How to Delete MusicTab Newtab (Browser Hijacker/PUP)

What is MusicTab Newtab? And how does it function?

MusicTab Newtab is a browser extension that functions as a program that supposedly allows users to browse over 60,000 radio stations and lets them listen to songs from their favorite artists or genre. It is promoted as a browser extension that providers “Free Music for everyone”. This browser extension works on Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers and even with browsers like Internet Explorer.
By installing the MusicTab Newtab extension, you are unknowingly allowing it to modify the default new tab page and homepage of your browser to “musictab.org” while it sets “https://newtab.getmusictab.org/113/default/index.html” as the default search provider. This hijacking ability is one of the reasons why security experts categorize it as a browser hijacker and a potentially unwanted program. Aside from modifying your browser’s default settings, this browser hijacker also delivers you annoying ads like pop-ups, in-text links, banners and many more. These ads contain sponsored contents from affiliated sites of MusicTab Newtab. However, some of these ads are misleading that could redirect you to suspicious websites which might contain harmful content. This is why even with free music, keeping the MusicTab Newtab extension installed in your computer is not really worth it. What’s more is that this browser hijacker also uses tracking technology which allows it to track all your browsing activities in order to collect information like the websites you’ve visited, browsing history, IP address, OS version, browser type, and many more. The data obtained is processed and may even be shared with its affiliated sites to generate more sponsored contents.
How is MusicTab Newtab distributed over the web?
MusicTab Newtab is distributed on its official site at mustictab.org as well as on free sharing sites that offer free software bundles to users. It is included as one of the extra components of free software packages that when installed, will install not just one program but all the programs in the package which is quite tricky. So if you’re not careful enough, you could end up installing unwanted programs like MusicTab Newtab in your computer. To prevent such cases, you must stick to the Custom or advanced setup when installing software bundles.
Delete MusicTab Newtab from your browser and computer by following the removal guide provided below.
Step 1: You need to first close the browser infected with MusicTab Newtab but if you are unable to do so, you can close it via Task Manager. Tap Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys to open the Task Manager and from there, end the browser’s process.
Step 2: Afterwards, you have to flush the DNS cache. To do that, just, right click on the Start button and click on Command Prompt (administrator). From there, type the “ipconfig /flushdns” command and hit Enter to flush the DNS.
Step 3: After that, restart your computer and then open all the browsers infected by MusicTab Newtab. Reset all the affected browsers to default to their default state.
Google Chrome

Open Google Chrome, then tap the Alt + F keys.
After that, click on Settings.
Next, scroll down until you see the Advanced option, once you see it, click on it.
After clicking the Advanced option, go to the “Restore and clean up option and click on the “Restore settings to their original defaults” option to reset Google Chrome.
Now restart Google Chrome.

Mozilla Firefox

Open Mozilla Firefox and tap Ctrl + Shift + A to access the Add-ons Manager.
In the Extensions menu Remove the unwanted extension.
Restart the browser and tap keys Alt + T.
Select Options and then move to the General menu.
Overwrite the URL in the Home Page section and then restart the browser.

Internet Explorer

Launch Internet Explorer.
Next, click the wrench icon for Settings.
Then click Internet Options.
After that, go to the Advanced tab.
From there, click the Reset button. This will reset Internet Explorer’s settings to their default condition.
Now click OK to save the changes made.
Restart your computer.

Step 4: Next, tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “appwiz.cpl” in the field and press Enter to open the Programs and Features in Control Panel.
Step 5: From the list of programs installed, look for MusicTab Newtab or any unfamiliar program that could be related to it under the list of installed programs and once you’ve found it, uninstall it.

Step 6: Edit your Hosts File.

Tap the Win + R keys to open then type in %WinDir% and then click OK.
Go to System32/drivers/etc.
Open the hosts file using Notepad.
Delete all the entries that contain MusicTab Newtab.
After that, save the changes you’ve made and close the file.

Step 7: Hold down Windows + E keys simultaneously to open File Explorer.
Step 8: Navigate to the following directories and look for suspicious files associated to the MusicTab Newtab extension such as the software bundle it came with and delete it/them.

%USERPROFILE%\Downloads
%USERPROFILE%\Desktop
%TEMP%

Step 9: Close the File Explorer.
Step 10: Empty the contents of Recycle Bin.
After you complete the steps provided above, proceed to the advanced instructions given below to ensure the removal of MusicTab Newtab as well as all the file residues it left behind.
Perform a full system scan using [product-code]. To do so, follow these steps:

Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot it.
After that, the BIOS screen will be displayed, but if Windows pops up instead, reboot your computer and try again. Once you’re on the BIOS screen, repeat pressing F8, by doing so the Advanced Option shows up.
1. To navigate the Advanced Option use the arrow keys and select Safe Mode with Networking then hit
2. Windows will now load the Safe Mode with Networking.
3. Press and hold both R key and Windows key.
1. If done correctly, the Windows Run Box will show up.
2. Type in the URL address, [product-url] in the Run dialog box and then tap Enter or click OK.
3. After that, it will download the program. Wait for the download to finish and then open the launcher to install the program.
4. Once the installation process is completed, run [product-code] to perform a full system scan.
1. After the scan is completed click the “Fix, Clean & Optimize Now” button.