How to Remove StartNewTab Mac Virus

George Herman
George Herman
IT Security Expert

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Some infections like this StartNewTab virus can regenerate themselves. There is no better way to detect, remediate and prevent malware infection, than to use a professional anti-malware software like SpyHunter. One Application that is capable of solving all MAC problems.

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What Is StartNewTab Mac Virus?

remove StartNewTab mac virus

 

StartNewTab is a mac adware program that presents itself as a website browser. The program hides in the background of your Safari browser and may change settings. This can affect your browsing experience and cause potential security risks to your Mac computer. StartNewTab is a search engine that helps you find new websites easily. It presents this service to your Safari browser, in the background, and may change your DNS settings. You may notice that you see StartNewTab instead of the website you tried to reach. StartNewTab has been identified as a potentially unwanted application (PUA) by System Watcher. This means that it displays advertisements on the computer and makes changes to computer settings without user consent. It may display unwanted adverts and change the settings of your Safari browser. StartNewTab also delivers ads to some email accounts, including Yahoo and Microsoft exchange. In some cases, StartNewTab may be bundled with other kinds of software downloaded from the internet.

How Is StartNewTab Mac Virus Distributed?

StartNewTab can be installed without user consent. StartNewTab may be embedded in a number of different applications or as a browser extension. It may also be bundled with other software such as downloads, videos, software and file sharing tools, or adware products. You should only download software you know and trust in order to reduce the chances of downloading unsafe programs. You should also consider whether the developer of the program is a known developer of adware that you are unfamiliar with. StartNewTab may also be used as a browser extension to deliver ads through the Safari browser.

How harmful is StartNewTab hijacker? 

StartNewTab may slow down your Mac and collect personal information. It may display advertisements on the screen, which will prevent you from doing anything else. StartNewTab may collect your browsing history, search queries, and other valuable information. The collected data may be collected and sold to other parties.

How did I get infected?

StartNewTab may be downloaded with other free software via the “Download with google.com” or “Install from Google” features. Furthermore, when you install another piece of software with StartNewTab installed, it will keep itself updated automatically. StartNewTab may be bundled with third-party software like freeware downloads, downloads of pornography or other malicious software. It may also be installed when you get an infected email attachment. This is why we recommended you only use reputable antivirus and antispyware programs to get rid of adware or other undesirable software from your computer. If you remove StartNewTab virus manually, make sure that you erase all the related files and registry entries from your Mac as well.

How can I Remove StartNewTab virus ?

Step 1: Uninstall StartNewTab and remove related files and objects

  • Open your Finder –> Click on GO –>Click on Utilities

macos utilities

  • Find Activity Monitor and open it

activity monitor macos

  • Review all the processes in Activity Monitor and write down the ones related to StartNewTab virus

 StartNewTab stop

  • Select Quit

 StartNewTab info

  • To kill the malicious process, choose the Force Quit option.

force quit StartNewTab

Step 2: Remove StartNewTab – related extensions from Safari / Chrome / Firefox

The first thing you need to do is to make sure Safari is not running. If you have troubles closing it, you may need to Force Quit Safari - (Start Activity Monitor by opening up Finder, then proceed to Application --> Utilities --> Activity monitor. Locate the Safari process and force quit it.

Safely launch Safari again by holding the Shift key and clicking on the Safari application icon - This will prevent Safari’s previously opened malicious web pages.

In case that you still are having trouble with scripts interrupting the closing of unwanted pages, please do the following:

  • Force Quit Safari again.
  • Disconnect form Internet and try again.

Then Re-Launch Safari but don’t forget to press and hold the Shift button to prevent pop-ups. Then, click on Preferences.

  • Carefully take a look at your default home page and change it if the hijacker altered it.

  • Then go to the Extensions tab and make sure there are no unknow extensions installed.

  • Next step is to click on Privacy tab

  • Manage website data

  • Here you can remove any unwanted website data or just remove them all. Please, keep in mind that after you do this all stored website data will be deleted. You will need to sign-in again for all websites that require any form of authentication.
  • The next step is to Clear History (if you want), select the tab.

  • Click the menu next to clear and choose a time period — if you want to completely reset Safari, choose all history.
  • Press Clear History
  • To remove from Chrome, open the browser and click the icon with the three dots located in the top-right.
  • Select to More Tools --> Extensions and review what Chrome Extensions are present in the browser
  • Remove the ones that you do not recognize.

bad toolbar

  • If the parasite continues to disrupt your browsing with Chrome, this is what else you can do:
    1. Click again the menu of Google Chrome, and open Settings.
    2. Select the Search Engine from the left panel, review the available search engines and change the default to your preference.default search engine
    3. Then, click on Manage Search Engines, review the list of search engine availabilities and if any of the listed items looks suspicious, click the three-dots next to them, and delete.suspicious search engine
    4. Click on Privacy and Security in the left panel, select the Clear browsing data option, check every box except the Passwords one, and click Clear Data.clear browsing data
    5. Next step is to clear Notifications, select the Site settings option in the Privacy and Security section, then locate Notifications.clear notifications
    6. Review the listed websites in the Allow to send notifications section and if any of the entries shown there seem dubious or related to the browser hijacker, select the three dots next to the object and click on Remove.
  • Start Mozilla Firefox
  • On the top right click the three dashes

  • go to add-ons and themes
  • The add-ons manager will open
  • Carefully review review four Firefox Extensions
  • If any unwanted extension is present, click on the three horizontal dots and then Remove

  • After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red dot in the top left and start it again.
To make sure StartNewTab is removed from the browser  we recommend to scan with a reputable antimalware program like SpyHunter for Mac

Step 3: Scan for and remove StartNewTab files from your Mac

Fix your browser settings with SpyHunter Anti-Malware

Once you download and install SpyHunter for Mac run a scan.

Once the scan is complete, your mac will be virus free.

StartNewTab malware Frequently Asked Questions:

  • How do I get rid of StartNewTab?

StartNewTab is a Browser hijacker – malicious software that can be installed by third-party applications or websites. They usually change the settings of web browsers and search engines to display certain ads, pop-ups, banners, etc.

  • What are the symptoms of StartNewTab infection in your Mac?

StartNewTab becomes your web browser’s built-in search engine.

Your browser’ s search queries are redirected through StartNewTab.com

The “ StartNewTab” browser extension or some shady software is installed on your Mac.

  • How do I remove StartNewTab from my browser?

In Internet Explorer, click the gear icon on the top left and select Manage add-ons. Under Add-on Types, select Search Providers. Select your search engine from the list of providers and click Remove to remove it. In Google Chrome, go to Settings (at the top right) and choose Search in the On Startup drop down menu.

  • How do I uninstall StartNewTab?
If you made a mistake when installing an app on your mac, the easiest way to uninstall it is by right clicking on its icon in your dock, then going to ‘move to trash’. Once it’s gone, restart your mac. If that didn’t work for you, try rebooting and looking for an icon opening up. Once you’ve found that, go to utilities/get info, then go to the ‘Applications’ tab and look for the app. Right-click it and select ‘Get Info’ and then look for the option to ‘Uninstall this Version’. If that doesn’t work, restart your mac again. If you don’t have any luck you can always use the SpyHunter free uninstall.

How to Make Your Mac Run Faster?

You might be wondering how to make your Mac run faster? It is a common misconception that the more processing power you have, the faster your computer will run. In reality, it’s actually about what’s going on in your processor and memory. For the average person using a computer for just general applications like word processing and web browsing, you don’t need much in the way of computing power.

– Use an SSD drive instead of a hard disk drive.

– Double your RAM if possible.

– Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP). (Attention! – do this only if you know the consequences.)

References:

  1. More about pop-up advertisements on Wikipedia.
  2. MacOS malware
  3. SpyHunter Anti-Malware overview and also the reasons why we recommend it for malware elimination.

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