How to remove the Babylon toolbar, home page and search engine

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  • Creator: scoobidiver
  • Comment: more explanation, fixed typo, removed duplicated keywords
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Babylon translation software adds a toolbar and other add-ons to browsers. It also changes Firefox preferences such as your home page and search engine. These changes are done in a way that can be difficult to detect and reverse. This article explains how to fully remove Babylon and reset the Firefox options back to normal.

Note: This article only applies to Windows and Mac OS X. To see instructions, choose Windows or Mac OS X from the dropdown menu above.
Important: The steps in this article include using the Firefox reset which is available in the latest version of Firefox. We recommend that you download and install the latest Firefox from mozilla.org/firefox before continuing (see How to install Firefox on Windows for details)(see How to download and install Firefox on Mac for details).

1. Uninstall Babylon translation software

  1. From the Start Menu in the Windows taskbar, select Control Panel. The Control Panel opens.
  2. Open the Windows program listing.
    • Double-click Add or Remove Programs.
  3. From the list of currently installed programs, select Babylon.
  4. To begin the uninstall:
    • Click Remove on the right of Babylon.
  5. In the Babylon Uninstall Wizard that opens, click Uninstall and then follow the onscreen instructions.
  1. From the Start Menu in the Windows taskbar, select Control Panel. The Control Panel opens.
    Open Windows 7 Control Panel
  2. Open the Windows program listing.
    • Click Programs and then Programs and Features.
  3. From the list of currently installed programs, select Babylon.
  4. To begin the uninstall:
    • Click Uninstall at the top of the window.
  5. In the Babylon Uninstall Wizard that opens, click Uninstall and then follow the onscreen instructions.

Open Applications folder, then move Babylon to the Trash, and then empty Trash.

The application is now uninstalled. So let's continue to remove its add-ons, changed preferences and other bundled programs.

2. Remove add-ons from Firefox by resetting Firefox

While Reset Firefox preserves your personal data such as bookmarks, passwords, and history, it will restore everything else to its default settings. Unfortunately, any preference files (such as user.js) not saved in your profile and that overwrite Firefox preferences won't be reset. So you will need additional steps after resetting Firefox.

Remove a toolbar that has taken over your Firefox search or home page
  1. At the top of the Firefox window, click the Firefox button, go over to the Help sub-menu
    (on Windows XP, click the Help menu at the top of the Firefox window) and select Troubleshooting Information.
    Troubleshooting info - win
  2. Click the Reset Firefox button in the upper-right corner of the Troubleshooting Information page.
    Reset Firefox - Win - 1
  3. To continue, click Reset Firefox in the confirmation window that opens.
  4. Firefox will close and be reset. When it's done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click Finish and Firefox will open. That's it – you're done!
  1. On the menu bar, click the Help menu and select Troubleshooting Information.

    Troubleshooting info - mac
  2. Click the Reset Firefox button in the upper-right corner of the Troubleshooting Information page.
    Reset Firefox - Mac - 1
  3. To continue, click Reset Firefox in the confirmation sheet that slides down.
  4. Firefox will close and be reset. When it's done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click Done and Firefox will open. That's it – you're done!

Add-ons are now removed from Firefox.

3. Remove add-ons from your other browsers

If you're also using other browsers, you might want to reset them or remove the Babylon-related add-ons too. The following articles link to external support websites:

4. Reset changed preferences and remove bundled software by checking for malware

After completing the above steps, check your computer for malware in Windows Safe ModeWindows Safe Mode to reset changed preferences and remove bundled software. For a list of scanning programs, see How do I get rid of malware?.

4. Reset changed preferences