Did your home page or search page suddenly change to MSN or another Microsoft website?

If you use Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows Defender, the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool, or other anti-malware software from Microsoft, these tools might have detected browser hijacking software on your computer and changed your home page or search page in order to protect you.

If this is the case or if you want to change your homepage for any other reason, follow these steps.

To restore your Internet Explorer home page in Internet Explorer 7 and 8

1. In Internet Explorer, navigate to the page that you want to make your home page.
2. Click the down arrow next to the Home icon on the Internet Explorer 8 toolbar.
3. Select Add or Change Home Page.
4. Select either Use this webpage as your only home page, or Add this webpage to your homepage tabs.
5. Click Yes to save your changes.

Watch this video to see how to change your home page (1:08)

To restore your Internet Explorer search provider:

1. In Internet Explorer click the arrow to the right of the search box.

The Internet Explorer search box

2. Click Manage Search Providers.
3. Click the search provider you would like to set as the default, click Set as default, and then click Close.

For more information, see:

• How to restore your Internet Explorer home page and search page preferences
• How to restore a hijacked web browser