Why should you remove Searchme virus?
Searchme is a potentially unwanted application which can show up on your computer in as a legitimate-looking toolbar. This application is not a virus or malware, but it can hardly help you enhance your Internet browsing experience either. After investigating the program, we have discovered that this suspicious program is a browser hijacker, which promotes a Searchme.com search engine and modifies search results to advertise sponsors’ websites. In addition, you may also notice that your visited sites are getting packed with sponsored pop-up advertisements which, once clicked, redirect to suspicious sites. Suspicious sites can suggest you to install questionable software updates, apps, and similar content that can put your computer’s security at risk. Note that this hijacker is compatible with all main browsers, including Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. This means that you will not avoid these problems if you simply decide to change the browser. To stop the unpleasant consequences of the hijack, you will have to remove SearchMe from the system. For that, we suggest using tested and acknowledged antivirus utilities, such as FortectIntego.

Besides the already mentioned problems the Searchme.com virus provokes on the infected computer, it may also be involved in data tracking. The information about your most visited websites, frequently viewed pages or computer’s IP address might not be highly confidential, but there are numerous ways it can be used. Also, keeping in mind the unpredictability of viruses you cannot be sure if your sensitive data is really safe either. Only a Searchme removal can ensure that your data is not exposed, and you will not be redirected to unfamiliar domains. It is also important to get rid of the virus because as long as its stays in the system, the computer’s will not be working to its fullest potential and, naturally, will be more vulnerable to cyber infections.
How is this virus distributed and how it infected your PC?
SearchMe is distributed via its official website and other sites that are used for spreading such and similar programs. However, you should also remember that it can also get inside the system in a bundle with freeware and shareware. This method is called bundling and can be avoided by paying more attention to the installation process of the freeware. Typically, you should find a check mark, which allows Searchme installation or agrees to set searchme.com or search.conduit.com as a start page/default search engine. If you discovered this search engine on your computer, you missed these conditions. In this case, you should remove SearchMe from the system and us more reputable search engines for searching information online.
Suggestions on dealing with the SearchMe removal:
There are two ways the SearchMe removal can be carried out without posing an additional threat to your computer’s health. For the less experienced users, the security experts recommend an automatic approach which simply requires the victim of the hijack to scan the computer using an automatic antivirus utility. The further detection, identification, and removal steps are carried out automatically. In case you have dealt with virus eradication before and simply need some guidelines in order to remove SearchMe from the computer safely, follow the instructions below the article.
Uninstall from Windows
Uninstall from Windows 10/8:
- Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.

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

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

Delete from macOS
Remove the unwanted application:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).

Delete leftover files and folders:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
- Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.

- Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.
Remove from Microsoft Edge
Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:
- Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
- From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
- Click Remove.

Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- 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.

Restore new tab and homepage settings:
- Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
- Then find On startup section.
- Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.
Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:
- Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
- Select Details tab.
- 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.

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge
Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):
- Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
- Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and site data:
- Click on Menu and go to Settings.
- Select Privacy, search and services.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Under Time range, pick All time.
- Select Clear now.

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

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

Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Settings.
- Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.
Clear cookies and site data:
- Click Menu and pick Settings.
- Go to Privacy & Security section.
- Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
- Click on Clear Data...
- Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.

Reset Mozilla Firefox
If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
- Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.

- Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
- Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.

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

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

Change your homepage:
- Click menu and choose Settings.
- Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
- 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:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
- Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
- Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
- Confirm with Reset settings.

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

Clear history and website data:
- Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
- Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.

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

Did this guide help?
2 comments
4Keithlyn
the site looks obscure. No wonder its infectious
Demonitta
WOw. I did not think I could manage the virus myself! But I did :) thanks for the instructions, guys