Shoptastic is a browser hijacker that changes your search engine, homepage, or new tab page without asking. It usually shows unwanted ads, fake results, or redirects to suspicious shopping sites. This behavior makes browsing slow, annoying, and possibly unsafe. Here’s how to remove it from Chrome.
1. Remove Suspicious Extensions
a. Open Chrome
b. Go to the three-dot menu > Extensions
c. Look for unfamiliar or unwanted extensions like “Shoptastic”
d. Click Remove next to each suspicious extension
2. Reset Search Engine and Homepage
a. Open Chrome Settings
b. Scroll to Search engine
c. Make sure Google or your preferred engine is selected
d. Go to On startup and remove any hijacker URLs
e. Set Open the New Tab page or a site you trust
3. Clear Site Data and Cookies
a. Go to Chrome Settings > Privacy and Security
b. Click Clear browsing data
c. Choose All time as the time range
d. Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files
e. Click Clear data
4. Reset Chrome to Default
a. In Settings, go to Reset settings
b. Click Restore settings to their original defaults
c. Confirm by clicking Reset settings
5. Scan Your Computer for Malware
a. Open Chrome Settings > Reset and clean up
b. Click Clean up computer
c. Select Find to scan for harmful software
d. Remove anything it finds
6. Check Shortcut for Hijacker Code
a. Right-click your Chrome shortcut on desktop or taskbar
b. Select Properties
c. In the Target field, make sure it ends in chrome.exe
d. If anything follows that, delete it and click OK
Removing Shoptastic takes only a few steps. If it keeps coming back, you might need to remove other apps from your computer that were installed with it. Always check your extension list and settings if you notice strange behavior.
Questions? Let me know in the comments section below.
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