Skip to content
  • Active
  • Severity: Medium
  • Adware
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Jan 2021

How to remove FileHunter

A step-by-step removal guide for affected devices. Follow the verified procedure below — most readers complete it in under 10 minutes.

Ugnius Kiguolis · The mastermind

FileHunter is an adware that causes potentially dangerous browser redirects and shows doubtful ads

FileHunter is a free program that is supposed to “help you search and download all kinds of files from video to MP3, documents, and software. The software is intended for p2p file exchange between users and is based on the torrent technology.”

FileHunter has been developed by Corsair Logic at the beginning of 2011. Thus, the number of FileHunter downloads has reached several million by now.

FileHunter is not a virus and cannot cause serious damage. It is not programmed in a way to affect the operating system directly. However, it is set to display sponsored advertisements that can lead you to both unknown and malicious sites. Once installed, it injects its add-on on each of the web browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari).

Consequently, web browsers start generating sponsored advertisements tagged as “Ads by FileHunter” or “FileHunter ads.” But the core problem here is not the annoyance of the pop-ups and banners. The content that people may be exposed to after clicking on them is most questionable. According to recent studies, FileHunter redirects can make people visit either unknown shopping sites or potentially dangerous official pages, online surveys, and similar things.

FileHunter removal

Also, FileHunter adware may use tracking cookies. This way, it gets the chance to collect personally non-identifiable information related to the user's browsing habits. Leakage of such information is associated with privacy violation because the recipient of the data is not known and not specified anywhere.

So, we do not recommend keeping this program installed due to several important reasons:

  • FileHunter does NOT work as a file downloader;
  • It belongs to the adware and PUP (potentially unwanted program) categories;
  • Infiltrates computers bundled with free software;
  • Displays doubtful advertisements;
  • Causes potentially dangerous browser's redirects;
  • Uses cookies and spreads browsing-related information about users;
  • Diminishes web browser's performance.

These downsides have been revealed by computer security experts who have been analyzing this tool very carefully. Thus, if you are not willing to suffer from various browsing-related inconveniences that may lead to critical security issues, remove FileHunter virus without a delay. For this purpose, you may use SpyHunterCombo Cleaner or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes.

Also, you can try to delete it manually. We provide a detailed FileHunter removal guide at the bottom of this article.

Ways how this adware landed on the browser without being noticed

Although this adware is a legitimate app that used to have the official website, it's not accessible anymore. However, it can still be downloaded directly from third-party download websites, such as download.com, cnet.com, soft32.com, and many others. Some of the downloads from the suspicious pages are not active anymore as well.

However, PUP can enter your computer indirectly. Its developers also use 'bundling,' which means that they pay money for freeware developers who agree to spread this program as an additional component of freeware/shareware.

To prevent this from happening, it's vital to dedicate a certain amount of time to the installation of freeware. Also, it's important to read EULA, Privacy Policy, and select Advanced/Custom installation setup. NOTE: this particular adware commonly promotes ZinkWink Search, so right after installing this download manager you may find your default start page and search provider jeopardized.

FileHunter removal options are quite simple

This adware can be disabled manually. Our security experts have submitted a step-by-step FileHunter removal guide below.

However, to remove FileHunter and similar potentially unwanted programs, we highly recommend using a professional anti-malware because only this way removal of all malicious files will be granted.

Also, do not forget to install new apps more carefully in the future. We recommend using the custom/advanced installation method. This will prevent potentially unwanted programs from entering your computer.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

  1. Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
  2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 10/8

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

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

Remove the unwanted program:

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

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

  1. From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
  2. In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).Uninstall from Mac

Delete leftover files and folders:

  1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
  2. Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
  3. Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.Delete leftover files from Mac
  4. Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Reset Internet Explorer

Remove dangerous add-ons:

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

Change your homepage if it was altered:

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

Delete temporary files:

  1. Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
  2. Under Browsing history, click Delete...
  3. Select relevant fields and press Delete.Clear temporary files from Internet Explorer

Reset Internet Explorer:

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

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

  1. Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
  2. From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
  3. Click Remove.Remove extensions from Edge

Clear cookies and other browser data:

  1. Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. 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.Clear Edge browsing data

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

  1. Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
  2. Then find On startup section.
  3. Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

  1. Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
  2. Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
  3. Select Details tab.
  4. 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.Reset MS Edge

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

  1. Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
  2. Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chromium Edge

Clear cache and site data:

  1. Click on Menu and go to Settings.
  2. Select Privacy, search and services.
  3. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  4. Under Time range, pick All time.
  5. Select Clear now.Clear browser data from Chroum Edge

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

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

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

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

Reset the homepage:

  1. Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
  2. Choose Settings.
  3. Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.

Clear cookies and site data:

  1. Click Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security section.
  3. Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
  4. Click on Clear Data...
  5. Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.Clear cookies and site data from Firefox

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
  2. Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.Reset Firefox 1
  3. Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
  4. Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.Reset Firefox 2

Remove from Google Chrome

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 suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chrome

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

  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.Clear cache and web data from Chrome

Change your homepage:

  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.

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.Reset Chrome 2

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

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

Clear history and website data:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
  2. Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.Clear history from Safari

Reset Safari:

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

Did this guide help?

3 comments

  1. SIPHO Vundla

    Ive been using this manager until Ive noticed that it causes ads. By the way, I must agree that it does not download files as is should. Removed!

  2. John Pegg

    Why cant I remove it? I havent used this program for ages.

  3. Maddy Waters

    DONT use it! Malware. Displays dangerous ads that redirect to dubious pages like alibaba.

Spyware News
Privacy preferences

We use cookies to improve your experience and analyze traffic. Some cookies enable embedded content like videos and social posts. Choose what you allow — you can change this anytime.