Searchincognito.com is a redirect virus that leads your online searches to questionable websites instead of improving your privacy

Searchincognito.com is a questionable search engine that infiltrates the system without users' consent. The website appears on the affected browser as a homepage and the default search engine in the form of useful search provider offering incognito searches. Nevertheless, this is a browser hijacker causing more problems than help. The existence of this program on the computer significantly affects the general performance of your device and causes constant redirects to unseen websites. Additionally, this potentially unwanted program[1] can install its dubious extensions, browser helper objects, and similar components used to track users and protect this hijacker from elimination. To sum up, there is no need to trust Search Incognito virus and keep it on the system.
| Name | Searchincognito.com |
|---|---|
| Type | Browser hijacker |
| Category | Potentially unwanted program |
| Affects | Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome |
| Symptoms | Delivers constant ads, redirects to affiliated sites and installs dubious tools or extensions |
| Distribution | Bundled with freeware |
| Elimination | Use FortectIntego for general system cleaning and damage repair |
As you can see, Searchincognito.com is ready for everything. Once it collects a needed amount of data about your search queries[2] to predict your interests, it starts producing promotional content. So, you should treat its search results with carefulness because they can lead you to suspicious Internet sites that might promote dubious software or infectious files.
Finally, it can bombard you with tons of advertisements that can show up in the form of banners, in-text links, and pop-up ads. These ads also include direct links that can end you up on unreliable web sources.
You should look out for commercial content that:
- promotes suspicious software or tools;
- displays the same content over and over again;
- has “provided by Search incognito” or similar statement;
- delivered by the same publisher all the time;
- injects the sites that you commonly use and visit.
These advertisements may contain malicious material or initiate installs of browser extensions, tools, bookmarks or toolbars. Any additional application affects the performance even more and dimish your time online significantly. You need to remove Searchincognito.com before it has affected your computer.
The safest way to deal with this PUP is to get rid of it. Fortunately, for performing Searchincognito.com removal steps on the PC, you need to be very attentive while following removal steps that are listed below. You should also repair virus damage after the elimination with FortectIntego.

Software bundles hide PUPs during installations
In most of the occasions, such doubtful applications slither into PC systems together with free apps or software, such as various players, download managers, PDF creators, converters and similar software. Some PC users tend to skip through the installation process of such programs very quickly and make a huge mistake. Be mindful and forget clicking the “Next” button while trying to install something on your computer.
Researchers[3] note that you should never install programs in a rush. Make sure you read the privacy policy before installing freeware and pay attention to every installation stage. If any of them is automatically set to change your start page and the default search engine, you should uncheck such check mark.
Also, stay away from “basic,” “standard” or “default” installation settings because they can trick you into adding optional software to the system. Instead of these options, you should select “Advanced” or “Custom” installation mode. If you have already been suffering from redirect issue and unwanted ads on your browser, we highly recommend following instructions below.
You should remove Searchincognito.com as soon as possible
Any virus removal can be performed manually or automatically. If you are an experienced computer user, these instructions below the article will help you to uninstall this PUP on your own. If not, we suggest installing an anti-spyware program to remove Searchincognito.com with each of its entries automatically.
Keep in mind that you shouldn't trust its search results that are supposed to redirect people to sponsored websites. Besides, keeping in mind its ability to track users and collect non-personal information, you should think twice before using it for staying “incognito” online. You should perform a Searchincognito.com removal because your system might have additional cyber intruders.
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.
Reset Internet Explorer
Remove dangerous add-ons:
- Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
- Pick Manage Add-ons.
- You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.

Change your homepage if it was altered:
- Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
- Select Internet Options.
- In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
- Click Apply and then select OK.

Delete temporary files:
- Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
- Under Browsing history, click Delete...
- Select relevant fields and press Delete.

Reset Internet Explorer:
- Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
- Select Reset.
- In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.

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.

Did this guide help?
5 comments
lawa
anyone can tell me how the files of this program can be called? i cannot find them on my programs list...
Elsa
Look for Searchincognito.exe, search.incognito.exe or similarly named executive files...
Benedict
Thank you for this removal guide, 2-spyware. I honestly did not know how to remove this computer parasite. Thank you so much.
lawa
found them! thanks!
lolo
thank you so much! already found them.