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  • Active
  • Severity: High
  • Stealing programs
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · May 2018

How to remove Elastisearch.com

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

ElastiSearch – a fake search engine that can greatly affect your browser’s performance

Elastisearch.com screenshot

ElastiSearch is not a reliable search engine that you can use every day. Technically, it is a browser hijacker that was set to hijack Google Chrome web browser. No matter that its official aim is to provide custom search sessions, it can also track your searches on the web and additionally provide sponsored content among the typical search results. Beware that we do not recommend using ElastiSearch.com for your daily browsing because you can be redirected to an unsafe website.

Summary
Name ElastiSearch
Type Browser hijacker
Affected browser Google  Chrome
Targeted OS Windows, Mac OS X
Symptoms of the infection Changed built-in search box, replaced browser's homepage and new tab URL address, redirects to questionable websites, an increased amount of ads, silent installation of unknown add-ons or extensions
Distribution Software bundles
To ElastiSearch XXX, install FortectIntego and run a full system scan

After infecting your system without your consent or approval, ElastiSearch virus can cause these changes:

  • Default search engine changed.
  • Homepage and new tab are set to elastisearch.com
  • You can’t reach specific sites
  • You see an increased number of ads each time you are browsing the internet
  • You can see new and suspicious bookmarks, favorites and toolbars added
  • Your web browser performs slower
  • You get redirected after each click on a website link.

These browser changes diminish your time online and getting useful results becomes impossible. This is one of the reasons that you need to remove elastisearch.com from your computer as soon as possible. We recommend you to use FortectIntego for better results and later computer system check-ins.

These browser changes are not the only issue regarding Elastisearch.com virus. Browser hijackers tend to collect data like IP addresses, geo-location[1] and other personally non-identifiable data. The privacy policy of this bogus search tool states:

We collect the following data points at an aggregate level, and never at a user level:
User IP Address – For combating spam and fraud and to serve relevant web and ad results based on user’s country/location
Search Term – To improve search results
Ad clicked, Organic/ Web results clicked & Search Engine Overridden – To improve search results
User Agent – To serve appropriate SERP (search engine results page) design.

Despite the fact, it collects only non-personally identifiable information, the hijacker might still put your privacy and security at risk. All the collected information might be used for delivering targeted ads. However, these interested-based pop-ups or banners might be misleading and redirect to potentially dangerous websites or trick into downloading dangerous programs.

We want to urge you to hurry up with ElastiSearch removal. This tool won’t boost your browsing activities. As you can see, this search tool can only give opposite results, and make surfing the web complicated and dangerous.

Elastisearch.com virus illustration

Insecure downloads can lead to browser infections

Before downloading software from questionable sites or P2P[2] networks, you need to think twice. You can get additional free programs without knowing. Skipping through installation steps is potentially dangerous because while doing so you permit questionable program installs.

Specialists from NoVirus.uk[3] report about proper freeware installation practices. You need to choose Advanced or Custom settings during these processes. This routine can give you an opportunity to de-select unwanted programs and only install what you need. Always remove any suspicious extensions from your browser and make sure to get software only from legitimate websites.

Uninstall Elastisearch.com from your browser

You can remove Elastisearch.com either manually or automatically. If you choose the first elimination option, you should found our prepared guide below handy. However, you need to be attentive. This method requires uninstalling all related programs and browser extensions.

However, you can simplify ElastiSearch.com removal by scanning your computer with anti-malware software. This method suggests running a full system scan and resetting affected web browsers.

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.

Reset Internet Explorer

Remove dangerous add-ons:

  1. Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
  2. Pick Manage Add-ons.
  3. You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.Remove add-ons from Internet Explorer

Change your homepage if it was altered:

  1. Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
  2. Select Internet Options.
  3. In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
  4. Click Apply and then select OK.Reset IE homepage

Delete temporary files:

  1. Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
  2. Under Browsing history, click Delete...
  3. Select relevant fields and press Delete.Clear temporary files from Internet Explorer

Reset Internet Explorer:

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

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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