Mywatchlisttab.com Hijacker - How to remove

My Watch List is a browser add-on that promises “quick access to online TV anytime” – but all it does is change the home page (and the new tab page) to Mywatchlisttab.com. Mywatchlisttab.com does have a menu that lists over twenty links to various websites and that’s the extent of its online TV functionality.

Mywatchlisttab.com’s main goal and feature is advertising. Clickbait sites, search hijacking, notification ads are used by My Watch List to promote sites and make money off of each user. For those whose browsers are taken over by Mywatchlisttab.com, it’s best to get rid of this and any other hijackers and find more straightforward ways to access online TV.

About Mywatchlisttab.com:

Classification	Adware, browser hijacker.
How My Watch List works	It’s advertised as helping you access online TV, once installed, it changes how the browser behaves by setting Mywatchlisttab.com as the new tab, it fails at providing online TV access.
How to avoid hijackers	Stick to reputable, safe websites, ignore aggressive ads and don’t install things that pop-ups tell you to install, scan your computer for malware periodically.
Removing Mywatchlisttab.com	Remove malware with antivirus apps (Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, etc.), uninstall suspicious browser extensions manually, block web push notifications.

How My Watch List changes the browser

Mywatchlisttab.com hijacks the browser

My Watch List’s online ad implies that Mywatchlisttab.com has a way to watch TV online. But installing it shows that Mywatchlisttab.com is just an adware hijacker. Here are the changes that  My Watch List makes to the browser when installed:

• it changes the home page and the new tab page to either Mywatchlisttab.com or Hmywatchlist.org (newtab viruses)
• the sites associated with My Watch List (including Mywatchlisttab.com) use notifications to show pop-up ads,
• Mywatchlisttab.com features a search bar that opens Yahoo (regardless of your browser settings),
• the new tab pages also feature links to a few sites (Mynewswire, Nationalweatheragency, Emailhelper, etc.) full of low-quality (and potentially dangerous) ads.

My Watch List is adware

While I can’t say that Mywatchlisttab.com is dangerous, it is still problematic. It exists to promote those ad-filled websites that I listed earlier and make money for their owners – Eightpoint Technologies. Hey, that’s the same company that made My Watch List. What a coincidence.

Of course, Mywatchlisttab.com is free – and free browser extensions need to make money somehow. Some do it by offering a premium paid tier, some inject ads into the users’ browsers, and some collect data about their users and then sell it to advertisers. Mywatchlisttab.com is just way too aggressive with its advertising while failing to provide a good product.

It’s possible that those who got Mywatchlisttab.com on their new tab didn’t install any extensions and don’t even know where this site comes from. This could happen if My Watch List was bundled with another program. Bundling is when one program’s installer offers additional software and it often results in unintentional installations.

Alternatives to Mywatchlisttab.com

Pirating sites

There are lots of browser hijackers that pretend to offer online TV. Their ads throw in a “free” and an “HD” somewhere in there, too. But they do not live up to these promises. In part, because it’s not even possible.

Luckily, Mywatchlisttab.com does not promote pirating sites, but let’s still discuss them for a bit.

If you want to watch free movies online without signing up for any accounts and without paying a subscription, you’ll have to use pirating sites. If you use those infringing, illegal streaming sites, you’ll have to deal with malicious ads that, very likely, will cause security issues beyond just being very annoying. Ads on illegal streaming sites promote hijackers like Mywatchlisttab.com, fake software updates that are infected with adware, miners, scam sites, phishing sites, and other dangerous content. It’s quite dangerous to use pirating sites.

Besides, the video quality on pirating sites tends to be subpar.

Legal streaming services

When My Watch List is installed and it makes Mywatchlisttab.com replace your new tab, you don’t get any of such links. Instead, Mywatchlisttab.com lists links to various news sites and a few legal streaming sites, such as Prime Video, Hulu, Netflix, and CBS. This means that you have to go to those sites, sign up, and then watch.

Nowhere here is Mywatchlisttab.com useful or helpful. It injects itself between you and the internet completely unnecessarily. You can just as easily look up the best streaming sites (My Watch List’s list is totally outdated) and then add them to your bookmarks for quick access. At least then My Watch List wouldn’t be lurking, reading your browsing history and redirecting searches.

How to remove Mywatchlisttab.com

Look for other malware

The fastest way to check your computer for malware is with an antivirus program, such as Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, and others. This is a good idea because, although it’s simple enough to remove My Watch List manually, it is likely that is was installed together with other adware, such as History Hide or Recipes Now. That’s what you should to check for – other infections.

Block Mywatchlisttab.com’s pop-up ads

Mywatchlisttab.com, Mywatchlist.org, and Hmywatchlist.org all try to get you to allow their notifications on your browser. They use them to show ads in the browser. You can block notifications in browser settings.

1. Check your notification settings:
   • Chrome – type “chrome://settings/content/notifications” in the address box.
   • Safari – in the Safari menu, choose Preferences, Websites, Notifications.
   • New Edge – type “edge://settings/content/notifications” in the address box.
   • Firefox – open Settings, Preferences, Privacy & Security, scroll down to Permissions, and click on Settings next to Notifications.
2. Look at the list of sites that have permission to send notifications. You can press a menu button next to each of them and then click “Block”. This blocks pop-up notifications from the site (not the site itself, though).

Uninstall My Watch List

As for getting rid of the Mywatchlisttab.com new tab and freeing your browser, just right-click on My Watch List’s icon on the upper right of your browser and click on “Remove”. More detailed instructions are below. If it so happens that you can’t remove Mywatchlisttab.com because it’s being controlled by an administrator, organization, etc., check out this post.

Check your browser settings. On Chrome, go to Settings -> Search engine and Settings -> Startup. Make sure that these settings are as you like them.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove browser add-ons

TopRemoving Mywatchlisttab.com Hijacker from Chrome

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Google Chrome window. Select “Settings”.
  
• Click “Extensions” on the left menu bar.
• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Mywatchlisttab.com Hijacker. Click on the trash bin icon next to Mywatchlisttab.com Hijacker or other add-ons you want to remove.
  
• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.
  
• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.
  
• Restart Chrome.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Mywatchlisttab.com Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
  
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on the Reset settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

TopRemoving Mywatchlisttab.com Hijacker from Firefox

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything Mywatchlisttab.com Hijacker related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Mywatchlisttab.com Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How to remove Mywatchlisttab.com Hijacker from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Mywatchlisttab.com Hijacker. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Mywatchlisttab.com Hijacker or other add-ons you want to remove.

• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.

• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.

• Restart Microsoft Edge.