Webdigger.net (Removal Instructions) - Free Guide
Webdigger.net Removal Guide
What is Webdigger.net?
Webdigger – dubious application which might collect non-PII
Webdigger.net is a shady website which hijacks[1] web browsers without users' authorization. Its primary objective is to change their settings and make them search the web via webdigger.net/results.php?q=. Once it reaches this goal, the Webdigger virus starts generating sponsored search results. The company called Green Line LTD is behind the creation of this unwanted application.
Just like many other potentially unwanted programs, Webdigger.net promotes itself as a useful application capable of enhancing users' browsing experience. However, it is not the case at all. The main goal of such dubious program is to generate revenue. Hence, the user is not what developers of this PUP care about in particular.
The main thing that disrupts our experts[2] is the use of personal and non-personal information. If you checked the Privacy Policy of Webdigger, you could find the following statements:
Green Line LTD may automatically receive and record certain non-personally identifiable information on its server logs from your browser, including your IP address, browser type and version, internet service provider (ISP), cookie information, and the webpage that a user visits.
Beware that any information you expose online while using this redirect virus might be used for potentially illegal purposes.[3] For example, you can share your e-mail, address, a full name, passwords, etc. to suspicious parties and put yourself at the risk of identity theft. To prevent these risk, do NOT postpone Webdigger removal. FortectIntego is a great tool which can assist you in achieving this goal.
Webdigger.net hijacks systems and then starts redirecting users to predetermined websites.
Even if you manage to avoid identity theft or the loss of sensitive information, you might still be putting your computer in danger. Beware that Webdigger.net hijack affects your Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, MS Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and other web browsers. After doing so, the virus starts consistently redirecting its victim to unknown domains by showing him/her altered search results. These sites can be potentially dangerous and lead to high-risk infections.
In addition to the threats mentioned above, your computer performance might become poor, and you might be forced to wait a considerable amount of time while waiting for your favorite web pages load. The more you wait before you remove Webdigger.net virus, the worse your browsing experience will become. Act now and get rid of PUPs from your computer.
Download managers help dubious applications spread around
If you are the less computer literate individual, you have higher chances to get infected with potentially unwanted programs. Bundling is usually the reason for that. If you have never heard of this distribution technique, note that it is a legitimate distribution method used by free software developers to gain financial benefit in exchange for every installation of additional software.
Therefore, we advise users to be extremely aware while installing free software obtained online. Download managers, PDF creators, video streaming software and similar programs tend to conceal adware and PUPs in Advanced/Custom settings. Therefore, please restrain yourself from using Quick/Recommended mode and opt for Advanced or Custom settings. Then, deselect any preselected components, like suspicious add-ons, extensions and search engines.
Additionally, avoid websites of dubious content (such as gambling, pornographic, online dating, free gaming and similar) as these domains might also lead you to PUP's appearance as well.
Elimination of Webdigger.net can be performed effortlessly
It is not a secret that users who are less tech-savvy might experience some problems while trying to remove Webdigger virus manually. Therefore, we recommitted you to download anti-spyware application which will take care of everything instantaneously and without much effort.
If you happen to choose other security software on the Internet, be careful with programs intrusively advertised on suspicious third-party websites as they might harm your computer instead of fixing it. Thus, we recommend choosing one of the programs linked below.
For those who do not wish to install additional software, we advise proceeding with manual Webdigger.net removal. For that, use our step-by-step guide which is presented below. However, make sure you follow each step scrupulously as the incorrect elimination of the unwanted program might lead you to computer-related issues.
You may remove virus damage with a help of FortectIntego. SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner and Malwarebytes are recommended to detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
Getting rid of Webdigger.net. 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
To get rid of Webdigger on Mac, we recommend putting all suspicious programs from Applications folder to trash. Then you have to reset your affected web browsers.
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.
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 on Uninstall at the bottom.
Clear cookies and other browser data:
- 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.
Restore new tab and homepage settings:
- Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
- Then find On startup section.
- Click Disable if you found any suspicious domain.
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.
If this solution failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method. Note that you need to backup your data before proceeding.
- Find the following folder on your computer: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Packages\\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
- Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all folders.
- Right-click on them and pick Delete
- Now right-click on the Start button and pick Windows PowerShell (Admin).
- When the new window opens, copy and paste the following command, and then press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\\AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose
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.
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 unwanted plugin and click Remove.
Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Options.
- Under Home options, enter your preferred site that will open every time you newly open the Mozilla Firefox.
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, as well as Cached Web Content and press 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
To fix Chrome and eliminate unwanted redirects to unknown search engines, reset this web browser.
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 the suspicious plugins that might be 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 unwanted extensions from Safari:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- In the new window, pick Extensions.
- Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall.
Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:
- Click Safari > Clear History…
- From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
- Confirm with Clear History.
Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- Go to Advanced tab.
- Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches.
After uninstalling this potentially unwanted program (PUP) and fixing each of your web browsers, we recommend you to scan your PC system with a reputable anti-spyware. This will help you to get rid of Webdigger.net registry traces and will also identify related parasites or possible malware infections on your computer. For that you can use our top-rated malware remover: FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.
How to prevent from getting stealing programs
Access your website securely from any location
When you work on the domain, site, blog, or different project that requires constant management, content creation, or coding, you may need to connect to the server and content management service more often. The best solution for creating a tighter network could be a dedicated/fixed IP address.
If you make your IP address static and set to your device, you can connect to the CMS from any location and do not create any additional issues for the server or network manager that needs to monitor connections and activities. VPN software providers like Private Internet Access can help you with such settings and offer the option to control the online reputation and manage projects easily from any part of the world.
Recover files after data-affecting malware attacks
While much of the data can be accidentally deleted due to various reasons, malware is one of the main culprits that can cause loss of pictures, documents, videos, and other important files. More serious malware infections lead to significant data loss when your documents, system files, and images get encrypted. In particular, ransomware is is a type of malware that focuses on such functions, so your files become useless without an ability to access them.
Even though there is little to no possibility to recover after file-locking threats, some applications have features for data recovery in the system. In some cases, Data Recovery Pro can also help to recover at least some portion of your data after data-locking virus infection or general cyber infection.
- ^ What is search hijacking?. Mozilla Firefox Support.
- ^ Polish security website. UsunWirusa.
- ^ Michael McFarland, SJ. Unauthorized Transmission and Use of Personal Data. Santa Clara University. Internet Ethics Resources.