Favtab.com browser hijacker (Free Guide)
Favtab.com browser hijacker Removal Guide
What is Favtab.com browser hijacker?
Favtab.com homepage indicates the presence of a browser hijacker
Favtab.com is related to a browser extension that changes your browsing preferences
You might find Favtab.com set as your homepage and new tab address once you open Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge, or another browser. This happens due to an extension installed on your web browser.
The application can be downloaded from official sources such as Chrome Web Store, although users might also find it bundled with other software they download from third-party sources. Hence, the appearance might be unexpected. Regardless of whether you installed it intentionally or not, it would change the way your homepage and new tab function.
Favtab.com is presented as an extension that “transforms your boring old “new tab” page into a center of information and inspiration.” It adds a customized search box, changes homepage appearance, adds time, location, and weather information, and places various popular links on the start page – YouTube, Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and similar.
Unlike much other software of this kind, it doesn't change the search provider you are using. Thus, if you employ google.com to look up stuff online, it would remain so. Likewise, it would not insert ads into the top area of the search results, which is quite rare for a browser hijacker.
However, the app focuses on other methods for monetization, such as information sharing. You might also sometimes encounter an increased number of ads, although they are not going to be malicious. If you are happy with the extension, you can keep it running on your browser, as it does not pose any security risks to you. We do provide the necessary steps to remove the extension correctly – we explain it in the step-by-step guide below.
Name | Favtab.com |
---|---|
Type | Browser hijacker |
Distribution | Has its own official website but usually is downloaded from Chrome Web Store, as well as third-party websites |
Symptoms |
|
Removal | Potentially unwanted programs can usually be removed manually, although automatic elimination with SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner can be much quicker and more effective |
Additional steps | After you eliminate all browser hijackers and other PUPs from your system, make sure you clean your web browsers and repair system files. You can also do that automatically with FortectIntego |
Privacy and security concerns
Browser hijackers, in general, are not considered malicious as Trojans or ransomware would be. In essence, they are more of a nuisance that users typically install unintentionally and then have their browser settings changed unexpectedly. The main goal of all browser hijackers is to acquire revenue from ad clicks, hence they are usually inserted into the search results. Likewise, the search provider is also altered to something else, e.g., Yahoo.
Favtab.com does not have these traits, however, and, besides the changes made to the homepage and new tab, it does not affect your daily browsing routine. It keeps the same provider and does not insert intrusive ads into your searches, so it is definitely safe in that regard.
However, like many other potentially unwanted applications, it gathers user information, some of which could even be considered private data. According to the app's privacy policy, the developers might ask users to provide personal information under certain circumstances (for example, when conducting a survey).
In this case, the gathered information includes search queries, ads clicked, timestamps, cookies, browser, and technical device data, and more. Most of this information is considered anonymous (although in some jurisdictions or parts of the world, IP address might be considered PII), so your identity would not be disclosed. Technologies such as cookies, web beacons,[1] and similar are used for that purpose.
Nonetheless, it is important to note that it is better to limit the number of parties that gather your data. Likewise, when you have an additional tool installed on your device, you might also encounter third-party content more often, as explained in the Privacy Policy section:[2]
Certain Software & Services may include content which may be in the form of apps, buttons, gadgets, advertisements, websites, products and services (including search services and advertisements) provided to you by third parties (collectively, “Third Party Content and Services“). The use of such Third Party Content and Services is subject to their privacy policies. In order to clarify, we do not review, approve, monitor, endorse, warrant, or make any representations with respect to such Third Party Content and Services and your access to any Third Party Content and Services is at your own risk.
There are also several permissions that you provide to the app before you install it. It can:
- Read and change all your data on all websites
- Replace the page you see when opening a new tab
- Read and change your bookmarks
- Manage your downloads
- Open downloaded files.
Browser hijackers are known for collecting user data
It goes without saying that it is relatively unsafe to allow some applications to open downloaded files automatically, as they might be insecure or even malicious. Additionally, it can also change your data on all websites and alter your bookmarks automatically. It is rather questionable why would a browsing extension need such excessive permissions.
All in all, if you would like to make privacy your priority, you probably should get rid of third-party apps that monitor your online behavior and might sometimes expose you to unrelated content. Below you will find instructions on how to do just that.
Remove Favtab.com
Usually, browser hijackers come in two different forms – a program installed on the system level or an extension that gets attached to the browser. As evident, this time, you need to access the settings section of your browser and remove the related extension from it. Follow the guide below for the browser you use.
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 the suspicious plugins that might be related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.
Mozilla Firefox
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the window's top-right).
- Select Add-ons.
- In here, select the unwanted plugin and click Remove.
MS Edge (Chromium)
- Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
- Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.
MS Edge (legacy)
- 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 on Uninstall at the bottom.
Safari
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- In the new window, pick Extensions.
- Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall.
After you remove the Favtab.com extension, you should also take your time to clean your browsers accordingly. As we already mentioned, the app uses cookies and other tracking technologies for data collection. These can be found in the browser caches and web data. Thus, after you get rid of the potentially unwanted program, run a FortectIntego maintenance and repair utility to clean your browsers automatically or proceed with the manual steps below.
Google 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.
Mozilla Firefox
- Click Menu and pick Options.
- Go to Privacy & Security section.
- Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
- Click on Clear Data…
- Select Cookies and Site Data, as well as Cached Web Content, and press Clear.
MS Edge (Chromium)
- Click on Menu and go to Settings.
- Select Privacy and services.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Under Time range, pick All time.
- Select Clear now.
MS Edge (legacy)
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Privacy & security.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Select everything (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.
Safari
- Click Safari > Clear History…
- From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
- Confirm with Clear History.
You should also not dismiss the possibility that there could be additional unwanted applications installed on your device – it can be extensions or programs on your system. Below we provide instructions on removing PUPs installed on the system level – it's done in the same way you'd uninstall your regular apps.
However, some adware[3] or malware programs might not have an active window and would simply run in the background, making it much harder to eliminate manually. Therefore, you should always perform scans with security software such as SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes to ensure that no malicious processes are running in the background.
Getting rid of Favtab.com browser hijacker. Follow these steps
Uninstall from Windows
Instructions for Windows 10/8 machines:
- Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
- From the list, find the entry of the suspicious program.
- Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
- If User Account Control shows up, click Yes.
- Wait till uninstallation process is complete and click OK.
If you are Windows 7/XP user, proceed with the following instructions:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel located on the right pane (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.
- Pick the unwanted application by clicking on it once.
- At the top, click Uninstall/Change.
- In the confirmation prompt, pick Yes.
- Click OK once the removal process is finished.
Delete from macOS
Remove items from Applications folder:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
- 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:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
- In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
- Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files.
How to prevent from getting browser hijacker
Stream videos without limitations, no matter where you are
There are multiple parties that could find out almost anything about you by checking your online activity. While this is highly unlikely, advertisers and tech companies are constantly tracking you online. The first step to privacy should be a secure browser that focuses on tracker reduction to a minimum.
Even if you employ a secure browser, you will not be able to access websites that are restricted due to local government laws or other reasons. In other words, you may not be able to stream Disney+ or US-based Netflix in some countries. To bypass these restrictions, you can employ a powerful Private Internet Access VPN, which provides dedicated servers for torrenting and streaming, not slowing you down in the process.
Data backups are important – recover your lost files
Ransomware is one of the biggest threats to personal data. Once it is executed on a machine, it launches a sophisticated encryption algorithm that locks all your files, although it does not destroy them. The most common misconception is that anti-malware software can return files to their previous states. This is not true, however, and data remains locked after the malicious payload is deleted.
While regular data backups are the only secure method to recover your files after a ransomware attack, tools such as Data Recovery Pro can also be effective and restore at least some of your lost data.
- ^ Web beacon. Wikipedia. The free encyclopedia.
- ^ Privacy Policy. Favtab. Official website.
- ^ Will Kenton. Adware. Investopedia..