Stop My Inbox App from hijacking your browser
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is My Inbox App?
My Inbox App is a browser hijacker, advertised as a quick access to favorite email services with a web searching tool. It modifies browsers in order to promote its fake search engine (search.myinboxapptab.com). It also has data tracking abilities, which it employs to spy on users' browsing activity and to gather their personal information.
My Inbox App is additionally categorized as a PUA, as most users install it onto their devices inadvertently.
The most popular browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer) are the usual targets of browser hijackers. These rogue applications operate by overtaking browsers and changing their homepages, default search engines and new tab/window URL.
These alterations are used to promote their fraudulent web searching tools. Every new tab/window opened and every search query typed into the URL bar on a hijacked browser - all these actions result in redirection to a fake search engine.
These fake tools are rarely capable of providing any actual search results, therefore they often redirect to legitimate search engines (e.g. Bing, Yahoo, Google and etc.). My Inbox App promotes search.myinboxapptab.com, which is likewise unable to provide results, so it redirects to search.yahoo.com.
Said changes seriously affect browser and can make browsing an exasperating experience. Without removal of the hijacking app, recovering an afflicted browser is impossible. While the application is still present, access to certain browser settings can be limited or even denied, and any permissible changes made - simply reset.
What is also pertinent to mention, is that My Inbox App is commonly distributed with another PUA called Hide My Searches. Nearly all browser hijackers are capable of data tracking. They monitor browsing habits and extract personal information (IP address, geolocation and personal details) from it.
This sensitive data is then sold to third parties and may end up being used for criminal purposes. In summary, PUAs can cause various browser and system invasions and/or infections, as well as severe privacy issues (even identity theft). Due to these threats, all dubious apps and/or browser extensions/plug-ins must be removed immediately.
Name | My Inbox App |
Threat Type | Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab |
Detection Names | Avast (Win32:AdwareSig [Adw]), DrWeb (Adware.Spigot.145), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of Win32/WinWrapper.V Potentially Unwanted), Kaspersky (Not-a-virus:HEUR:AdWare.Win32.WebSearch.gen), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
Browser Extension(s) | My Inbox App, Email |
Supposed Functionality | Quick access to email inboxes. |
Promoted URL | search.myinboxapptab.com |
Serving IP Address (search.myinboxapptab.com) | 52.202.47.91 |
Affected Browser Settings | Homepage, new tab URL, default search engine |
Symptoms | Manipulated Internet browser(s) settings (homepage, default Internet search engine, new tab settings). User's are forced to visit hijacker's website and search the Internet using their search engines. |
Additional Information | My Inbox App is distributed alongside with another browser hijacker called Hide My Searches. |
Distribution methods | Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake flash player installers. |
Damage | Internet browsing tracking (potential privacy issues), displaying of unwanted ads, redirects to shady websites. |
Malware Removal (Windows) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
Both potentially unwanted applications and browser hijackers are innumerous. However, they frequently share similar traits. Some relevant examples to My Inbox App include: Inbox Manager, Your Email Simplified, Forms Hub App and many others. All rogue applications are designed to appear legitimate and they often succeed in this task.
They tempt users into installing them by offering various features. While said abilities can sound inviting, it must be known that they are rarely functional.
Undesirable apps serve but one purpose - to generate revenue for their developers. Therefore, they cause redirects to sale-based, untrustworthy and malicious websites, hijack browsers, deliver intrusive advertisement campaigns and gather various information.
How did My Inbox App install on my computer?
PUAs are known to sometimes have "official" sites, where they can downloaded. They can also invade systems through install packs/bundles. "Bundling" is a term used to describe a false marketing tactic, by which ordinary software is packed with unwanted content.
Rushed installations (ignored terms, skipped steps, used pre-sets) also aid in PUA invasions. Invasive adverts can make rogue downloads/installs of unwanted applications, by executing scripts designed to do so.
How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?
Only official and trustworthy sources are recommended for software downloading. Using third party downloaders is strongly advised against, as they are more likely to offer bundled programs. When downloading and installing, users are urged to ready terms and study possible options, in order to ensure that they are getting exactly what is advertised.
Additional install recommendations include using the "Custom/Advanced" settings and opting-out/declining supplementary apps/features. Browsing advices are caution and attentiveness, therefore users should avoid questionable websites and refrain from clicking on random advertisements.
Intrusive ads often appear harmless and ordinary, however they commonly redirect to less trustworthy sites (e.g. gambling, pornography, adult-dating and similar).
Should users encounter advertisements/redirects of this type, they are to perform a system check and remove all suspicious applications and/or browser extensions/plug-ins. If your computer is already infected with My Inbox App, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.
My Inbox App browser hijacker installer set-up:
My Inbox App download page asks for various permissions:
Website promoting My Inbox App browser hijacker:
IMPORTANT NOTE! This deceptive site asks to enable web browser notifications!
Therefore, before commencing, perform these steps:
Google Chrome (PC):
- Click the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen
- Select "Settings", scroll down to the bottom and click "Advanced"
- Scroll down to the "Privacy and security" section, select "Content settings" and then "Notifications"
- Click three dots on the right hand side of each suspicious URL and click "Block" or "Remove" (if you click "Remove" and visit the malicious site once more, it will ask to enable notifications again)
Google Chrome (Android):
- Click on the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen and click "Settings"
- Scroll down, click on "Site settings" and then "Notifications"
- In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs and click on them one-by-one
- Select "Notifications" in the "Permissions" section and set the toggle button to "OFF"
Mozilla Firefox:
- Click the Menu button (three bars) on the right upper corner of the screen
- Select "Options" and click on "Privacy & Security" in the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen
- Scroll down to the "Permissions" section and click the "Settings" button next to "Notifications"
- In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs, click the drop-down menu and select "Block"
Internet Explorer:
- Click the Gear button on the right upper corner of the IE window
- Select "Internet options"
- Select the "Privacy" tab and click "Settings" under "Pop-up Blocker" section
- Select suspicious URLs under and remove them one by one by clicking the "Remove" button
Microsoft Edge:
- Click the menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the Edge window
- Scroll down, find and click "Settings"
- Scroll down again and click "View advanced settings"
- Click "Manage" under "Website permissions"
- Click the switch under each suspicious website
Safari (Mac):
- Click "Safari" button on the left upper corner of the screen and select "Preferences..."
- Select the "Websites" tab and then select "Notifications" section on the left pane
- Check for suspicious URLs and apply the "Deny" option for each
Instant automatic malware removal:
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Quick menu:
- What is My Inbox App?
- STEP 1. Uninstall My Inbox App application using Control Panel.
- STEP 2. Remove search.myinboxapptab.com redirect from Internet Explorer.
- STEP 3. Remove My Inbox App browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
- STEP 4. Remove search.myinboxapptab.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
- STEP 5. Remove search.myinboxapptab.com redirect from Safari.
- STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.
My Inbox App browser hijacker removal:
Windows 11 users:
Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.
Windows 10 users:
Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.
Windows 7 users:
Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.
macOS (OSX) users:
Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.
In the uninstall programs window: look for any recently installed suspicious applications (for example, "My Inbox App"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".
After uninstalling the potentially unwanted applications (which cause browser redirects to the search.myinboxapptab.com website), scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.
My Inbox App browser hijacker removal from Internet browsers:
Video showing how to remove browser redirects:
Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:
Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".
Change your homepage:
Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Internet Options", in the opened window remove hxxp://search.myinboxapptab.com and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you launch Internet Explorer. You can also enter about: blank to open a blank page when you start Internet Explorer.
Change your default search engine:
Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". In the opened window, select "Search Providers", set "Google", "Bing", or any other preferred search engine as your default and then remove "My Inbox App".
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the search.myinboxapptab.com redirect, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.
Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.
In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.
Click the Reset button.
Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate "My Inbox App" and other recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons (e.g., "Hide My Searches"), and remove them.
Change your homepage:
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable "My Inbox App" or "Hide My Searches", look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://search.myinboxapptab.com or hxxps://hidemysearches.com) below the “Open a specific or set of pages” option. If present click on the three vertical dots icon and select “Remove”.
Change your default search engine:
To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list look for "hxxp://search.myinboxapptab.com" and "hxxp://hidemysearches.com", when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Remove from list".
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the search.myinboxapptab.com redirect, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.
After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious plugins from Mozilla Firefox:
Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions" and remove "My Inbox App" (or simply "Email"), as well as all other recently installed browser plug-ins (e.g., "Hide My Searches").
Change your homepage:
To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Options", in the opened window disable "My Inbox App" (or simply "Email") or "Hide My Searches", remove hxxp://search.myinboxapptab.com or hxxp://hidemysearches.com and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.
Change your default search engine:
In the URL address bar, type about:config and press Enter.
Click "I'll be careful, I promise!".
In the search filter at the top, type: "moz-extension"
Right-click on the found preferences and select "Reset" to restore default values.
Optional method:
Computer users who have problems with search.myinboxapptab.com redirect removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.
Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.
Select Troubleshooting Information.
In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.
Remove malicious extensions from Safari:
Make sure your Safari browser is active and click Safari menu, then select Preferences...
In the preferences window select the Extensions tab. Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions and uninstall them.
In the preferences window select General tab and make sure that your homepage is set to a preferred URL, if its altered by a browser hijacker - change it.
In the preferences window select Search tab and make sure that your preferred Internet search engine is selected.
Optional method:
Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...
In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.
Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:
Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate any recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.
Change your homepage and new tab settings:
Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section look for the name of the browser hijacker and click "Disable".
Change your default Internet search engine:
To change your default search engine in Microsoft Edge: Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Privacy and services", scroll to bottom of the page and select "Address bar". In the "Search engines used in address bar" section look for the name of the unwanted Internet search engine, when located click the "Disable" button near it. Alternatively you can click on "Manage search engines", in the opened menu look for unwanted Internet search engine. Click on the puzzle icon near it and select "Disable".
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the search.myinboxapptab.com redirect, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.
In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.
Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
- If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.
Summary:
A browser hijacker is a type of adware infection that modifies Internet browser settings by assigning the homepage and default Internet search engine settings to some other (unwanted) website URL. Commonly, this type of adware infiltrates operating systems through free software downloads. If your download is managed by a download client, ensure that you decline offers to install advertised toolbars or applications that seek to change your homepage and default Internet search engine settings.
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