How to uninstall the Image Sherpa unwanted app

What is Image Sherpa?

Image Sherpa is a potentially unwanted application (PUA), a browser hijacker. Typically, apps of this type promote the addresses of fake search engines and gather browsing data. Image Sherpa promotes image-sherpa.com in this way. As with most browser hijackers, this app promotes the fake search engine by modifying certain browser settings to include the rogue URL.

Image Sherpa is identical to Search Sherpa, another app of this type. These apps are categorized as PUAs, since users often download and install them unintentionally.

After installation, Image Sherpa assigns image-sherpa.com as the address of the default search engine, homepage, and new tab. Users are then forced to visit this URL when they open a browser, new tab or enter search queries into the URL bar. Typically, browser hijackers do not allow users to remove the newly-assigned address or change it to their preferred setting.

The only way to stop browsers from opening the rogue address is to uninstall the browser hijacker. In this case, image-sherpa.com can be removed from the settings by uninstalling Image Sherpa. Note that, as with most fake search engines, image-sherpa.com does not generate any unique search results.

When used, it simply redirects to bing.com and displays results generated by Bing, a legitimate search engine. Furthermore, Sherpa might also gather browsing data. Typically, PUAs of this type target details such as users' IP addresses, geolocations, addresses of visited websites, entered search queries, etc.

Developers sell the information to third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who misuse it generate revenue in other ways. Furthermore, many browser hijackers are capable of reading private, sensitive information.

In summary, browser hijackers can cause problems relating to online privacy, web browsing safety, and users might even become victims of identity theft. For these reasons, never trust or use Image Sherpa or other browser hijackers. If these apps are already installed on the browser and/or computer, remove them immediately.

Threat Summary:

Name	Image Sherpa
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab.
Browser Extension(s)	Image Sherpa
Supposed Functionality	This app supposedly improves the quality of image search results.
Promoted URL	image-sherpa.com
Serving IP Address (image-sherpa.com)	104.31.95.57
Affected Browser Settings	Homepage, new tab URL, default search engine.
Symptoms	Manipulated internet browser settings (homepage, default internet search engine, new tab settings). Users are forced to visit the hijacker's website and search the internet using their search engines.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers.
Damage	Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

More examples of browser hijackers include Quick To Email, Manuals Finder and CapitaSearch. They promote fake search engines by changing browser settings and gathering browsing data. Most are useless, deliver no real value, and simply cause problems.

How did Image Sherpa install on my computer?

People often download and install unwanted software by accident when they clicking dubious, deceptive advertisements or by downloading/installing software without paying careful attention. When clicked, some ads can cause unwanted downloads/installations by executing certain scripts.

In other cases, PUAs are downloaded/installed through the set-ups of other programs when they are included as 'additional offers'. Typically, those offers are mentioned in settings such as "Advanced" and "Custom". Users inadvertently additional PUAs to be downloaded and installed together with other software when they leave the default settings unchanged.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

You are advised to download programs only from official, trustworthy websites. Other sources/channels such as Peer-to-Peer networks (e.g., torrent clients, eMule), unofficial web pages, third party downloaders, installers etc., should be avoided, since they are often used to distribute potentially unwanted or malicious software.

Check all settings (such as "Custom" and "Advanced") of the download/installation setup and decline offers to download/install unwanted software. Do not click intrusive advertisements, especially those that appear on dubious websites - they can open other websites of this kind or even cause download/installation of unwanted applications.

Remove any unwanted apps (extensions, add-ons, plug-ins) installed on the browser and programs of this kind installed on the operating system. If your computer is already infected with Image Sherpa, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

image-sherpa.com redirects to bing.com (GIF):

Website promoting Image Sherpa browser hijacker:

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▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

• What is Image Sherpa?
• STEP 1. Uninstall Image Sherpa application using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove image-sherpa.com redirect from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove Image Sherpa browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove image-sherpa.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove image-sherpa.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

Image Sherpa 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, "Image Sherpa"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted applications that cause browser redirects to the image-sherpa.com website, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

Image Sherpa 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://image-sherpa.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 "Image Sherpa".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the image-sherpa.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 "Image Sherpa" and other recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, 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 "Image Sherpa", look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://www.image-sherpa.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 "image-sherpa.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 image-sherpa.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 plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions" and remove "Image Sherpa", as well as all other recently installed browser plug-ins.

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 "Image Sherpa", remove hxxp://image-sherpa.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: "extensionControlled"
Set both results to "false" by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the button.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with image-sherpa.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 image-sherpa.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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