Gamestabsearch.com

Gamestabsearch.com is a browser hijacker that you might have received while downloading a browser extension for Google Chrome. The add-on is supposed to be a program that lets you play “free, fun, and exciting games.” In reality, this extension just displays a couple of links to gaming websites. Plus, it allows the search engine to hijack your browser. The problem is that Gamestabsearch.com is an unreliable tool since it could modify results and place potentially harmful third-party advertising. Therefore, we advise you to ignore such content and consequently remove the application. The deletion part is not that complicated, but if you do not know how to deal with this threat, you could check the instructions available at the end of the article.

The extension that distributes this unreliable search engine is called Games. Users can download it either from the Chrome Web Store site or its official web page called lp.mygamestab.com. Nonetheless, according to the numbers in the Chrome Web Store, the add-on was downloaded only four times since the last time it was updated, which happened on the 1st of June. Because of this, it is more likely that you downloaded the extension from its official site. The question is how did you end up visiting it?

It is possible that you have more unreliable software on the system, and it might generate suspicious pop-up ads. Clicking such advertisements may have resulted in redirection to lp.mygamestab.com. If this is how you received Gamestabsearch.com, you may want to find suspicious programs responsible for such unreliable ads. For instance, users could install a security tool and check the whole system with its scanning tool. After you erase possible threats leave the tool on the computer and keep it updated, so it could guard the PC against malware.

Since the extension is compatible with Google Chrome alone, it settles on the system by creating a folder titled as npcphogbhjnabbfopangpfiooacedgpg in the %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions directory. Then, the software should hijack the browser by replacing your search engine and homepage with Gamestabsearch.com. Sadly, unlike what may be written in the description, the website contains a few links to gaming sites, but it does not provide any games itself. In reality, it is a search tool that uses yahoo.com to gather the main results. Then Gamestabsearch.com might inject them with third-party advertising and other content, e.g. “apps, buttons, gadgets, links to third party advertisements, websites, products and services.”

It is advisable to stay away from such ads as they might redirect you to malicious web pages. The software’s Policies document states that its third-party partners may have “the ability to access, collect, store, and/or share your information – both your PII and non-personally identifiable information.” Of course, the application’s creators take no responsibility for such actions, so if anything goes wrong while interacting with the ads or content on third-party websites, you would be solely responsible for it. Because of such statements we could assume that the browser hijacker's creators do not review the content they advertise. Thus, there might be other threats as well, e.g. the application could redirect you to websites with Trojans, viruses, or other malicious programs. Under such circumstances, we would advise users to erase Gamestabsearch.com and switch it with a reliable search engine.

If you want to get rid of the browser hijacker, but have no idea how to eliminate it, we can guide you through the process with the instructions placed below this text. It will explain to users how to remove Games extension and how to reset the affected browser to erase Gamestabsearch.com completely. Additionally, we would recommend a full system scan with a reputable antimalware tool. If there are any other threats on your PC, the tool would not only detect them but also allow you to delete them all at once. The antimalware tool could deal with the browser hijacker as well, so if the manual removal seems complicated, the tool would be the best solution in such situation. You could also contact use via social media or leave us a comment below if you have other questions about the application.

Delete Gamestabsearch.com from Google Chrome

1. Press ALT+F, then pick Settings and select More tools.
2. Click Extensions and look for the Games add-on.
3. Select it, press the recycle bin button next to it and pick Remove.

Reset the browser

1. Press Alt+F and go to Settings.
2. Slide down and look for the Show advanced settings option.
3. Select it and scroll down again.
4. Press the Reset Settings button, and pick Reset.