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

How to remove Maxwebsearch.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

Can I use Maxwebsearch.com for searching the web?

We do NOT recommend using Maxwebsearch.com because this search engine belongs to “browser hijacker” category. When inside and active, it seeks to corrupt each of web browsers and then redirects its victims to sponsored websites. While you may think that such activity isn’t dangerous, just annoying, we would like to recommend you paying more attention to the risks that may be caused by it. For example, maxwebsearch.com redirect may end up on a malicious domain, which is trying to spread a virus. Also, you may end up on a misleading site seeking to trick you into revealing your personal information. Last, but not least, you may be tricked into buying a useless thing, which is more expensive than it is available on other web shops. To prevent these issues, you should avoid maxwebsearch.com virus.

Besides, it is capable of attaching itself to Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and other web browsers, and tracking its users. In most of the cases, it collects personally non-identifiable information, like people’s search terms and mostly visited websites. However, this search engine may also get an ability to reveal your email address or computer’s IP address to unknown third parties. As you can see, you should be very careful with maxwebsearch.com. No matter that it looks like a reliable search engine, it may lead you to various risks. If you want to prevent its redirects and tracking, you should remove this browser hijacker from your computer. The most reliable method that you can use for Maxwebsearch.com removal is automatic removal option. You should install FortectIntego or other reputable anti-spyware and run a full system scan to eliminate its related components.

The main page of Maxwebsearch.com virus

How does this program hijack computers?

Maxwebsearch.com is a potentially unwanted program, which has mostly been promoted with the help of two methods. The first distribution method requires visiting its official website and making this search engine the start page or the default search engine. However, this is not the only way how you can end up with this search site. The other distribution method is closely related to third party software. That’s why there are so many people who report that this search engine infiltrated their computers as a virus. In fact, they are almost right because Maxwebsearch.com hijack issue can hardly be noticed if you fail to monitor installation of the freeware. You can notice that this search engine is trying to get in only by selecting Custom or Advanced installation process. After doing so, you should find the check mark, which agrees to make Maxwebsearch.com the start page or the default search engine, and uncheck it. If this program has already infiltrated your computer, you can fix your computer with the help of this guide:

Maxwebsearch.com removal:

Technically, maxwebsearch.com is not a virus. It is a “browser hijacker”, which can also be added to a “potentially unwanted program” category. However, while it can hardly cause the loss of your personal information, it may try to cause various unwanted activities on your machine. If you want to avoid redirects to unknown websites, banner ads and in-text links in your search results, tracking of your browsing activity and similar issues, you should removemaxwebsearch.com from your computer. You can find two different removal guides provided below. Please, select one of them and follow each of the steps carefully. We would like to recommend you selecting automatic removal option to make sure that there are no questionable files on your computer.

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

Did this guide help?

3 comments

  1. DoFar

    Ive tried to use Maxwebsearch.com but the results are obnoxious.

  2. yeah23

    Good try, but I like Google.com more than this. Though it works, thats a good thing I guess :D

  3. Ahmen

    Its clear that its a virus. I did not install anything on my computer and it appeared out of nowhere.. At least I removed it with these instructions, thanks

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