The Underline search hijacker is an illustration of a common unwanted program; such applications are distributed enormously these days. On this page you will see the detailed information of “Underline” hijacker removal in different methods: using anti-malware programs and hand-operated removal method.
Underline – What is it?
“Underline” search hijacker is a potentially unwanted application (PUA)1, that is promoted as a plugin for your web browser. It is usually promoted as an add-on for Chrome or Firefox, that aids to browse some specific information, for instance, about sport events, make your browser far more safe, enable downloading of any video, and so on. Also, this app adds the “Managed by your organization” feature (on Chrome browsers).
Nevertheless, the “Underline” plugin is pretty useless because all such features are already embedded to your browser and/or Windows. Such advertising mottos are targeted at low-skilled computer users, like pensioners or schoolchildren. But sometimes even qualified users are getting caught on such a lure. In certain situations, this hijacker is distributed together with free tools.
Here is a short summary for the Underline hijacker
NAME | Underline |
Site | Bbbn.xyz |
Hosting | AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc. United States, San Francisco |
Infection Type | Browser Hijacker, Unwanted Application |
IP Address | 172.67.143.31 |
Symptoms | Changed search engine; search queries redirection |
Similar behavior | Moviesearchbox, Getgamesearch, Gamesearchit |
Fix Tool | To remove possible virus infections, try to scan your PC |
How harmful is Underline hijacker?
Besides its impracticality, Underline hijacker is additionally rather hazardous for web browser utilization. It transforms your search engine to its particular – Bbbn.xyz, and additionally transforms your background, putting its watermark on your background image (or, occasionally, altering it to default with the mentioned sign).
Aside from aesthetic transformations done by Underline hijacker, you can notice that a couple of your search inquiries are redirecting to the unknown web pages, filled with web links and promotions – so-called doorway sites. Such sites can have web links for malware downloads. The chance of redirecting increases if you attempt to launch Google search page by force.
However all these actions are more irritating than truly harmful. The largest danger, primarily for individuals who have a great deal of confidential information in their internet browsers, is installed in data collecting capabilities. Cookie files, chats, often-visited sites, as well as other activities are easily gathered by Underline hijacker.
How to remove Underline search hijacker?
- Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
- Open GridinSoft Anti-Malware and perform a “Standard scan“.
- “Move to quarantine” all items.
- Open “Tools” tab – Press “Reset Browser Settings“.
- Select proper browser and options – Click “Reset”.
- Restart your computer.
Browser hijackers are almost always fairly very easy to delete. In most cases, they have a separate app that can be found in the list of installed apps. As a result of the specific distribution manner of Underline hijacker, it can be simply tracked and removed manually. Nonetheless, if you got Underline in the bundle with a free applications, your computer may be contaminated with a lot more harmful malware – trojans, spyware or even ransomware. That’s why I’d recommend you use anti-malware programs to deal with the Underline PUA and all other malware.
You can make use of Microsoft Defender2 – it is capable of finding and removing various malware, including named hijacker. But significant malware, that might be present on your PC in the discussed instance, can disable the Windows antimalware tool by modifying the Group Policies. To keep away from such circumstances, it is far better to use GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
To detect and remove all unwanted applications on your computer with GridinSoft Anti-Malware, it’s better to utilize Standard or Full scan. Quick Scan is not able to find all the malicious programs, because it checks only the most popular registry entries and folders.
You can observe the detected malicious programs sorted by their possible harm till the scan process. But to choose any actions against the viruses, you need to hold on until the scan is over, or to stop the scan.
To set the action for each spotted malicious or unwanted program, click the arrow in front of the name of the detected virus. By default, all the viruses will be moved to quarantine.
Reverting browser settings to original ones
To reset your browser settings, you need to use the Reset Browser Settings option. This action is not able to be counteracted by any malicious program, hence, you will surely see the result. This action can be located in the Tools tab.
After pressing the Reset Browser Settings button, the menu will be shown, where you can choose, which settings will be reverted to the original.
Deleteing Underline hijacker manually
Besides using anti-malware software for browser restoration, you may choose the “Reset browser settings” function, which is usually embedded in all popular browsers.
To reset Edge, do the following steps :
- Open “Settings and more” tab in upper right corner, then find here “Settings” button. In the appeared menu, choose “Reset settings” option :
- After picking the Reset Settings option, you will see the following menu, stating about the settings which will be reverted to original :
For Mozilla Firefox, do the next actions :
- Open Menu tab (three strips in upper right corner) and click the “Help” button. In the appeared menu choose “troubleshooting information” :
- In the next screen, find the “Refresh Firefox” option :
After choosing this option, you will see the next message :
If you use Google Chrome
- Open Settings tab, find the “Advanced” button. In the extended tab choose the “Reset and clean up” button :
- In the appeared list, click on the “Restore settings to their original defaults” :
- Finally, you will see the window, where you can see all the settings which will be reset to default :
Opera can be reset in the next way
- Open Settings menu by pressing the gear icon in the toolbar (left side of the browser window), then click “Advanced” option, and choose “Browser” button in the drop-down list. Scroll down, to the bottom of the settings menu. Find there “Restore settings to their original defaults” option :
- After clicking the “Restore settings…” button, you will see the window, where all settings, which will be reset, are shown :
As an afterword, I want to say that time plays against you and your PC. The activity of browser hijacker must be stopped as soon as possible, because of the possibility of other malware injection. This malware can be downloaded autonomously, or offered for you to download in one of the windows with advertisements, which are shown to you by the hijacker. You need to act as fast as you can.
I need your help to share this guide.
Browser hijackers are among the largest and also disruptive kinds of malware. I published this article to help you, so I wish you will help me to make the computer world completely clean of malware. Please, share this article in the social networks you use – Twitter, Reddit, Facebook – wherever.
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Wilbur WoodhamHow to Remove Underline?
Name: Underline
Description: Underline - a lot of users became a victim of browser hijacker. I have a lot of friends who literally bombed me with the questions like “how to remove Underline?”. In this article we will show you how to deal with Underline (Bbbn.xyz), which may corrupt your browser’s correct performance, and create a lot of troubles while you are working.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Browser Hijacker
User Review
( votes)References
- More information about PUAs
- Detailed review of Microsoft Defender