons.
You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.

Change your homepage if it was altered:

Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
Select Internet Options.
In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
Click Apply and then select OK.

Delete temporary files:

Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
Under Browsing history, click Delete...
Select relevant fields and press Delete.

Reset Internet Explorer:

Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
Select Reset.
In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.

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.