Go/bless-auth is a source of annoying page redirects
The reason you are here might be some activity on your screen coming from go/bless-auth page appearing when you tried to log out of YouTube. This might include phishing, page redirects and adjustments to the homepage and search engine of your Chrome or Firefox browser. Such behavior may seem strange and unwanted to many users, and some people may even believe that a malicious virus has infected their computer. You should fear not, however, because go/bless-auth belongs to the category of browser hijackers and fortunately, is not a virus. This doesn’t make it any less annoying, though, so we’ll explain to you what this program can do specifically on your computer in the lines that follow.
What can the go/bless-auth virus do?
go/bless-auth is a component that takes control of your web browser and causes a plethora of aggressively popping tabs, advertisements, and promotional pages. These kinds of programs, like Chromstera, Sync Search, Magna Engine, are typically found online because they primarily operate under what are known as Pay-Per-Click compensation plans, in which sponsored adverts are shown to users in their browsers with the intention of collecting clicks from them in order to make money. Furthermore, even though they are undoubtedly not intended to damage your computer, once you install them, they might irritate you and interfere with your browsing, making it difficult for you to use your browser as usual.
What is go/bless-auth?
Programs like go/bless-auth are generally safe, in contrast to viruses and malicious threats like Trojan horses, ransomware, and spyware. It makes no attempt to damage your system or files, nor does it infect your computer. On the other hand, if your browser keeps rerouting pages and displaying various pop-ups and advertisements each time you open it, you might find yourself busy. In order to determine your preferences and match them with its sponsored adverts, this hijacker may also access your browsing history and utilize data from your most recent online searches and interests. Because of the continuous background activity that generates ads, you might experience lags on your computer, slow browser loads that take a long time to load pages, screen freezing, etc.
How dangerous are the go/bless-auth Pop-ups?
Aside from the disturbance we explained above, we would caution you not to interact with the pages that redirect and the ads that pop up at random because you never know when you might unintentionally come across malware or a nasty virus that has been carefully disguised as a phony website or advertisement. Trojans frequently disguise themselves as enticing advertisements or websites, particularly in the present day, when they are disseminating crypto viruses like ransomware. In light of this, you might be able to avoid the risk of being redirected to a malicious website by removing the bothersome hijacker.
How did you install go/bless-auth on Chrome?
Unlike viruses, go/bless-auth did not infiltrate your computer covertly. In fact, you installed this browser hijacker on your computer just like any other piece of approved software. You, indeed! This typically occurs when you download an installation pack, which is typically included with free software, or a desired program that contains a browser hijacker. The pack installs itself as soon as the installer is launched, and by default, the hijacker is installed if you choose to install it without reading the EULA and just click the OK button to proceed with the standard installation option. This is a typical user error, and the result is usually a ton of bloatware and unwanted components.
What is the goal of the go/bless-auth and how to protect your device?
The goal of the page redirects, the homepage modifications, and the search engine optimization initiated by go/bless-auth is typically to expose you to a sponsored website called go/bless-auth and more of its sponsored advertisements in the hopes that you will click on them. Make sure to check for phishing attempts by verifying if your website displays the padlock logo or if you’re using a VPN. If you suspect anything fishy, report it to Google for safety measures. Additionally, securely erase your browsing history, sign out, and log back in either on the same device or a different one to change passwords. Google now offers passkeys for signing in, which are more secure than alphanumeric passwords, so always opt for this option when available. However, you can always uninstall the browser hijacker from your computer if you don’t want to see endless advertisements and promotional pages on your screen. We’ll walk you through the process in the guide below.
Name | go/bless-auth |
Type | Browser Hijacker |
Detection Tool | Some threats reinstall themselves if you don't delete their core files. We recommend downloading SpyHunter to remove harmful programs for you. This may save you hours and ensure you don't harm your system by deleting the wrong files. |
Remove go/bless-auth Virus
To try and remove go/bless-auth quickly you can try this:
- Go to your browser’s settings and select More Tools (or Add-ons, depending on your browser).
- Then click on the Extensions tab.
- Look for the go/bless-auth extension (as well as any other unfamiliar ones).
- Remove go/bless-auth by clicking on the Trash Bin icon next to its name.
- Confirm and get rid of go/bless-auth and any other suspicious items.
If this does not work as described please follow our more detailed go/bless-auth removal guide below.
If you have a Windows virus, continue with the guide below.
If you have a Mac virus, please use our How to remove Ads on Mac guide.
If you have an Android virus, please use our Android Malware Removal guide.
If you have an iPhone virus, please use our iPhone Virus Removal guide.
Some of the steps may require you to exit the page. Bookmark it for later reference.
Next, Reboot in Safe Mode (use this guide if you don’t know how to do it).
Uninstall the go/bless-auth app and kill its processes
The first thing you must try to do is look for any sketchy installs on your computer and uninstall anything you think may come from go/bless-auth. After that, you’ll also need to get rid of any processes that may be related to the unwanted app by searching for them in the Task Manager.
Note that sometimes an app, especially a rogue one, may ask you to install something else or keep some of its data (such as settings files) on your PC – never agree to that when trying to delete a potentially rogue software. You need to make sure that everything is removed from your PC to get rid of the malware. Also, if you aren’t allowed to go through with the uninstallation, proceed with the guide, and try again after you’ve completed everything else.
- Uninstalling the rogue app
- Killing any rogue processes
Type Apps & Features in the Start Menu, open the first result, sort the list of apps by date, and look for suspicious recently installed entries.
Click on anything you think could be linked to go/bless-auth, then select uninstall, and follow the prompts to delete the app.
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc, click More Details (if it’s not already clicked), and look for suspicious entries that may be linked to go/bless-auth.
If you come across a questionable process, right-click it, click Open File Location, scan the files with the free online malware scanner shown below, and then delete anything that gets flagged as a threat.
After that, if the rogue process is still visible in the Task Manager, right-click it again and select End Process.
Undo go/bless-auth changes made to different system settings
It’s possible that go/bless-auth has affected various parts of your system, making changes to their settings. This can enable the malware to stay on the computer or automatically reinstall itself after you’ve seemingly deleted it. Therefore, you need to check the following elements by going to the Start Menu, searching for specific system elements that may have been affected, and pressing Enter to open them and see if anything has been changed there without your approval. Then you must undo any unwanted changes made to these settings in the way shown below:
- DNS
- Hosts
- Startup
- Task
Scheduler - Services
- Registry
Type in Start Menu: View network connections
Right-click on your primary network, go to Properties, and do this:
Type in Start Menu: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
Type in the Start Menu: Startup apps
Type in the Start Menu: Task Scheduler
Type in the Start Menu: Services
Type in the Start Menu: Registry Editor
Press Ctrl + F to open the search window
Remove go/bless-auth from your browsers
- Delete go/bless-auth from Chrome
- Delete go/bless-auth from Firefox
- Delete go/bless-auth from Edge
- Go to the Chrome menu > More tools > Extensions, and toggle off and Remove any unwanted extensions.
- Next, in the Chrome Menu, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data > Advanced. Tick everything except Passwords and click OK.
- Go to Privacy & Security > Site Settings > Notifications and delete any suspicious sites that are allowed to send you notifications. Do the same in Site Settings > Pop-ups and redirects.
- Go to Appearance and if there’s a suspicious URL in the Custom web address field, delete it.
- irefox menu, go to Add-ons and themes > Extensions, toggle off any questionable extensions, click their three-dots menu, and click Remove.
- Open Settings from the Firefox menu, go to Privacy & Security > Clear Data, and click Clear.
- Scroll down to Permissions, click Settings on each permission, and delete from it any questionable sites.
- Go to the Home tab, see if there’s a suspicious URL in the Homepage and new windows field, and delete it.
- Open the browser menu, go to Extensions, click Manage Extensions, and Disable and Remove any rogue items.
- From the browser menu, click Settings > Privacy, searches, and services > Choose what to clear, check all boxes except Passwords, and click Clear now.
- Go to the Cookies and site permissions tab, check each type of permission for permitted rogue sites, and delete them.
- Open the Start, home, and new tabs section, and if there’s a rogue URL under Home button, delete it.
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