News Reader New Tab - How to remove

News Reader is a potentially unwanted browser add-on that replaces the new tab page and restricts web search engines used on it.

News Reader does provide a news feed on the new tab, so it can be useful. But, at the same time, it offers a search box for searching the web without allowing the user to decide which search engine they’d like to use. This makes News Reader look like a newtab hijacker, an extension focused on monetizing the web browsing of its user.

About News Reader:

Classification	Potentially unwanted program, browser hijacker.
How News Reader changes the browser	It replaces the new tab/home page, it offers a search box on the new tab restricted to a single search provider.
Problems and issues	It restricts new tab customization for no good reason.
How to remove News Reader	Uninstall the extension and check your browser for other potentially unwanted extensions, check your device for adware and potentially unwanted apps with anti-malware tools (Spyhunter for PC, Combo Cleaner for Mac).

Is News Reader safe?

It replaces the new tab

The News Reader is safe, it’s not dangerous. But it does have a couple of problems:

• It’s made by Tightrope Interactive, a company that’s made a few browser hijackers before.
• It replaces the new tab page and does not allow the user to choose which search engine they want to use on the new tab.

Tightrope Interactive has made Search Private, OfficeX New Tab, FileConvertor, and some other add-ons. These add-ons used misleading ads to spread and imposed unhelpful changes to web browsers. So, I wanted to look at News Reader and see if it’s as bad.

Once News Reader is installed, it replaces the new tab page with its own. You still get your frequently visited sites like you do on the default Chrome new tab. But, on News Reader, there doesn’t seem to be a way to change your background picture or to pin and edit links on the page. So, using the extension is definitely a tradeoff and not necessarily an improvement.

News Reader adds a news feed to your new tab page. You can select categories for the news stories. You can also customize your feed by topics.

Finally, there’s a search bar on the new tab page. It links to Yahoo. Using Yahoo search for monetization is extremely common, lots of browser extensions do it. But often they don’t let the user select their own search engine, which is very unhelpful. Yahoo is a fine search engine, but not everyone wants to use it.

Other questions

Distribution

There you have it – News Reader replaces your browser’s new tab/home page and gives you a news feed in exchange for restricting your web searches performed from the new tab. This extension has a few versions, the newest one currently has 6 thousand users according to the Chrome Web Store counter.

Interestingly, not a single rating or review has been left by the thousands of News Reader’s users. This happens a lot with extensions that use iffy distribution tactics, like deceptive ads or adware bundling, which lead users to install add-ons unknowingly. Some of Tightrope’s older extensions did that. But since I haven’t seen News Reader use such ads, I really can’t say that this is the reason for its lack of reviews. Could be something else completely.

Privacy

Privacy is another important question. News Reader’s privacy policy doesn’t talk about it logging search queries or browsing history, which makes this add-on quite private.

Then again, News Reader’s description on the Chrome Web Store about why it needs to read your browsing history is a bit nebulous. And the permission explanations displayed by the extension when it is installed seem inaccurate (they say that News Reader replaces the default search engine used in the address bar, which it does not do).

How to remove News Reader

If you want to keep using News Reader, that should be completely safe. Although News Reader’s privacy policy and permission descriptions don’t always match, overall, the privacy policy is better than many other browser extensions. News Reader makes money when you use the search box on the new tab and, in exchange, you get a new tab extension that you like.

It’s also recommended to check your device for adware and for potentially unwanted programs. You can do that with an anti-malware app, such as Spyhunter for Windows or Combo Cleaner for macOS. You can also look at your most recently installed apps and programs and check them for suspicious items.

For news feeds, there are many websites, apps, and a few browser extensions that allow you to read customized news feeds, organize your news, and preview news (The Best RSS Readers and News Aggregation Apps). Some are free and ad-supported (they include labeled ads among the news items), some offer free and paid alternatives. There are even a few open-source apps out there.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove browser extensions

TopHow To remove News Reader New Tab 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 News Reader New Tab, 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 News Reader New Tab 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 News Reader New Tab, 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.

How To remove News Reader New Tab 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 News Reader New Tab 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 News Reader New Tab, 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.