MergeDocsNow Toolbar - How to remove

If your search site has unexpectedly changed to MyWay or Ask, and if your new tab always opens on MergeDocsNow, you have got a potentially unwanted extension installed. And though to some that’s not a big deal and does not negatively impact their browsing, others want to be able to use their own search, their own new tab page, and to stop MergeDocsNow from recording their search data.

MergeDocsNow is on the line between a virus and legitimate software. I don’t believe that Mindspark is totally malicious, but the distribution methods that they use, the poor quality of their products, and the blatant motive of just popularizing the MyWay search engine don’t make it easy. It’s simpler to declare MergeDocsNow yet another hijacker. In fact, that’s what a lot of antivirus experts did, if you look at the selection of antimalware tools that detect MergeDocsNow as suspicious.

Is MergeDocsNow useful?

MergeDocsNow promises to help people merge PDFs and do more file conversion. And I have to admit that combining PDF files or converting them into editable documents are useful features, but if you need them regularly, it’s best to use an offline application. That would eliminate the risk of leaking your data that’s present with uploading your files online. It would also work even without the internet.

However, what MergeDocsNow does is provide links to document conversion websites. If you want easily accessible links, why not favorite them, or add them to your bookmarks? They’ll be available with a single click, and you won’t have to sacrifice your favorite search engine.

What about targeted ads? Some people think that they’re useful. According to Mindspark’s privacy policy, MergeDocsNow collects your IP, the queries that you type into the search bar, your location, which ads you click on and which webpages you visit — and sometimes shares this data with third parties. That ought to make the ads that you see online very relevant. But a lot of that promoted content will show up in the MyWay results page, and I think that that’s not the right place for them. Search for the wrong thing and the whole screen will be filled with nothing but promoted content. This makes searching for information more time-consuming, more annoying than it would be if you were using a search engine with fewer ads. Sure, most search engines advertise in the results, but few allow as many ads as real results.

How to avoid browser hijackers?

First, avoid malicious ads and freeware bundles. These two methods are the main ones that various newtab viruses use to spread. Their developers pay for the extensions to be promoted by illegitimate ad-networks which use adware programs, redirect viruses, and pop-ups. Some installers of free software include toolbars and hijackers and either offer them as “recommended products”, or install them in the background without asking. Basically, having a toolbar like MergeDocsNow installed is already a sign that you might have some worse malware on your system.

A safe extension would require few permissions. It’s bad practice for a piece of software to give itself unnecessary privileges and powers. These can be exploited to access data that shouldn’t be accessed. So, if your browser tracks what permissions an extension requires, check them and think about whether you’re comfortable with them. Say, why does MergeDocsNow need your browsing history?

Reviews are also important. A lot of professional extensions have ongoing development, so the reviews are full of people praising, complaining about, or asking for new features. Even finished extensions have people commenting on them. However, MergeDocsNow is missing reviews completely, or at least the Chrome version is. 32 thousand users and no reviews? That only makes sense when you realize that the only way that people install MergeDocsNow is through the pseudo-inline installation interface that Mindspark has crafted. There is a reason why Chrome has retired inline installation: it was being abused to trick people to install an extension without having made an informed decision on it.

The reputation of the developer of the extension is something to consider, too. For MergeDocsNow, the developer can be found mentioned in the privacy policy or the terms of service. And you only need to visit the Wikipedia page of Ask Applications/Mindspark to get a little bit suspicious. Mindspark has probably made hundreds of extensions, while a normal company that cares about its product generally tries to improve one, instead of creating five versions of the same thing. From Mindspark, we have archived:

• Pconverter.com,
• FreePDFCombiner,
• ConvertDocsNow,
• FileShareFanatic,
• EasyPDFCombine,
• AllInOneDocs,
• Allin1Convert.

And those are just some of the document-themed extensions. Other topics, such as weather, maps, recipes have their own products.

How to uninstall MergeDocsNow

If you suspect that you have some PUP or virus on your device, go ahead and scan it with an antivirus program (Spyhunter). If any suspicious software is found, it’s probably safer to uninstall it. Research it, false positives are not unheard of, but generally, dismissing an antivirus warning is not a good idea: it’s how people get infected with ransomware and other viruses.

However, the hijacker itself is simple to remove manually. Uninstall MergeDocsNow, Ask, and other suspicious extensions from your browser. The instructions for the different browsers are below this article. Of course, you can continue using MergeDocsNow and you will probably be fine, but know that you have the power to remove hijackers if you’re unhappy with them. Your browser is under your control. Besides, you can always reinstall a program that you like.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to remove Mergedocsnow.com Toolbar using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like MergeDocsNow Toolbar 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 Mergedocsnow.com Toolbar . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make MergeDocsNow Toolbar 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 Mergedocsnow.com Toolbar from macOS

Delete MergeDocsNow Toolbar from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the Mergedocsnow.com Toolbar 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.

TopRemove malicious extensions from Internet Explorer

• Press on the Gear icon→Manage Add-ons.
  
• Go through Toolbars and extensions. Remove everything related to MergeDocsNow Toolbar and items you do not know that are made not by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle or Adobe.
  
• Close the Options.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Mergedocsnow.com Toolbar, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Press on the Gear icon->Internet Options.
  
• Choose the Advanced tab and click on the Reset button.
  
• Select a “Delete personal settings” checkbox and click on the Reset button.
  
• Click on the Close button on the confirmation box, then close your browser.
  

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

TopRemoving MergeDocsNow Toolbar from Chrome

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Google Chrome window. Select “Settings”.
  
• Click “Extensions” on the left menu bar.
• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Mergedocsnow.com Toolbar. Click on the trash bin icon next to MergeDocsNow Toolbar or other add-ons you want to remove.
  
• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.
  
• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.
  
• Restart Chrome.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Mergedocsnow.com Toolbar, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

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

TopRemoving MergeDocsNow Toolbar from Firefox

• 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 Mergedocsnow.com Toolbar 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.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to MergeDocsNow Toolbar, 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.
  
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

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

How to remove MergeDocsNow Toolbar from Microsoft Edge:Top

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

• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Mergedocsnow.com Toolbar. Click on the "Remove" icon next to MergeDocsNow Toolbar or other add-ons you want to remove.

• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.

• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.

• Restart Microsoft Edge.

TopRemoving Mergedocsnow.com Toolbar from Safari (Mac OS X)

• Click on the Safari menu.
• Choose Preferences.
  
• Click on the Extensions Tab.
• Click on the Uninstall button near the MergeDocsNow Toolbar. Remove all other unknown or suspicious entries too. If you are not sure whether you need the extension or not, you can simply uncheck the Enable check-box to disable the extension temporarily.
  
• Restart Safari.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Mergedocsnow.com Toolbar, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the 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.