Search.searchquicks.com – Quick Search that cannot be trusted

Quick Search is a misleading search engine which seeks to earn the money by redirecting users to sponsored websites or filling their searches with ads. If you were convinced that these ads are worth your attention, we should warn you that that we have never heard of the person who managed to save the money with the help of Search.searchquicks.com.
First of all, you must be aware of the fact that Quick Search virus[1] belongs to the company called Polarity Technologies, Ltd. The company has already become famous for presenting different hijackers almost every day. The latest its creatures are Search.searchicc.com, Search.searcheasysa.com and Search.htrackmyflight.co virus.
When Search.searchquicks.com is installed, it gets permissions that should be considered quite suspicious: the virus can read and change data on Internet sites that user visits, also it can manage themes, extensions and apps, and change browser’s settings. However, the most important sentence from the Privacy Policy of this browser hijacker must be this one:
BY USING THE SERVICES, YOU ARE CONSENTING TO GRANT POLARITY PERMISSION TO COLLECT YOUR URLS AND SEARCH DATA, INCLUDING SEARCH QUERIES THAT MAY CONTAIN PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION, SHARE THEM WITH THIRD PARTIES, AND USE SEARCH-RELATED COOKIES.
All these features are also used to cause the main problem related to this browser hijacker – redirects to extsearch.maxwebsearch.com which then reroutes the victim to a page full of customized Saferbrowser or Yahoo search results.
If you happen to see the name “SaferBrowser” in the new tab window, quit it immediately. This name is associated with other family of browser hijackers[2] that use customized search results to point victims to untrustworthy web pages. To avoid them, you should think of possible Search.searchquicks.com removal solutions. There are two of them – manual and automatic ones.
Even if the title of a website creates an image that it is associated with a legitimate search engine, you should think twice before adding Search.searchquicks.com. Otherwise, you can be redirected to an entirely different site. Such URL swap can be done in order to drive traffic to predetermined websites that focus on revenue making than providing beneficial services. Therefore, that is the main reason why we do not recommend users to interact with these search results.
According to Polarity Technologies, Ltd., users are using the search engine at their own risk and that the company provides no guarantee that its provided content is safe. This gives an idea that it is possible to encounter dangerous content[3] on websites advertised via this browser hijacker, so there is no doubt that you must be very careful if you decide to continue using its shady search.
Experts from our team advise users to remove Search.searchquicks.com using professional malware removal software like FortectIntego. This is the easiest way to stop redirect, spying on you and similar unauthorized activities from happening. You can also uninstall this hijacker manually, by using a comprehensive removal guide provided below this article.

Distribution of browser hijackers is based on software bundling technique
Software bundling[4] is often used for distribution of various potentially unwanted programs such as adware or browser hijackers. There is no doubt that this technique helped Search.searchquicks hijack your PC without your knowledge. This trick works perfectly because it is based on the fact that users tend to rely on suggested software installation settings.
Users still believe that Standard or Default software installation settings are the “right” ones that can ensure smooth and quick installation of a program. Sadly, this misleading belief often forces users to install unwanted programs because developers of popular software tend to make deals with creators of ad-supported programs and silently supplement Default or Standard software installation settings with permissions to install extra programs along with the one that user chose to install.
The only way to deselect these permissions is to choose Custom or Advanced installation settings first. Then the user should modify the list of suggested additions[5], for example, remove the checkmark from authorization to set home and new tab page to searchquicks.com.
Remove Search.searchquicks.com from browsers with ease
Users that are looking for a quick way to remove Search.searchquicks.com virus should firstly download and install an anti-spyware program. This step is not necessary because technically users can uninstall Search.searchquicks hijacker manually, however, automatic removal option is a hands-down the best choice because it ensures removal of all unwanted programs at once. If your only concern is Search.searchquicks.com removal, follow instructions we provide below.
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.

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.

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