How to Remove Charming Tab
Charming Tab is a Chrome extension that is considered a potentially unwanted program. The program is designed to generate revenue for its developers through advertising-sponsored ads as well as traffic redirects. The program is developed by T.M.D.S. Technilca Management Limited. It is advertised as a Tab for Chrome-based browsers. However, Charming Tab turns out to be another unwanted program that is bound to put your data at risk. The program shows traits of a browser hijacker and has been flagged by several trusted computer security programs as PUP. Despite the program being distributed via the official Chrome Web Store, most internet users have reported the program through various platforms such as Reddit.
What is Charming Tab?
Charming Tab is designed as a background changer for a Chrome-based browser. This means the program’s functionality according to its description is to offer various beautiful landscape pictures on the Chrome browser background. After installation, Charming Tab will fulfill its functionality but only to do more than it is allowed. Most users have indicated that the program shows some intrusive behavior. Moreover, this browser hijacker is known for performing redirects to charming-tab.com. Eventually, all search results triggered by the user’s input are rerouted to show sponsored ads from third-party servers.
If you are one of those who have been troubled by Charming Tab redirects, you shouldn’t worry much as you are not dealing with a virus. However, that doesn’t mean you should let your guard down because in most cases, browser hijackers can generate ads from untrusted web pages that contain malicious programs. However, the program on its own cannot steal, spy, or lock data.
What to Do About Charming Tab
As the name suggests, the program can be charming, hence the soft approach towards it. But you must not keep it on your computer for whatever reason. Having a software that isn’t under your check is dangerous, it’s as good as dealing with a rebel. For starters, the element of trust is already broken when it fails to include traffic rerouting as part of its functionality. Therefore, if you can’t trust something, then you mustn’t keep it. Moreover, some of the displayed ads and redirects can lead to untrusted content which can cause monetary loss. Through the sponsored ads, people can be misled by false software update offers that may be bundled with malicious programs. It can also redirect to an inappropriate website that shows adult content, which can be upsetting.
Risks of Charming Tab
Charming Tab is a suspicious Chrome extension that reroutes traffic to phishing web pages as well as generates income through the advertisement of misleading third-party content as vaguely indicated in their privacy policy. Refer to the excerpt below;
“Our Site includes links to other Web sites whose privacy practices may differ from those of T.M.D.S. TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED. Our service may also be linked to sites or services operated by the T.M.D.S. TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED affiliates or third parties, and may carry advertisements or offer content, functionality, games, rewards programs, newsletters, contests or sweepstakes, or applications developed and maintained by third parties including, any online store.”
In simple terms, the addition of this extension won’t bring direct harm but its characteristics that involve redirects as well as the pervasive advertisement that is intrusive, and traffic rerouting to untrustworthy websites, can lead to serious harm to both your computer and data safety.
To show the user content for its financial benefits, Charming Tab launches several unpermitted changes to the browser which include:
- Charming-tab.com becomes the default launch page for your browser.
- Bing is set as the default search engine without your consent.
- Launching a New Tab may redirect to various ads as well as pop-ups displaying misleading notifications.
- Your online activities can be monitored to ensure the ads displayed are relevant to your interests.
As you can see, on top of all the other risks mentioned that come with the Charming Tab virus, user’s activities are likely to be monitored through the installation of tracking cookies. Therefore, to prevent leakage of your browsing history, it becomes vital to get rid of the Charming Tab program.
Charming Tab Removal Instructions
Since the removal of potentially unwanted programs is a bit tricky considering that their roots tend to run deep into the system, it is advisable to run a full system scan using a trusted software security tool to detect and remove malware. You must also reset your browser settings and run a reimage repair tool. Usually, when a computer has been infected, some system processes are left corrupt. A reimage tool helps to fix the damages inflicted by malicious software. You don’t have to reinstall the operating system with reimage software. Note that this tool is to be used after you have cleaned your PC. Here is how you can swiftly remove Charming Tab from your computer for good:
How to Remove Charming Tab from Google Chrome
To completely remove Charming Tab from your computer, you need to reverse all of the changes on Google Chrome, uninstall suspicious extensions, plug-ins, and add-ons that were added without your permission.
Follow the instructions below to remove Charming Tab from Google Chrome:
1. Delete malicious plugins.
Launch the Google Chrome app, then click on the menu icon at the upper-right corner. Choose More Tools > Extensions. Look for Charming Tab and other malicious extensions. Highlight these extensions you want to uninstall, then click Remove to delete them.
2. Revert changes to your homepage and default search engine.
Click on Chrome's menu icon and select Settings. Click On Startup, then tick off Open a specific page or set of pages. You can either set up a new page or use existing pages as your homepage.
Go back to Google Chrome's menu icon and choose Settings > Search engine, then click Manage search engines. You'll see a list of default search engines that are available for Chrome. Delete any search engine that you think is suspicious. Click the three-dot menu beside the search engine and click Remove from list.
3. Reset Google Chrome.
Click on the menu icon located at the top right of your browser, and choose Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, then click on Restore settings to their original defaults under Reset and clean up. Click on the Reset Settings button to confirm the action.
This step will reset your startup page, new tab, search engines, pinned tabs, and extensions. However, your bookmarks, browser history, and saved passwords will be saved.