FreePDFCombiner Hijacker - How to remove

FreePDFCombiner is a free file converter that should operate directly on your web browser and instantly convert PDF files to other formats. Well, at least that’s what it’s supposed to do. Unfortunately,  we have discovered that this free tool is malicious and should be categorized as a browser hijacker. And we have some legitimate facts to back it up.

It’s safe to say that you should not be using this tool, whether you like it or not. It can’t offer a lot, but it will definitely cause some cybersecurity problems. Did you know that due to the presence of FreePDFCombiner Hijacker on your computer, you can possibly lose your personal information and even get infected with other malicious tools? And that’s not even all, you are likely to have much worse web browsing experience, so it’s a waste of time too.

FreePDFCombiner tool is  based on a browser extension. Once added to the web browser and activated, it starts operating and making various changes. You might think that it’s not a big trouble to remove ordinary browser add-on, but the problem is – FreePDFCombiner is not regular. It was developed by cybercriminals and they certainly don’t want you to eliminate this malware easily. That’s why you might have some struggles while trying to get rid of this extension.

Fortunately, you have found a way to this article and we are going to help you eliminate it once and for all. We will also describe various features of FreePDFCombiner and why exactly it is malicious, so stay tuned.

How Did It Land On Your Web Browser?

You might think that the security of your computer is sufficient and there is nothing to worry about. The truth is the exact opposite – if the FreePDFCombiner virus managed to get inside, it’s a sign that you should do something with the security level of your system if you don’t want to get infected with more severe viruses in the future.

Nowadays there are a lot of advanced security technologies, but we have advanced viruses and malware on the other side too, it’s a perfect balance. Speaking of FreePDFCombiner, it was most probably installed alongside other free applications that you have downloaded yourself. That’s hands down the most common method to spread browser hijackers like this one.

Try to recall if you have downloaded some software lately. It might be that FreePDFCombiner is traveling bundled with the completely legitimate software. Big names like CCleaner or Downloads.net have been accused of distributing additional malware, so it’s not a huge surprise.

One way or another, you need to increase your computer’s protection and we highly recommend to get yourself a tool with real-time security features – such as PlumBytes or Malware Fighter. Those programs run silently in the background and check incoming files. If something possibly dangerous or suspicious happens, it will stop the transaction and let you know about it.

What Dangers Are Caused By FreePDFCombiner Infection?

Well, if you have this unwanted program running on your web browser, we highly recommend switching to an alternative browser until you completely remove the FreePDFCombiner hijacker – it will be safer this way.

FreePDFCombiner will automatically set your new tab page to their own, custom landing page, so you will be forced to visit it every time a new tab is opened. They will do it without asking permission or even warning you, so these changes will definitely come as a surprise.

This website doesn’t look suspicious or malicious – it’s a regular homepage with a toolbar and web search field. However, it can’t offer much regarding promised PDF conversion. All it can do is to lead you to other websites that can do that.

They try to create an image of a trustworthy tool by displaying the Google logo and saying that their search mechanism is enhanced by Google. In the worst-case scenario, the user falls for this trick and continues using the hijacked web browser, believing that these changes were legitimate and useful.

Unfortunately, there are two big names you should notice on this site – it’s Mindspark Interactive Inc. and MyWay. Mindspark is a company responsible for various computer viruses and unwanted tools, including MyWay, which is a malicious browser hijacker and search engine. The web is full of  complaints and negative reviews regarding Mindspark, so it’s obvious that you shouldn’t expect anything positive from a free tool created by this company.

Probably the biggest danger lies in the search provided by FreePDFCombiner. It can display customized results that are not related to your search queries at all. Also, you can expect banner advertisements and pop-up ads to appear there. And that’s not even the biggest threat – FreePDFCombiner is likely to collect all search queries, even if it contains your private information. This data can be transferred to third parties and that’s very dangerous.

Other symptoms you can expect to experience due to the presence of FreePDFCombiner – slower work of your computer and web browser, redirects to other websites, infiltration of other malware and so on.

How To Remove FreePDFCombiner Virus?

To completely eliminate this infection, you have to remove it both from your computer and web browser, then reset settings that have been hijacked. We will help you to do all of that.

First of all, get yourself a decent anti-malware tool, such as Spyhunter. Scan your computer with one of them and it will automatically detect and remove all malicious files of FreePDFCombiner that are stored on your hard drive.

Next, you have to remove it from the extensions list on your web browser and also reset settings that were changed. To help you do that, we have developed a step-by-step FreePDFCombiner manual removal guide – it can be found below the article.

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How to remove FreePDFCombiner Hijacker using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like FreePDFCombiner Hijacker install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to FreePDFCombiner Hijacker . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make FreePDFCombiner Hijacker easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

How to remove FreePDFCombiner Hijacker from macOS

Delete FreePDFCombiner Hijacker from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the FreePDFCombiner Hijacker app.
5. Select it and right-click it (or hold the Ctrl and click the left mouse button).
6. In the dropdown, click Move to Bin/Trash. You might be asked to provide your login password.

TopHow To remove FreePDFCombiner Hijacker from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to FreePDFCombiner Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How To remove FreePDFCombiner Hijacker from Firefox:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything FreePDFCombiner Hijacker related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Options → General. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Restore to Default.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to FreePDFCombiner Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• ChooseTroubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on theReset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.

How to remove FreePDFCombiner Hijacker from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.

• Click on the three-dot menu on the browser toolbar and Select Settings

• Select Privacy and Services and scroll down. Press on Address bar.

• Choose Manage search engines.

• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list: open the three-dot menu and choose Remove.

• Go back to Settings. Open On start-up.
• Delete malicious search websites at Open specific page or pages by opening the three-dot menu and clicking Delete.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to FreePDFCombiner Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings

• Click on Edge's menu button and select Settings. Click on the Reset Settings button on the left.
• Press the Restore settings to their default values option.

• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How to remove FreePDFCombiner Hijacker from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall FreePDFCombiner Hijacker and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings(older versions) If you are still experiencing any issues related to FreePDFCombiner Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari…
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.