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  • Active
  • Severity: High
  • Stealing programs
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Jul 2016

How to remove Piesearch.com virus

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

What should I remember about Piesearch.com?

Piesearch.com is a search site that is trying to compete with other reputable search providers. However, even though it seems like an ordinary search, you should make a small research on it and we are pretty sure that you will find lots of negative testimonials related to this search engine. Various security vendors have agreed upon labeling this search site as a ‘browser hijacker’ and a ‘potentially unwanted program’ (PUP) due to several important reasons.

First of all, it has been noticed that it’s not possible to download/install Piesearch.com hijacker on computers as an individual application because it always spreads via software packages. It means that right after downloading a media player, PDF creator, download manager or another free application, you may find your web browser’s default start page and search provider replaced with this search site. The first thing that you should notice when browsing with this search provider is Piesearch.com redirect problem. No matter that it may seem that it renders Google search results, you should not trust the ones that have been delivered by this search site because they are sponsored by third parties, what means that they are full of sponsored links to affiliate websites. This can be clearly seen if you try to search the same thing using Google directly and being provided with Google search results by Piesearch.com virus. Be very careful because, as security experts claim, this search may display links to unreliable or even unsafe third-party domains. By the way, keeping this hijacker is risky because it may engage tracking cookies and continuously spy on you with an intention to find more about your browsing habits and flood you with customized advertisements. Last, but not least, this questionable search engine may diminish your web browser’s performance and cause continuous crashes.

Do you want all of this happening? Probably not. So your task is to remove Piesearch.com virus as soon as possible. The best help for that is FortectIntego or another reputable anti-spyware.

the main page of Piesearch virus

Distribution methods used for spreading browser hijackers:

How can Piesearch.com hijack your computer? It is know that it can enter it with or without your approval. Once it does that, it can settle down on each of your web browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari) and can replace your default search provider, the start page and the new tab page. If you want to avoid this questionable search engine, you need to beware of these distribution techniques:

  • Misleading advertising. Piesearch.com redirect issue and similar problems may start interrupting you after falling for a misleading website claiming that this search engine is very reliable and professional. In fact, there are tens of different sites promoting suspicious search engines as useful tools. Please, be careful with them.
  • Bundling. This distribution method involves freeware and shareware filled with third-party add-ons, plug-ins, toolbars, and extensions. If you don’t monitor installation of the freeware, you may be tricked into installing this browser hijacker as your default search provider or a start page right. To avoid that, you must select Advanced or Custom installation option and carefully monitor the entire installation process.

How to remove Piesearch.com virus?

To remove Piesearch.com from the system, you need to select between manual removal method and automatic removal method. Both of these methods are considered reliable. However, if you don’t feel like an advanced PC user, you should select Automatic removal of this browser hijacker. Why are we recommending this removal method? First of all, browser hijackers spread around together with various components that can hardly be found manually. Besides, they can cause redirects to unsafe websites filled with suspicious content. The easiest way to be sure that your computer is totally safe is to scan it with the reliable anti-spyware. All tools that can be used for that are presented below:

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

Did this guide help?

2 comments

  1. Joshuaxxaxa17

    Spyhunter does the job :) It completely removed Piesearch.com redirect from my chrome browser.

  2. tiny00tuppie

    Its so hard to remove it manually :/ cant believe I got infected with this parasite Piesearch.com, which calls itself a search engine. Its close to malware with tricks like that.

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