FastUrl (Fasturlapp.xyz) Adware - How to remove

Fast url, also called FastUrl on some webpages, is a browser extension. It can be found on Fasturlapp.xyz. It claims to help you change your new tab page but it has no such features. Instead, it adds sponsored links above internet search results – it injects ads into the browser. FastUrl is difficult to notice once installed because the browser doesn’t look any different, even the sponsored search results blend in with the real results.

About FastUrl:

Type of threat	Adware.
How FastUrl affects the browser	Gets access to your browsing history, can read and change your internet search results from certain websites, does not offer any useful features.
Problems and issues	Injects ads into the search results, changes the search result links.
Removing FastUrl	Find and delete malware with an anti-malware app (Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, others) or uninstall FastUrl and other suspicious browser extensions manually.

What is FastUrl

Invisible browser extension

FastUrl is a browser extension – a little program that changes how your browser works by adding or changing its features. For example, some browser extensions check your spelling, change webpage colors, or block ads.

It is not immediately clear what FastUrl does. On the site that advertises it, Fasturlapp.xyz, it’s presented as a browser extension helping people search the internet more effectively. In FastUrl’s privacy policy, it’s described as helping users customize their new tab page and search settings. And in FastUrl’s description in the Chrome Web Store, it’s said to add sponsored results to your searches – to inject ads into the browser.

After installing FastUrl, I did not see any tools to customize my new tab or manage my search. No useful features seem to be included. Indeed, once installed, FastUrl hides its icon. Each installed browser extension posts its icon in the upper right corner of the browser. FastUrl’s icon is just a blank space, an invisible image. Hovering on it reveals an inconspicuous gray magnifying glass icon. I’ve seen that sort of thing done by browser hijackers a lot. Some extensions don’t want you to know that they’re installed.

Ad-injecting adware

When installing a browser extension, a pop up displays what permissions the extension needs in order to function. FastUrl extension’s permissions allow it to read and change the user’s data on Yahoo.com, Bing.com, and Google.com. It can also read the browsing history.

This means that, when FastUrl is installed on a web browser, it can access the search results on the most popular search engines. It can change them, replace what sites the results open, add new content, and even remove some results.

Webpages are like documents or text files. Your browser downloads and displays them. FastUrl can access those text files and change them. This way, the internet search results that you see may look different from the search results that Google or Bing sent to you.

So, if you notice something strange in your search results, such as:

• too many ads in the results,
• results opening different websites from the ones indicated in the results page,
• ads and links leading to other search result pages,
• malicious ads (fake giveaways, fake virus warnings, etc.) in search results,
• the search results page reloading on its own,

then don’t rush to blame the website; check your extensions first.

How to remove FastUrl

FastUrl isn’t the only such browser add-on. There is also searchhelp on Search-help.xyz, ResultsAdder, Value+ (now banned), and similar extensions. There are many very similar extensions that do the same that FastUrl does. Occasionally, one of them gets banned but others remain and new ones are released.

You can use an anti-malware application, such as Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, or others, to scan your computer and check for malicious and low-reputation programs. Browser hijackers and adware like FastUrl sometimes come bundled with free programs and they usually come in groups. If that happened, you might not have realized, so it’s valuable to check your computer for any suspicious items.

To remove FastUrl and other bad extensions, just right-click their icons and remove them. You can also go into browser settings and remove bad extensions from there. FastUrl has instructions for disabling it but while that does make FastUrl inactive, it still keeps it installed. To uninstall, click the Remove button on the extension’s card. If FastUrl cannot be removed, for example, if you get a warning that it’s managed or if the option to remove it isn’t even there, check out how to remove extensions that are managed or installed by a policy.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Restore browser settings

TopHow To remove FastUrl (Fasturlapp.xyz) Adware from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to FastUrl (Fasturlapp.xyz) Adware, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser 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.

How To remove FastUrl (Fasturlapp.xyz) Adware from Firefox:Top

• 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 FastUrl (Fasturlapp.xyz) Adware 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.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Options → General. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Restore to Default.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to FastUrl (Fasturlapp.xyz) Adware, 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.
  
• ChooseTroubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on theReset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.

How to remove FastUrl (Fasturlapp.xyz) Adware from Microsoft Edge:Top

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

• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.

• Click on the three-dot menu on the browser toolbar and Select Settings

• Select Privacy and Services and scroll down. Press on Address bar.

• Choose Manage search engines.

• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list: open the three-dot menu and choose Remove.

• Go back to Settings. Open On start-up.
• Delete malicious search websites at Open specific page or pages by opening the three-dot menu and clicking Delete.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to FastUrl (Fasturlapp.xyz) Adware, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings

• Click on Edge's menu button and select Settings. Click on the Reset Settings button on the left.
• Press the Restore settings to their default values option.

• 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.