How to remove Browserquote.com redirect

Browserquote.com promotes a fake browser extension

Browserquote.com is a website that tries to get users to download a browser extension that likely hijacks browsers by changing the most important settings – homepage, new tab address, search engine, and/or injects advertisements in the form of pop-ups, sponsored links, banners, surveys, and other.

Users rarely come to pages like this on their own, through their search results. Usually, this happens when people browse through shady pages that are filled with deceptive ads and sneaky redirects.^[1] If you get redirected to questionable pages often, this might mean that you already have a potentially unwanted application^[2] or a malicious program installed in your system that is forcing you to visit these sites.

The promoted extension

“Footer Quotes” is the extension that gets added if users install it from Browserquote.com page. It  claims that the extension will show “a new quote in the footer of the Google search pages.” In reality, when installed, it might display advertisements trying to sell software, push fake software updates, and tech support scams.

What is more, it can also monitor your browsing activity. As shown in the picture below, it can “Read and change your data on Browserquote.com and google.com”. This means that the individuals behind this can see your IP address, the websites you visit, links you click on, purchases you make, and later sell all this data to advertising networks, which will target you with ads.

The ability to receive some quotes from famous people while surfing the web is just not worth it when you have to give up your privacy. The fact that the creators need to create a separate page just to promote it on shady sites, should tell you how trustworthy it is.

Why did you get redirected to this page?

The most likely reason why this website opened up while you were browsing is that you were on shady sites, possibly even those that engage in illegal activities, like illegal streaming platforms. But there is still a possibility that you have adware^[3] in your system which is causing redirects to various sites of this nature. You could have gotten infected with adware in many ways, for example:

• Clicking on deceptive ads or sneaky redirects
• Clicking on a malicious link on social media, or forum
• Installing free software from unofficial sources
• Installing “cracked” software
• Opening an infected email attachment^[4]

If you rushed through the installation process, it is very likely you did not notice bundled software. Always take it slow and choose the “Advanced” or “Custom” installation method. Go through all the steps, read the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and most importantly, untick the boxes next to files that seem unrelated.

Freeware distributors still need to make a profit, so they thought of attaching PUPs together in the installer. These include programs that perform unwanted tasks in the background like generating ads and making a profit from every click made.

Start the removal process

It would be best if you used professional security software like SpyHunterCombo Cleaner or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes for this. It can scan your system for viruses and eliminate them with all the related files and entries. It can also prevent infections in the future by warning you about suspicious programs.

If you want to proceed with manual removal, you can find the instructions for Windows and Mac below. Keep in mind that PUAs can be disguised as legitimate apps and it can be difficult to identify them, so we still strongly suggest using anti-malware tools so you would not delete the wrong files by acccident.

Instructions for Windows 10/8  machines:

1. Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
3. From the list, find the entry of the suspicious program.
4. Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
5. If User Account Control shows up, click Yes.
6. Wait till uninstallation process is complete and click OK.

Windows 7/XP:

1. Click on Windows Start > Control Panel located on the right pane (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
2. In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.
3. Pick the unwanted application by clicking on it once.
4. At the top, click Uninstall/Change.
5. In the confirmation prompt, pick Yes.
6. Click OK once the removal process is finished.

Mac:

1. From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
2. In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
3. Click on the app and drag it to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash)

To fully remove an unwanted app, you need to access Application Support, LaunchAgents, and LaunchDaemons folders and delete relevant files:

1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
2. Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
3. In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
4. Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files.

Fix browser settings

After scanning your machine for PUPs and malware, you should take care of your browsers. All the redirects and commercial content might have cluttered it with junk and shady websites could still be using cookies to track you. This step can be easy with an automatic option FortectIntego – a maintenance tool that can fix corrupted system files, clear the device from unnecessary items, and more.

If you want to do this yourself, let's start by checking if you have any add-ons that are not supposed to be on your browser:

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

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

Change your homepage:

If when you open your browser a different page opens up then previously, you can change it back.

1. Click menu and choose Settings.
2. Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
3. Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

To stop illegitimate pages from collecting data about your browsing behavior, you need to delete cookies.

1. Click on Menu and pick Settings.
2. Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
3. Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
4. Click Clear data.

Reset Google Chrome:

If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:

1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
2. In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
3. Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
4. Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
5. Confirm with Reset settings.

Instructions for Internet Explorer, MS Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari can be found below this arcticle.