How to remove Mindspark [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

Besides the fact that Mindspark PC infection replaces your home page, this annoying web page may set yourself as your search engine. But, obviously, it does not give you a good search results, as they will consist of tons of ads, links to unwanted and ad pages and only the remaining part is search results for your query from the major search engines. Of course, the very fact that you encounter with the inability to properly search the Web, is an unpleasant moment. Moreover, the Mindspark browser hijacker infection can collect information about you, and in the future to transfer it to third parties. What creates the risk of theft of your personal data.

Also, adware (sometimes called ‘ad-supported’ software) can be installed on the personal computer together with Mindspark hijacker infection. It will insert a ton of ads directly to the web-sites that you view, creating a sense that advertisements has been added by the creators of the web-site. Moreover, legal advertisements can be replaced on fake advertisements which will offer to download and install various unnecessary and harmful applications. Moreover, the Mindspark PC infection has the ability to collect a ton of personal information about you, which may be later transferred to third parties.

So, it’s very important to clean your computer as quickly as possible. The step-by-step instructions, which is shown below, will assist you to remove Mindspark from the Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge and other web-browsers.

Mindspark removal steps

The answer is right here on this web-page. We have put together simplicity and efficiency. It will help you easily to clean your computer of browser hijacker. Moreover, you can choose manual or automatic removal method. If you are familiar with the machine then use manual removal, otherwise run the free anti malware tool created specifically to remove hijacker such as Mindspark. Of course, you can combine both methods. Read this manual carefully, bookmark or print it, because you may need to close your web-browser or restart your PC system.

How to delete Mindspark homepage without any software

Most common browser hijackers may be removed without any antivirus software. The manual browser hijacker removal is article step-by-step instructions that will teach you how to delete the Mindspark redirect. Some of the steps below will require you to close the web-site. So, please read the instructions carefully, after that bookmark or print it for later reference.

Uninstall suspicious and potentially unwanted programs using Windows Control Panel

Some of PUPs, ad supported software and browser hijacker can be removed using the Add/Remove programs tool that is located in the MS Windows Control Panel. So, if you’re using any version of Microsoft Windows and you have noticed an unwanted program, then first try to {remov} it through Add/Remove programs.

Press Windows button , then click Search . Type “Control panel”and press Enter. If you using Windows XP or Windows 7, then click “Start” and select “Control Panel”. It will open the Windows Control Panel as on the image below.

Further, press “Uninstall a program”
It will display a list of all software installed on your system. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall any suspicious and unknown applications.

Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to get rid of Mindspark redirect

When the hijacker is started, it can also change the web browser’s shortcuts, adding an argument like “http://site.address” into the Target field. Due to this, every time you launch the browser, it will show an annoying page.

Right click on the browser’s shortcut, click Properties option. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target field. Click inside, you will see a vertical line – arrow pointer, move it (using -> arrow key on your keyboard) to the right as possible. You will see a text “http://site.address” that has been added here. Remove everything after .exe. An example, for Google Chrome you should remove everything after chrome.exe.

To save changes, click OK . You need to clean all browser’s shortcuts. So, repeat this step for the Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, FF and MS Edge.

Remove Mindspark search from Chrome

1. First, start the Chrome and click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three horizontal stripes).
2. It will show the Chrome main menu, press the “Settings” menu.
3. Next, click “Show advanced settings” link, that located at the bottom of the Settings page.
4. On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, click the “Reset settings” button.
5. The Chrome will open the reset settings prompt as on the image above.
6. Confirm the web-browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
7. To learn more, read the post How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.

Delete Mindspark from FF by resetting web-browser settings

Press the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and click the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as shown in the figure below.

A small menu will appear, press the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, press “Refresh Firefox” button as shown in the figure below.

Follow the onscreen procedure to revert back your Firefox internet browser settings to its original state.

Get rid of Mindspark search from Microsoft Internet Explorer

The Internet Explorer reset is great if your web browser is hijacked or you have unwanted addo-ons or toolbars on your internet browser, which installed by an malware.

First, launch the IE, click ) button. Next, click “Internet Options” like below.

In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, press Reset button. The Internet Explorer will show the Reset Internet Explorer settings prompt. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and press Reset button.

You will now need to reboot your PC system for the changes to take effect. It will remove Mindspark browser hijacker, disable malicious and ad-supported web browser’s extensions and restore the Internet Explorer’s settings such as home page, newtab page and search provider by default to default state.

Run free malware removal utilities to completely remove Mindspark startpage

Many antivirus companies have created software that allow detect and get rid of browser hijacker infection, and thereby restore browsers settings. Below is a a few of the free applications you may want to run. You computer can have a large number of potentially unwanted software, adware and browser hijackers installed at the same time, so we recommend, if any unwanted or malicious program returns after restarting the PC system, then start your computer into Safe Mode and use the anti malware tool once again.

How to automatically remove Mindspark with Malwarebytes

Remove Mindspark hijacker manually is difficult and often the PC infection is not completely removed. Therefore, we recommend you to use the Malwarebytes Free which are completely clean your PC. Moreover, the free program will allow you to get rid of malware, toolbars and adware (also known as ‘ad-supported’ software) that your computer may be infected too.

Download Malwarebytes Free on your PC system from the link below. Save it on your desktop.

Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326454 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020

Once the downloading process is complete, close all windows on your PC system. Further, open the file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as shown in the figure below, click the “Yes” button.

It will open the “Setup wizard” that will assist you install Malwarebytes on the PC system. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once setup is finished successfully, press Finish button. Then Malwarebytes will automatically start and you can see its main window as on the image below.

Next, click the “Scan Now” button to begin checking your machine for the browser hijacker that cause a redirect to Mindspark. When a threat is found, the number of the detected objects will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is finished. Please be patient.

As the scanning ends, you can check all threats detected on your computer. Make sure all entries have “checkmark” and click “Quarantine Selected” button.

The Malwarebytes will start removing Mindspark browser hijacker and other security threats. Once disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to reboot your computer. I recommend you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the Malwarebytes to remove browser hijacker, adware and other dangerous applications.

Run AdwCleaner to remove Mindspark

AdwCleaner is a free portable program that scans your personal computer for ad supported software, PUPs and browser hijackers such as Mindspark and helps delete them easily. Moreover, it will also help you remove any malicious web browser extensions and add-ons.

1. Download AdwCleaner from the following link.
   
   

   AdwCleaner download
   225298 downloads
   Version: 8.4.1
   Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: October 5, 2024
   
2. Select the file location as Desktop, and then click Save.
3. When the download is finished, start the AdwCleaner, double-click the adwcleaner_xxx.exe file.
4. If the “User Account Control” prompts, press Yes to continue.
5. Read the “Terms of use”, and click Accept.
6. In the AdwCleaner window, press the “Scan” to start scanning your computer for the Mindspark browser hijacker infection.
7. When the system scan is finished, the results are displayed in the scan report. Review the report and then click “Clean”. If the AdwCleaner will ask you to restart your PC system, click “OK”.

The guide shown in detail in the following video.

Block Mindspark redirect and other annoying web-sites

To increase your security and protect your PC system against new unwanted advertisements and malicious web-pages, you need to run adblocker application that blocks an access to dangerous advertisements and sites. Moreover, the program can block the open of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of web pages and reduce the consumption of web traffic.

1. Download AdGuard program from the following link.
   

   Adguard download
   26655 downloads
   Version: 6.4
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: November 15, 2018
   
2. After the download is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. Once the setup is done, click “Skip” to close the install program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will assist you get to know AdGuard better.
4. In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you start your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and block advertisements, pages such Mindspark, as well as other dangerous or misleading pages. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, which is located on your desktop.

Where the Mindspark PC infection comes from

The browser hijacker infection usually come bundled with free software that downloaded from the Internet. Which means that you need to be proactive and carefully read the Terms of use and the License agreement properly. For the most part, the Mindspark browser hijacker infection will be clearly described, so take the time to carefully read all the information about the software that you downloaded and want to install on your system. In the Setup wizard, you should choose the Advanced, Custom or Manual install mode to control what components and additional software to be installed, otherwise you run the risk of infecting your PC system with an infection like the Mindspark browser hijacker.

Finish words

After completing the step-by-step instructions outlined above, your system should be clean from malware and browser hijackers. The Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox and Edge will no longer open Mindspark annoying home page on startup. Unfortunately, if the few simple steps does not help you, then you have caught a new browser hijacker, and then the best way – ask for help.

1. Download HijackThis by clicking on the link below and save it to your Desktop.
   
   

   HijackThis download
   4709 downloads
   Version: 2.0.5
   Author: OpenSource
   Category: Security tools
   Update: November 7, 2015
   
2. Double-click on the HijackThis icon. Next click “Do a system scan only” button.
3. Once the scanning is finished, the scan button will read “Save log”, click it. Save this log to your desktop.
4. Create a Myantispyware account here. Once you’ve registered, check your e-mail for a confirmation link, and confirm your account. After that, login.
5. 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.
6. Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with the annoying Mindspark homepage.