Remove Watch Movies Live from your browser and computer
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is Watch Movies Live?
Watch Movies Live is a potentially unwanted application (PUA), which belongs to a category of browser hijackers. This app supposedly provides access to movie streaming websites, however, it promotes the address of a fake search engine (search.watchmovieslivetab.com) by changing browser settings and gathering various browsing-related data.
Most people download and install browser hijackers and other PUAs unintentionally. Furthermore, Watch Movies Live is installed together with another PUA called Hide My Searches.
Generally, browser hijackers promote fake search engines by changing settings such as the default address of a default search engine, homepage, and new tab. Most prevent users from changing any of these settings by reassigning them after attempts are made to undo or modify them.
Watch Movies Live sets the aforementioned settings to search.watchmovieslivetab.com. Therefore, users are forced to visit this address when they open a browser, new tab, or enter search queries into the URL bar. The only way to remove this address from the settings is to uninstall Watch Movies Live.
Note that search.watchmovieslivetab.com does not generate any unique search results. Once a search query is entered, it simply redirects users to search.yahoo.com and provides results generated by Yahoo. Search engines of this type are useless.
Furthermore, most fake search engines and browser hijacker that promote them record information relating to users' browsing habits. They collect browsing data such as entered search queries, addresses of visited websites, geolocations, IP addresses, and so on.
Many apps of this type also record personal, sensitive information. The people behind them usually share all collected data with third parties (cyber criminals) who misuse the details to generate revenue.
To avoid becoming victims of identity theft, experiencing problems relating to browsing safety, privacy, and other issues, we recommend that you uninstall all browser hijackers immediately.
| Name | Watch Movies Live |
| Threat Type | Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab. |
| Detection Names | Avast (Win32:Adware-gen [Adw]), AVG (Win32:Adware-gen [Adw]), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of Win32/WinWrapper.V Potentially Unwanted), Microsoft (PUA:Win32/WinWrapper), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
| Browser Extension(s) | Watch Movies Live. |
| Supposed Functionality | This browser hijacker supposedly provides access to movie streaming websites. |
| Promoted URL | search.watchmovieslivetab.com |
| Affected Browser Settings | Homepage, new tab URL, default search engine. |
| Symptoms | Manipulated Internet browser settings (homepage, default internet search engine, new tab settings). Users are forced to visit the hijacker's website and search the Internet using their search engines. |
| Additional Information | Watch Movies Live is distributed with another browser hijacker called Hide My Searches. |
| Distribution methods | Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers. |
| Damage | Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites. |
| Malware Removal (Windows) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
Watch Movies Live operates like many other apps of this type. Some examples are Track Packages Quick, Watch Television Online, and Express Package Finder Tab.
Most browser hijackers promote fake search engines and gather various information. Typically, they are useless, do not operate as advertised, and cause only problems. There is no reason to have an app of this type installed on your browser and/or operating system.
How did Watch Movies Live install on my computer?
Watch Movies Live and some other apps of this type can be downloaded from their websites, however, few people download and/or install them intentionally. People often download/install unintentionally by clicking deceptive, intrusive advertisements, or PUAs infiltrate together with other (usually free) software.
To trick people into downloading and/or installing PUAs with other software, developers use a deceptive marketing method called "bundling".
In summary, they include PUAs into the set-ups of other programs and hide related information in settings such as "Custom" and "Advanced". People who fail to check or change these settings often allow PUAs to be downloaded and/or installed through the setups of regular programs.
How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications
Download all programs from official and trustworthy websites. Other sources such as third party downloaders, torrent clients, eMule or other Peer-to-Peer networks, unofficial websites, etc., are often used to promote unwanted apps. Third party installers should not be used.
Check "Advanced", "Custom", and other similar settings of any download or installation setup and opt out of additionally-included (unwanted) apps. Avoid clicking intrusive ads, since they might cause redirects to untrustworthy websites such as gambling, pornography, adult dating, and other dubious pages.
If intrusive ads are a common problem (or redirects to dubious web pages happen often), check the default web browser for any unwanted/suspicious extensions, add-ons, or plug-ins.
Also check the list installed programs on your computer and remove any unwanted or suspicious apps/programs immediately. If your computer is already infected with Watch Movies Live, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.
Website promoting Watch Movies Live browser hijacker:
Watch Movies Live browser hijacker installer set-up:
Watch Movies Live wants to read and change data on various websites:
Instant automatic malware removal:
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Quick menu:
- What is Watch Movies Live?
- STEP 1. Uninstall Watch Movies Live application using Control Panel.
- STEP 2. Remove search.watchmovieslivetab.com redirect from Internet Explorer.
- STEP 3. Remove Watch Movies Live browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
- STEP 4. Remove search.watchmovieslivetab.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
- STEP 5. Remove search.watchmovieslivetab.com redirect from Safari.
- STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.
Watch Movies Live browser hijacker removal:
Windows 11 users:
Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.
Windows 10 users:
Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.
Windows 7 users:
Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.
macOS (OSX) users:
Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.
In the uninstall programs window: look for any recently installed suspicious applications (for example, "Watch Movies Live"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".
After uninstalling the potentially unwanted applications that cause browser redirects to the search.watchmovieslivetab.com website, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.
Watch Movies Live browser hijacker removal from Internet browsers:
Video showing how to remove browser redirects:
Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:
Click the "gear" icon 
(at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".
Change your homepage:
Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Internet Options", in the opened window remove hxxp://search.watchmovieslivetab.com and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you launch Internet Explorer. You can also enter about: blank to open a blank page when you start Internet Explorer.
Change your default search engine:
Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". In the opened window, select "Search Providers", set "Google", "Bing", or any other preferred search engine as your default and then remove "Watch Movies Live".
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the search.watchmovieslivetab.com redirect, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.
Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.
Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.
In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.
Click the Reset button.
Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
Click the Chrome menu icon 
(at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate "Watch Movies Live" and other recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons (e.g., "Hide My Searches"), and remove them.
Change your homepage:
Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable "Watch Movies Live" or "Hide My Searches", look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://search.watchmovieslivetab.com or hxxps://hidemysearches.com) below the “Open a specific or set of pages” option. If present, click on the three vertical dots icon and select “Remove”.
Change your default search engine:
To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list look for "hxxp://search.watchmovieslivetab.com" and "hxxp://hidemysearches.com", and when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Remove from list".
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the search.watchmovieslivetab.com redirect, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.
After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:
Click the Firefox menu 
(at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions" and remove "Watch Movies Live", as well as all other recently installed browser plug-ins (e.g., "Hide My Searches").
Change your homepage:
To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Options", in the opened window disable "Watch Movies Live" or "Hide My Searches", remove hxxp://search.watchmovieslivetab.com or hxxp://hidemysearches.com and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.
Change your default search engine:
In the URL address bar, type about:config and press Enter.
Click "I'll be careful, I promise!".
In the search filter at the top, type: "watchmovieslivetab"
Right-click on the found preferences and select "Reset" to restore default values.
Optional method:
Computer users who have problems with search.watchmovieslivetab.com redirect removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.
Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.
Select Troubleshooting Information.
In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.
In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.
Remove malicious extensions from Safari:
Make sure your Safari browser is active and click Safari menu, then select Preferences...
In the preferences window select the Extensions tab. Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions and uninstall them.
In the preferences window select General tab and make sure that your homepage is set to a preferred URL, if its altered by a browser hijacker - change it.
In the preferences window select Search tab and make sure that your preferred Internet search engine is selected.
Optional method:
Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...
In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.
Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:
Click the Edge menu icon 
(at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate any recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.
Change your homepage and new tab settings:
Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section look for the name of the browser hijacker and click "Disable".
Change your default Internet search engine:
To change your default search engine in Microsoft Edge: Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Privacy and services", scroll to bottom of the page and select "Address bar". In the "Search engines used in address bar" section look for the name of the unwanted Internet search engine, when located click the "Disable" button near it. Alternatively you can click on "Manage search engines", in the opened menu look for unwanted Internet search engine. Click on the puzzle icon 
near it and select "Disable".
Optional method:
If you continue to have problems with removal of the search.watchmovieslivetab.com redirect, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.
In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.
Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.
- If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.
Summary:
A browser hijacker is a type of adware infection that modifies Internet browser settings by assigning the homepage and default Internet search engine settings to some other (unwanted) website URL. Commonly, this type of adware infiltrates operating systems through free software downloads. If your download is managed by a download client, ensure that you decline offers to install advertised toolbars or applications that seek to change your homepage and default Internet search engine settings.
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