We show you how to remove the Babylon Search browser toolbar and Babylon Search page from your PC and laptop. We also explain how you ended up with Babylon, and what to do to prevent the infection coming back.

If you're reading this page the chances are you are doing so via a web browser that is infected with something called Babylon. Babylon Search is a toolbar that is installed with your permission, but which then takes control of your web browser and makes it act in a way to which you are not used. It probably changed your home page to Babylon's own, and made your default search engine the Babylon search engine. And you'll find a new search toolbar installed in your web browsing software.

Let's be honest about Babylon Search's toolbar: it does things you don't like with your browser, and you didn't expect to install it. In this article we'll show you how to rid your PC of Babylon Search. But first we'll examine how you ended up with Babylon Search, because that will help to prevent any reinfection.

How did Bablyon Search install on my PC/laptop

Babylon Search may be legitimate software by the book, but it acts like malware. There are a few ways via which Babylon Search insinuates itself on to your PC or laptop, and the chances are you didn't consciously ask for any of them.

Babylon makes lots of legitimate translation-software programs, including Babylon 9, as well as language-learning programs. There's nothing wrong with these programs, but unless you overtly select not to install the Babylon Search toolbar it will install itself.

That's easy to avoid, but Babylon doesn't stop there. In fact Babylon's chief distribution mechanism is via free third-party software installs. Whenever you install any software, particularly free software, check the permissions closely. You may be giving Babylon or another search provider such as Delta the opportunity to bury deep into your PC or laptop. They do this for the advertising revenue generated via search: Google is the world's biggest seller of advertising, and other software makers want a slice. Unfortunately some, like Babylon, do so by

How to get rid of Babylon Search toolbar

There are several steps to removing Babylon Search, because it insinuates itself so deeply into Windows. In essence you need to uninstall the program itself, then remove the plug-in from every browser you have installed. Finally you need to change your browser settings to remove any changes Babylon Search has made, and then remove all cookies so that it doesn't come back. It will take a while.

We'll try to cover all browsers and provide general Windows advice, but you may find some minor differences in your install. No matter, you should be okay if you follow the basic procedure outlined above: uninstall the software, remove from browsers, change browser settings, delete cookies.

Get rid of Babylon: uninstall the program

The first thing to do is to uninstall Babylon from Control Panel's 'Uninstall a program' dialog. In older versions of Windows this is called 'Uninstall or change a program'.

In Windows 8 hit Windows, Q to get up the Search bar and then type in 'Control Panel'. Select Control Panel from the resulting list and choose 'Uninstall a program'. In Windows 7 you'll find Control Panel in the Start Menu. Select 'Uninstall or change a program'.

Select and uninstall any items you find in the list that contains  the word 'Babylon' in either the program name or publisher name.

Get rid of Babylon: remove the toolbar from your browsers

Now you need to access each web browser's preferences to remove Babylon's add-ons and extensions. You need to do this for any browsers you have installed.

Most people will be using Internet Explorer. Open IE, select Tools, Manage add-ons. Find the Toolbars and Extensions tab, then locate Babylon Toolbar. Click on the trash icon. It's good practice to delete any other entries in this list about which you are not sure. They may be other Bablyon detritus.

In Mozilla  Firefox go to Tools and select the Add-ons page. Search for Babylon Toolbar under the Extensions and Plugin list. Remove any found. Again, it is a good idea to remove any Add-ons you are not sure you want to keep. You can easily install again anything you miss, but the chances are you have installed things you never wanted in the first place.

In Google Chrome you'll find what looks like a spanner or three horizontal bars in the top righthand corner of your browser window. Select Tools, then Extensions, and delete Babylon and any other miscreants.

If you are an Opera user, click the Opera in the top lefthand corner, then select Extensions, Manage Extentions, then delete any extensions you don't think should be there.

Now restart all your browsers.

Get rid of Babylon: change browser settings

On each web browser, you need to change the default home page back from Babylon Search. In Internet Explorer go to Tools, Internet Options. Then type in the URL you want to be your home page. Firefox is similar, but you go to Tools, Options. In Chrome you need to go to Settings, On Startup. Delete any Babylon pages and type in your own desired home page (how about pcadvisor.co.uk?). In Opera it's Opera, Settings, General, Home Page.

Now you need to remove Babylon from being your default search engine. This is a little more involved so we've written separate guides:

How to change default search engine in Internet Explorer

How to change default search engine in Firefox

How to change default search engine in Google Chrome

Get rid of Babylon: clear your cookies

Now you need to clear your browsers cookies to stop Babylon creeping back in. You'll find this option under the sercurity or privacy settings of every browser. We'd also suggest running your antivirus software at this stage, perhaps even installing MalwareBytes AntiMalware to run a secondary scan (it's free and works well with other security software). Finally, restart your PC. If on restart you find that Babylon remerges, go through all the steps above and then delete and reinstall the browsers.

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