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

How to remove Search.searchlen.com

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

Jake Doevan · Computer technology expert

Why should you avoid search.searchlen.com?

Search.searchlen.com virus is a browser hijacker brought by SaferBrowser. You can access this suspicious search site online, but it is unlikely that you will find it useful. More likely, you will soon be annoyed by not being able to find the relevant information because of the sponsored links and advertisements this suspicious search engine displays instead of the regular results. Therefore, the website creators have to find other ways to get this application on your computer. Most of the time they will use the so-called bundling technique and sneak this hijacker on your computer together with popular freeware or shareware programs. Once the virus is on the system, the first thing you will notice is that your homepage and default search engine are assigned to unfamiliar search.searchlen.com site. If you tried switching back to your regular homepage, you would find you can only achieve temporary results, and the suspicious engine reappears the next time you open your browser. To remove search.searchlen.com fully, you may have to use some professional antivirus utilities, for instance, FortectIntego.

A screenshot of the search.searchlen.com browser hijacker website

Remember that during the time this virus resides on you PC; you should refrain from using the infected browser. Otherwise, get ready to take a front row seat to witness your computer getting infected with malware. How can an innocent-looking search engine bring malicious content into your system? It is rather simple. The hijacker advertises content of numerous third-parties, so there is no guarantee that every single one of them is equally reliable. Therefore, you never know where each search.searchlen.com redirect is going to take you. To have their users more willing to click the ads, the virus may also install additional software to track your browsing activity and use the information to generate user-oriented content. Unless you are interested in receiving questionable online offers and having your system potentially targeted by malware, you should get rid of this search engine without hesitation. You will find tips on search.searchlen.com removal in the following page.

How did this virus appear on my computer?

The search.searchlen.com infect computers the same way other browser hijackers do – through software packages, bundled with other software. If your computer is not protected with a reliable antivirus utility or your system’s security updates are outdated, you are already at risk of being infected. However, even if you do not have professional antivirus software to fend off the viruses, you stop search.searchlen.com from infiltrating your PC manually. When you download a new software into your PC, choose Advanced/Custom installation settings instead of the Quick or Recommended ones and inspect all the installation steps carefully. If you notice “Make search.searchlen.com my homepage” option, deselect it immediately. Continue with the software installation only when you are sure no undesirable content is being installed on your computer.

Recommendations on the search.searchlen.com removal:

Regarding its functionality, search.searchlen.com cannot even compare with the well-known search providers, such as Google, Yahoo or Bing. So why use ad-filled, unreliable sites, when there are already acknowledged and tested search engines on the market? Remove search.searchlen.com right away using a reliable virus-fighting utility, such as FortectIntego or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes. However, you can also take a more hands-on approach and remove the virus manually. To learn how you can do that, check the detailed search.searchlen.com removal guide provided 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

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