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Where did ibox come from that recently showed up on Firefox on my iMac computer and is it a virus?

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  • Last reply by cor-el

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inbox recently appeared on Firefox on my iMac computer as a search engine. I don't know where it came from or if it might be a virus? Is inbox a Mozilla program? Should I get rid of it?

inbox recently appeared on Firefox on my iMac computer as a search engine. I don't know where it came from or if it might be a virus? Is inbox a Mozilla program? Should I get rid of it?

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Try [/questions/785267] How do I uninstall inbox.com on a Mac

Do you see this search engine in Manage Search Engines?

Try to delete the search.json file and possible search-metadata.json and search.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder to reset the search engines to the default.


You can use the SearchReset extension to reset some preferences to the default values.

Note that the SearchReset extension only runs once and then uninstalls automatically, so it won't show on the "Firefox > Add-ons" page (about:addons).

If you do not keep changes after a restart or otherwise have problems with preferences, see:

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I read the entries that others tried with varying degrees of success and decided that first I would like to find out where this program came from and whether or not it is a virus or some other dreadful thing that will damage my computer, it's programs or compromise my privacy. I never requested it or anything like it so how did it get installed? By the way I am running a iMac 10.7.5 and not being a techie I will probably have to have one remove it for me rather than risk me doing more damage! So does anyone know inbox's origins, if it's a virus and should be removed pronto? Thanks!

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Create a new profile as a test to check if your current profile is causing the problems.
A Reset is probably working as well for this issue with either the search engines and/or preferences.

See "Creating a profile":

When you reset Firefox then a new profile is created and some personal data (bookmarks, history, cookies, passwords, form data) is automatically imported and the current profile folder will be moved to an "Old Firefox Data" folder on the desktop.
Installed extensions and other customizations (toolbars, prefs) that you have made are lost and need to be redone.

It is possible to recover more data from the old profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over the problem.

If the new profile works then you can possibly transfer more files from an existing profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over the problem.