Axisearch.com: what it is and how to remove it

Because something keeps setting it. An extension can change the search engine every time the browser starts, and an ad-supported program in Windows can do it for every browser and re-add the extension after you remove it. Some hijackers also add a policy that locks the setting.

Changing the search engine back only works once the source is gone. Remove extensions you do not recognise, uninstall programs installed around the time axisearch.com first appeared, and then set the search engine again. If it still returns, check the browser for the Managed by your organization message and follow the policy steps in this guide.

It is a browser hijacker, not a virus in the classic sense. axisearch.com is a search page that an extension or program set as your default without a clear choice from you.

It does not destroy files or spread to other PCs, but it takes control of your searches, collects them and shows ads, and the software behind it is often bundled with other unwanted programs.

Many antivirus products flag such software as potentially unwanted. Removing the extension or program and resetting the search engine is enough in most cases. A full scan afterwards checks for anything else that came with it.

Because the browser's default search engine was changed to it. Axisearch.com did that through an extension, a program or a browser policy, and as long as that source remains, the setting points to axisearch.com.

The page then passes your query to a real search provider, so the results look almost normal, with extra sponsored links on top. Changing the search engine back on its own does not last, because the source resets it. Remove the extension or program first, then the policies if any, then set your own search engine.

We would not. Every query you type is logged by its operators and shared with their advertising partners, and the sponsored links at the top are chosen for payment, not relevance. Results that look like a download page or a support site may lead to scams.

The page will not damage Windows by itself, but there is no benefit in keeping it: the results come from another search engine anyway. Remove Axisearch.com and use that search engine directly, by typing its address or choosing it in the browser settings.

We saw it in Chrome, Edge and Firefox. That does not mean the other browsers on your PC are safe: hijacker installers usually change every browser they find, and browser sync can carry an extension to other computers signed in to the same account.

Check the search engine, home page, new tab, extensions and policies in each browser you have, including ones you rarely open. Chrome and Edge profiles count separately, so switch to each profile and check it as well before you call the job done.

It knows what you searched for while it was your search engine, when, from which IP address and with which browser, and usually which results you opened. Tracking cookies let it connect those searches into a profile. It does not see your saved passwords or files.

After removing Axisearch.com, delete the cookies and site data for axisearch.com so the profile cannot be continued, and remove it from the browser's list of saved search engines. Signing out of important sites and back in also replaces session cookies.

A reset disables extensions, restores the default search engine, start page and new tab, and clears temporary data and cookies. It keeps bookmarks, history and saved passwords. For many hijackers that is enough.

It does not remove a program installed in Windows, policies in the registry, changes to the hosts file or DNS, or edited shortcuts, so Axisearch.com can come back after a reset if one of those remains. Do the reset after removing the program and policies, not instead of it.

The hijacker is still installed, and it rewrites the setting whenever the browser starts or the extension updates. Changing the setting is the last step, not the first. Find what controls it: the search settings page usually names the extension, and a greyed-out field means a policy.

Remove that source, restart the browser, then pick your search engine and delete the hijacker's entry from the list of saved search engines so it cannot be chosen by accident. Check again after a day, when extensions have had a chance to update.

Partly. Many hijacker search pages pass your query to a real search engine and show its results, so the list looks familiar. What changes is the frame around it:

• extra sponsored links at the top
• the hijacker's own tracking
• sometimes a design that copies a known search engine

You can tell by the address bar. If it shows axisearch.com or another unfamiliar domain instead of the search engine you know, the results come through a middleman. Remove Axisearch.com and search directly.

Fortect scans Windows for malware and unwanted programs and repairs the system files and settings they change, and its free scan shows what it finds on your PC before you decide anything.

For Axisearch.com, follow the plan above as well: the browser steps take back permissions and settings that no scanner treats as a threat, and uninstalling the program that brought it removes the source.

Run Microsoft Defender's full scan and, if anything was found, its offline scan as a second opinion. If the symptoms are gone after the plan and both scans are clean, there is nothing more to do.