Browser hijacker is one of the most chilling type of malware floating around the Web: an attack that modifies a user web-browser’s settings such as homepage, new tab and default search engine. A lot of people have fallen victim to these kinds of attacks, looking the Internet in hopes of finding the step-by-step instructions on how to restore their favorite start page and search engine. Now, computer geeks and Myantispyware lab have teamed up to create a free guide that help users remove Zlappy.com browser hijacker for free.
http://zlappy.com/
The Zlappy.com hijacker usually affects only the Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. However, possible situations, when any other internet browsers will be affected too. The browser hijacker will perform a scan of the machine for web-browser shortcuts and change them without your permission. When it infects the browser shortcuts, it will add the argument like ‘http://site.address’ into Target property. So, each time you run the internet browser, you will see the Zlappy.com annoying web-site.
Except that the Zlappy.com changes internet browser’s start page, it also replaces a search engine, which leads to the fact that use of the internet browser’s search becomes impossible. The reason for this is that the search results will consist of a large amount of advertisements, links to unwanted and ad pages and only the remaining part is search results for your query from well-known search engines like Google or Bing.
Moreover, an adware can be installed with Zlappy.com hijacker. It will insert lots of ads directly to the web-sites which you view, creating a sense that ads has been added by the makers of the web site. Moreover, legal ads may be replaced on fake advertisements which will offer to download and install various unnecessary and harmful software. Moreover, the Zlappy.com hijacker has the ability to collect a large number of personal information about you, which can later transfer to third parties.
We recommend you to clean your machine ASAP. Use the step-by-step instructions below that will assist to remove Zlappy.com and ‘ad-supported’ program, which can be installed onto your PC system along with it.
How does your PC system get infected with Zlappy.com hijacker
The Zlappy.com hijacker spreads along with various freeware, as a supplement, which is installed automatically. This is certainly not an honest way to get installed onto your computer. To avoid infecting of your machine and side effects in the form of changing your browser settings to Zlappy.com startpage, you should always carefully read the Terms of Use and the Software license. Additionally, always select Manual, Custom or Advanced installation mode. This allows you to disable the installation of unnecessary and often harmful programs. Even if you uninstall the freeware from your machine, your web-browser’s settings will not be restored. This means that you should manually remove Zlappy.com search from the Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge by follow the guide below.
How to manually remove Zlappy.com
Without a doubt, the hijacker is harmful to your PC system. So you need to quickly and completely remove this malicious software. To remove this infection, you can use the manual removal which are given below or malware removal utility like Malwarebytes and AdwCleaner (both are free). I note that we recommend that you use automatic removal that will allow you to remove Zlappy.com search easily and safely. Manual removal is best used only if you are well versed in machine or in the case where infection is not removed automatically.
- Delete Zlappy.com associated software by using Windows Control Panel
- Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to remove Zlappy.com search
- Delete Zlappy.com from Chrome
- Delete Zlappy.com homepage from Mozilla Firefox
- Get rid of Zlappy.com from Microsoft Internet Explorer
Delete Zlappy.com associated software by using Windows Control Panel
Press Windows button 
, then click Search 
. Type “Control panel”and press Enter. If you using Windows XP or Windows 7, then press “Start” and select “Control Panel”. It will open the Windows Control Panel like below. 
Further, click “Uninstall a program” 
It will open a list of all software installed on your machine. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall any suspicious and unknown software.
Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to remove Zlappy.com search
Right click on the shortcut of infected web-browser as shown on the screen below.
Select the “Properties” option and it will open a shortcut’s properties. Next, click the “Shortcut” tab and then delete the “http://site.address” string from Target field like below.
Then click OK to save changes. Repeat the step for all web-browsers which are redirected to the Zlappy.com annoying web-page.
Delete Zlappy.com from Chrome
Open the Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (
). It will display the drop-down menu. Next, click to “Settings” option.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Show advanced settings” link. Now scroll down until the Reset settings section is visible, as shown in the figure below and click the “Reset settings” button.
Confirm your action, click the “Reset” button.
Delete Zlappy.com homepage from Mozilla Firefox
If the Mozilla Firefox settings such as startpage, new tab page and default search engine have been replaced by the browser hijacker infection, then resetting it to the default state can help.
First, run the FF and click button. It will display the drop-down menu on the right-part of the internet browser. Further, press the Help button (
) as shown below
. 
In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the internet browser adress bar and press Enter. It will show the “Troubleshooting Information” page as on the image below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, press the “Refresh Firefox” button. 
It will display the confirmation dialog box. Further, press the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Firefox will begin a task to fix your problems that caused by the Zlappy.com hijacker. Once, it’s done, click the “Finish” button.
Get rid of Zlappy.com from Microsoft Internet Explorer
To restore the homepage and search engine by default you need to reset the Internet Explorer to the state, which was when the Windows was installed on your computer.
First, launch the IE, then click ‘gear’ icon 
. It will display the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the internet browser, then press the “Internet Options” as shown on the screen below.
In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then click the “Reset” button. The IE will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” dialog box. Further, click the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, click the “Reset” button as shown on the image below.
Once the task is complete, click “Close” button. Close the Internet Explorer and reboot your computer for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your web-browser’s home page, newtab page and search provider by default to default state.
How to remove Zlappy.com with Malwarebytes
Manual removal Zlappy.com search requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the hijacker may be not completely removed. We suggest that use the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your computer. Moreover, the free application will help you to get rid of malware, ‘ad-supported’ software (also known as adware) and toolbars that your personal computer may be infected too.
- Please download Malwarebytes to your desktop by clicking on the following link.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326460 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- At the download page, click on the Download button. Your internet browser will display the “Save as” dialog box. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
- Once the download process is done, please close all software and open windows on your machine. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- This will start the “Setup wizard” of Malwarebytes onto your PC. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
- When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the Malwarebytes will start and display the main window.
- Further, click the “Scan Now” button for the hijacker removal scan. It will begin scanning your computer for the browser hijacker which redirects your internet browser to the Zlappy.com annoying web site. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient.
- When the Malwarebytes has finished checking, it will show a screen that contains a list of malicious software that has been found.
- When you are ready, click the “Quarantine Selected” button to begin cleaning your personal computer. Once the process is done, you may be prompted to restart the personal computer.
- Close the Anti-Malware and continue with the next step.
Video instruction, which reveals in detail the steps above.
How to block Zlappy.com startpage
To increase your security and protect your computer against new unwanted ads and malicious web sites, you need to use program that blocks access to harmful advertisements and web pages. Moreover, the software can block the open of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of web-pages and reduce the consumption of web traffic.
- Download AdGuard program from the following link.
Adguard download
26656 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After the download is finished, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- Once the installation is finished, click “Skip” to close the install application and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you run your PC system, AdGuard will start automatically and block pop-up ads, web-pages such Zlappy.com, as well as other harmful or misleading web-pages. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, which is located on your desktop.
Scan your computer and remove Zlappy.com startpage with AdwCleaner.
This removal program is free and easy to use. It can scan and get rid of browser hijacker such as Zlappy.com, malware and adware in Chrome, Firefox, IE and MS Edge browsers and thereby restore back their default settings (homepage and search engine by default). AdwCleaner is powerful enough to find and remove malicious registry entries and files that are hidden on the computer.
Download AdwCleaner utility from the link below. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
225298 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
After the download is finished, open the file location and double-click the AdwCleaner icon. It will launch the AdwCleaner tool and you will see a screen as shown on the screen below. If the User Account Control dialog box will ask you want to display the application, click Yes button to continue.
Next, press “Scan” to perform a system scan for the Zlappy.com browser hijacker infection and other malware and ad supported software.
When it has finished scanning is complete, it will open a list of all items detected by this utility as on the image below.
You need to press “Clean” button. It will show a prompt. Click “OK” to begin the cleaning procedure. When the cleaning process is finished, the AdwCleaner may ask you to restart your machine. After restart, the AdwCleaner will show the log file.
All the above steps are shown in detail in the following video instructions.
Finish words
Once you have complete the steps shown above, your machine should be clean from malware and browser hijackers. The Chrome, Firefox, IE and MS Edge will no longer show Zlappy.com unwanted startpage on startup. Unfortunately, if the step-by-step guide does not help you, then you have caught a new browser hijacker, and then the best way – ask for help.
- Download HijackThis by clicking on the link below and save it to your Desktop.
HijackThis download
4710 downloads
Version: 2.0.5
Author: OpenSource
Category: Security tools
Update: November 7, 2015
- Double-click on the HijackThis icon. Next press “Do a system scan only” button.
- When it has finished scanning your PC, the scan button will read “Save log”, press it. Save this log to your desktop.
- Create a Myantispyware account here. Once you’ve registered, check your e-mail for a confirmation link, and confirm your account. After that, login.
- Copy and paste the contents of the HijackThis log into your post. If you are posting for the first time, please start a new thread by using the “New Topic” button in the Spyware Removal forum. When posting your HJT log, try to give us some details about your problems, so we can try to help you more accurately.
- Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with the unwanted Zlappy.com redirect.
