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

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  • Revision id: 33394
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  • Creator: Michael Verdi
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The Babylon translation software adds a toolbar and other add-ons to Firefox. It also changes 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 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 the Babylon translation software

  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.
    • 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> move Babylon to the Trash> empty Trash.

2. Reset Firefox

While Reset Firefox preserves your personal data such as bookmarks, passwords, and history, it will restore everything else to its default settings. Learn more about the reset feature in the Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings article.

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!

3. Remove add-ons from other browsers on your computer

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. Check for malware

After completing the above steps, it's a good idea to check your computer for malware as Firefox may be suffering from other problems.