Youtube redirect virus – How to remove [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

The redirect virus can also set up an unknown web site as the Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Microsoft Edge default search engine that cause search redirects via the web-site. In this way, developers of the browser hijacker virus have an opportunity to display various ads together with the search results for your query. These intrusive advertisements will be combined in the redirected site. This can bring a lot of money for creators of the hijacker.

Often, the computer that has been infected by Youtube redirect virus, will be also infected by ‘ad-supported’ software (also known as adware) that shows tons of various advertisements. It can be pop-ups, text links in the web sites, banners where they never had. What is more, the ‘ad supported’ software may replace the legitimate ads with malicious ads which will offer to download and install malware and unwanted software or visit the various dangerous and misleading web pages.

So, it’s very important to free your machine of Youtube redirect virus as quickly as possible. The guidance, which is shown below, will help you to remove this malware from your computer and free the Google Chrome, FF, Edge and Internet Explorer and other browsers of unwanted ads and redirects.

How to remove Youtube redirect virus

The answer is right here on this web-page. We have put together simplicity and efficiency. It will help you easily to clean your personal computer of 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 antimalware tool developed specifically to get rid of browser hijacker like the redirect virus. Of course, you can combine both methods. Some of the steps will require you to restart your machine or close the page. So, read this guidance carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.

How to manually remove Youtube redirect

Most common browser hijackers may be removed without any antivirus applications. The manual browser hijacker removal is a step by step guide that will teach you how to remove the Youtube redirect virus from your computer.

Removing the Youtube redirect, check the list of installed programs first

The process of hijacker infection removal is generally the same across all versions of Windows OS from 10 to XP. To start with, it’s necessary to check the list of installed applications on your personal computer and delete all unused, unknown and suspicious software.

Windows 8, 8.1, 10

First, press Windows button , then click Search . Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as shown on the image below.

When the ‘Control Panel’ opens, press the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category as shown on the image below.

You will see the ‘Uninstall a program’ panel like below.

Very carefully look around the entire list of software installed on your PC system. Most likely, one or more of them are responsible for the appearance of pop-up advertisements and internet browser redirect to the undesired Youtube 404 not found page. If you have many programs installed, you can help simplify the search of harmful software by sort the list by date of installation. Once you have found a suspicious, unwanted or unused program, right click to it, after that click ‘Uninstall’.

Windows XP, Vista, 7

First, click ‘Start’ button and select ‘Control Panel’ at right panel as shown on the image below.

When the Windows ‘Control Panel’ opens, you need to press ‘Uninstall a program’ under ‘Programs’ as shown on the image below.

You will see a list of software installed on your PC system. We recommend to sort the list by date of installation to quickly find the programs that were installed last. Most likely they responsibility for the appearance of pop ups and web browser redirect. If you are in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. Once the program which you need to uninstall is found, simply click on its name, and then click ‘Uninstall’ as shown on the image below.

Clean up the web-browsers shortcuts that have been hijacked by Youtube redirect virus

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

Right click on the internet 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 web-browser’s shortcuts. So, repeat this step for the Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE and Edge.

Remove Youtube redirect from IE

To restore the new tab page, start page and search provider by default you need to reset the Microsoft Internet Explorer to the state, which was when the MS Windows was installed on your system.

First, start the Internet Explorer. Next, press the button in the form of gear (). It will open the Tools drop-down menu, press the “Internet Options” as on the image below.

In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then press the Reset button. The Internet Explorer will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as shown below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then press “Reset” button.

You will now need to restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

Remove Youtube redirect virus from Google Chrome

Run the Reset web-browser tool of the Google Chrome to reset all its settings like home page, newtab and default search engine to original defaults. This is a very useful tool to use, in the case of browser hijacks such as Youtube redirect virus.

1. First run the Chrome and press Menu button (small button in the form of three horizontal stripes).
2. It will show the Chrome main menu. Select “Settings” option.
3. You will see the Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and press “Show advanced settings” link.
4. Scroll down again and click the “Reset settings” button.
5. The Chrome will display the reset profile settings page as shown on the screen above.
6. Next press the “Reset” button.
7. Once this procedure is finished, your web browser’s home page, newtab and search engine by default will be restored to their original defaults.
8. To learn more, read the blog post How to reset Chrome settings to default.

Remove Youtube redirect from Firefox by resetting web-browser settings

If your Firefox browser is redirected to Youtube 404 Not found page or an unknown search engine displays results for your search, then it may be time to perform the web browser reset.

Run the Firefox and press the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the internet browser screen. Next, click the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will show the slide-out menu.

Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you are unable to access the Help menu, then type “about:support” in your address bar and press Enter. It bring up the “Troubleshooting Information” page as shown on the image below.

Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation prompt. The Firefox will start a task to fix your problems that caused by the Youtube redirect virus. When, it’s done, press the “Finish” button.

Youtube redirect automatic removal

Manual removal is not always as effective as you might think. Often, even the most experienced users can not completely get rid of browser hijacker from the infected machine. So, we suggest to check your computer for any remaining malicious components with free hijacker infection removal programs below.

Automatically remove Youtube redirect with Zemana Anti-malware

You can remove Youtube redirect virus automatically with a help of Zemana Anti-malware. We recommend this malicious software removal utility because it can easily remove browser hijackers, PUPs, adware and toolbars with all their components such as folders, files and registry entries.

Download Zemana anti malware by clicking on the link below.

Zemana AntiMalware
164824 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019

After downloading is done, close all programs and windows on your personal computer. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup as shown on the screen below.

When the setup begins, you will see the “Setup wizard” that will help you install Zemana anti malware on your computer.

Once installation is done, you will see window as on the image below.

Now click the “Scan” button to start checking your PC for the Youtube redirect virus which cause a redirect to Youtube 404 Not found web page. While the application is scanning, you may see number of objects it has identified as threat.

When it has finished scanning, it will open a scan report. When you’re ready, click “Next” button.

The Zemana Anti-malware will begin removing Youtube redirect virus related files, folders and registry keys.

Remove Youtube redirect virus with Malwarebytes

Manual Youtube redirect virus removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the hijacker infection may be not completely removed. We suggest that run the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your PC system of hijacker. Moreover, the free application will help you to delete malicious software, PUPs, ‘ad supported’ software and toolbars that your personal computer can be infected too.

Download Malwarebytes Free by clicking on the link below.

Malwarebytes Anti-malware
327087 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020

After downloading is finished, run it and follow the prompts. Once installed, the Malwarebytes will try to update itself and when this task is finished, press the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan with this utility for the Youtube redirect virus which redirects your internet browser to the Youtube 404 Not found web-page. This task can take some time, so please be patient. While the utility is checking, you may see how many objects it has identified either as being malware. When you are ready, press “Quarantine Selected” button.

The Malwarebytes is a free application that you can use to remove all detected folders, files, services, registry entries and so on. To learn more about this malware removal utility, we recommend you to read and follow the step by step guidance or the video guide below.

Delete Youtube redirect virus and malicious extensions with AdwCleaner

The AdwCleaner tool is free and easy to use. It can scan and get rid of browser hijacker like Youtube redirect virus, malware, potentially unwanted software and adware in Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and MS Edge web browsers and thereby revert back their default settings (newtab page, start page and search provider by default). AdwCleaner is powerful enough to find and delete malicious registry entries and files that are hidden on the PC system.

Download AdwCleaner from the link below.

AdwCleaner download
225550 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024

Once the downloading process is done, open the folder in which you saved it. You will see an icon like below.

Double click the AdwCleaner desktop icon. Once the utility is started, you will see a screen like below.

Further, press “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this utility for the Youtube redirect virus and other malicious software and ad-supported software. Once the system scan is finished, a list of all items found is produced like below.

Next, you need to click “Clean” button. It will display a prompt as shown below.

You need to click “OK”. Once the clean-up is done, the AdwCleaner may ask you to reboot your system. When your system is started, you will see an AdwCleaner log.

These steps are shown in detail in the following video guide.

How to block Youtube redirect

We suggest to install an ad blocking program that can stop Youtube redirect and other annoying sites. The ad-blocker utility such as AdGuard is a program that basically removes advertising from the Internet and stops access to malicious web pages. Moreover, security experts says that using ad blocking applications is necessary to stay safe when surfing the Web.

1. Download AdGuard program by clicking on the following link.
   

   Adguard download
   26852 downloads
   Version: 6.4
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: November 15, 2018
   
2. Once the download is done, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the setup is finished, click “Skip” to close the setup program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will help 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 machine, AdGuard will launch automatically and block popup ads, Youtube redirects, as well as other harmful 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 may be found on your desktop.

How to Youtube redirect virus get installed onto PC

The redirect virus is usually come bundled with freeware and install themselves, with or without your knowledge, on your PC system. This happens especially when you are installing a free programs. The program installation package tricks you into accepting the setup of third party software, that you do not really want. Moreover, some paid software can also install optional programs which you don’t want! Therefore, always download freeware and paid applications from reputable download sites. Use ONLY custom or manual setup mode and never blindly click Next button.

To sum up

Now your personal computer should be free of the Youtube redirect virus. Remove AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep Malwarebytes and Zemana Anti-malware (to periodically scan your PC for new malicious software, browser hijackers and adware) and AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop-up ads and malicious web-sites). Moreover, to prevent browser hijackers, please stay clear of unknown and third party applications, make sure that your antivirus program, turn on the option to find PUPs (potentially unwanted programs).

If you need more help with Youtube redirect virus related issues, go to our Spyware/Malware removal forum.