Skip to content
  • Active
  • Severity: High
  • Stealing programs
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Aug 2016

How to remove Searchnu

A step-by-step removal guide for affected devices. Follow the verified procedure below — most readers complete it in under 10 minutes.

Lucia Danes · Virus researcher

The dangerous features of the Searchnu virus:

Bandoo Media products have never gained much respect among the cyber security community, so finding out that Searchnu virus is developed by the same company comes as no surprise. To learn more about this program and to determine whether it is really as malicious as claimed in the reports, we have decided to look into it in more detail. In the following article, we will attempt to shed some light on this shady program, expose its flaws and provide a verdict, whether you should remove Searchnu immediately or continue using it.

When investigating such programs, it is always a good idea to look at the Privacy Policy section. The first thing that catches the eye when reading through this document on Searchnu.com search provider is that this site is not referred anywhere in the text. Instead, the users are offered the Privacy Policy of imesh.com, a site which appears to be already terminated. More concerning is the fact that apart from this suspicious document, the site does not provide EULA or any other information whatsoever. Since none of its activities are regulated, this means that you agree with anything this site decides to engage you in. Looking at this site closer, we have found that the Searchnu.com search is powered by Ask.com, but the results that are provided seem to be modified and display only sponsored ads and links. Usually, such links will lead to various commercial sites where you will be offered to purchase some product or service. Unfortunately, Searchnu does not give any verifications about the legitimacy of these products or services, so they can as well be malicious. Thus, be careful not to install some malware by accident or become a victim of online scammers! As soon as you see this or any other unfamiliar search engine replace your regular homepage and search provider, scan the computer with FortectIntego and prevent these hijackers from taking control.

An illustration of the Searchnu virus

Besides, there other reasons that should encourage you not to hesitate with the Searchnu removal. If you checked the information about this search provider on some acknowledged search engines, such as Google, Yahoo or Bing, you would see that users often complain about the Searchnu redirect issue and point out general problems related to the browser performance. The users claim that they keep ending up on unfamiliar domains which bombard them with fake software updaters, ads, lottery winning announcements and similar potentially dangerous content. Other also claim that besides the original domain, there are also searchnu.com/409, searchnu.com/421 and searchnu.com/406 pages that you can get redirected to. Luckily, all of these redirects and problems related to them can be eliminated by carrying out the Searchnu removal.

How did this search engine emerge on your browser?

Upon investigating the program, we have found out that Searchnu is distributed through freeware and shareware bundles. The programs usually targeted by the virus include the popular and well-known mp3 converters, video players and other programs. These software bundles can be featured and promoted on Cnet or similar software download sites, but before downloading them on the computer, there is virtually no way of knowing if they are infected. Thus, we really advise you to be careful about what software you are downloading and what potentially bundled components you actually agree to install on your system. Quick or Recommended settings might not help you disclose additional installs, but if you choose the Advanced installation, you might just stop Searchnu from entering your PC. When choosing this mode, you will be shown a list of bundled programs. Note that they will be automatically pre-checked, so you will need to unmark them manually to stop the installation.

How difficult is the Searchnu removal?

If you decide to remove Searchnu virus from your computer, keep in mind that this virus might not give up that quickly. Of course, it will be not enough to uninstall the program with which it came in. You will need to remove all the virus components one by one including web browser add-ons and search engine providers that this virus might have additionally installed during the time it spent on your computer. Before everything, you need to scan your system with reputable anti-spyware software, such as FortectIntego. If you have some other virus-fighting solution, make sure it is updated to the latest version before you run the scan. If you have no possibility to employ automatic tools, you can always carry out the Searchnu removal manually. We have prepared a detailed tutorial which should help you in the process.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

  1. Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
  2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 10/8

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

  1. Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
  2. In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 7/XP

Remove the unwanted program:

  1. In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
  2. If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.Uninstall the unwanted program from Windows

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

  1. From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
  2. In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).Uninstall from Mac

Delete leftover files and folders:

  1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
  2. Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
  3. Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.Delete leftover files from Mac
  4. Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

  1. Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
  2. From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
  3. Click Remove.Remove extensions from Edge

Clear cookies and other browser data:

  1. Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.Clear Edge browsing data

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

  1. Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
  2. Then find On startup section.
  3. Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

  1. Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
  2. Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
  3. Select Details tab.
  4. Now scroll down and locate every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right-click on each of them and select End Task to stop MS Edge from running.Reset MS Edge

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

  1. Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
  2. Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chromium Edge

Clear cache and site data:

  1. Click on Menu and go to Settings.
  2. Select Privacy, search and services.
  3. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  4. Under Time range, pick All time.
  5. Select Clear now.Clear browser data from Chroum Edge

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. On the left side, pick Reset settings.
  3. Select Restore settings to their default values.
  4. Confirm with Reset.
  5. This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.Reset Chromium Edge

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
  2. Select Add-ons.
  3. In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.Remove extensions from Firefox

Reset the homepage:

  1. Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
  2. Choose Settings.
  3. Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.

Clear cookies and site data:

  1. Click Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security section.
  3. Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
  4. Click on Clear Data...
  5. Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.Clear cookies and site data from Firefox

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
  2. Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.Reset Firefox 1
  3. Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
  4. Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.Reset Firefox 2

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

  1. Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
  2. In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chrome

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

  1. Click on Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
  3. Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
  4. Click Clear data.Clear cache and web data from Chrome

Change your homepage:

  1. Click menu and choose Settings.
  2. Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
  3. Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.

Reset Google Chrome:

If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
  3. Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
  4. Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
  5. Confirm with Reset settings.Reset Chrome 2

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

  1. Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
  2. Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.Remove extensions from Safari

Clear history and website data:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
  2. Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.Clear history from Safari

Reset Safari:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
  2. Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
  3. From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.Reset Safari

47 comments

Spyware news
Privacy preferences

We use cookies to improve your experience and analyze traffic. Some cookies enable embedded content like videos and social posts. Choose what you allow — you can change this anytime.