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Spyware News
  • Active
  • Severity: Medium
  • Browser Hijackers
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Mar 2020

How to remove Protect My Search Daily

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

Olivia Morelli · Ransomware analyst

Protect My Search Daily – a browser extension that should provide secure search and indicate cyber threats for you

Protect My Search DailyProtect My Search Daily is the browser hijacker that promotes other potentially unwanted programs and installs applications of this type on the web browsers to control the internet search results. Browser hijackers supposed to prevent users from harmful sites, provide improved search results, and offer other valuable features, as promotional advertisements for their tool claims. But this PUP falls in the category of potentially unwanted programs because it gets distributed stealthily and without users' knowledge or permission. Even though the program resembles a legitimate search engine or a site that provides proper online search results there is no need to use it as your online search provider since it can expose you to possibly harmful content or lead to malware installations.

The so-called Protect My Search Daily virus is the application focusing on creating redirects and changing particular settings of the browsing tools, so every search goes through the useless domain. The program is advertised on protectmysearchdaily.com and other shady pages that promote such unwanted programs capable of tracking your searches and other data related to online behavior. Unfortunately, due to such promotional material, people tend to install the application without even realizing that this is a cyber threat and intrusive PUP.[1] 

Name Protect My Search Daily
Type Browser hijacker/ unwanted browser application
Symptoms Internet browser settings get manipulated and every search attempt online redirects user to possibly harmful pages and advertising services, injects results with commercial banners, pop-ups, links
Danger Users get forced to visit hijackers' site and other services that expose to possibly malicious content, PUP collects and tracks data regarding users' browsing habits and preferences
Promotional page protectmysearchdaily.com
Distribution Developers promote their products on various misleading sites, advertising services. Also, insecure freeware installations lead to PUP infiltrations because users skip through important steps allowing all included apps to get downloaded
Elimination Protect My Search Daily removal should give the best results when you rely on proper anti-malware tools that can scan the machine fully and eliminate all PUPs, related programs, and files
Repair Since various settings get altered behind your back, you should launch a PC repair tool to tackle virus damage and fix damaged or affected system files automatically. Get FortectIntego pr a similar optimizer for the job

Protect My Search Daily is advertised as the extension that indicates unsafe websites and highlights those domains on the list of search results, so custom searches improve the performance and safety of your machine. However, this tool controls your browsers' search bar and redirects to insecure pages. Visiting unsafe websites can lead to the installation of more severe malware, so you should avoid such activities as much as possible.

Protect My Search Daily supposed to prevent users from accessing harmful pages, but the app itself exposes you to questionable pages by showing altered search results and rerouting online searches through a fake search engine. Unfortunately, people tend to install and download such app unknowingly when the freeware installation setup is not fully disclosing additional programs pre-packed in the bundle.[2]

Developers of this particular browser extension claim that the app is preventing users from visiting harmful pages. However, continuous redirects triggered by Protect My Search Daily exposes a user to sites filled with advertisements, shady promotional content and can even automatically trigger downloads of unwanted and intrusive ad-supported applications.

Protect My Search Daily is one of many potentially unwanted programs that are related to advertising sites and services, the content it shows on the screen of the hijacked web browser is designed to cause more views and page visits on sponsored pages and advertisers' domains. 

This is the reason why you need to remove Protect My Search Daily as soon as possible. When PUP has more time on the machine, it causes more and more pop-ups, redirects, and reroutes to questionable sites. Also, all those ads and sites collect data about your preferences and habits while browsing online, so advertisements delivered to your screen are more geared towards your particular habits and preferences. Personalized ads ensure that you click on the material and go to the needed site or even purchase the promoted product or program. Protect My Search Daily PUPExperts[3] always note that installing anything from promotional ads or sites that offer various browser or system tools can be dangerous due to additional installations and not disclosed automatic downloads. Protect My Search Daily can be included as extra on installation setup for other browser tools or freeware that may look trustworthy.

However, PUP developers make the Protect My Search Daily removal processes even more difficult when they design these PUAs to control additional processes, change settings, and even install programs or files. When browser hijacker gets on the system, it can easily access the registry entries and add new or alter existing ones to keep the PUP more persistent and harder to terminate.

Protect My Search Daily PUP itself manages to manipulate settings like:

  • homepage;
  • search engine;
  • default new tab.

It also installs toolbars, changes bookmarks, adds extensions, or tools on the machine or web browser that has to Protect My Search Daily enabled already. This is the reason why you need a proper anti-malware tool for the cleaning processes, so all the parts of the intruder get deleted at once. As for the files and system settings affected, get a PC repair tool like FortectIntego and run int to make sure that the machine can work smoothly.  ProtectMySearchDaily virus

Third-party downloaders and installers shouldn't be trusted

Bundling is the method that gets employed for the distribution of such intrusive applications, so paying attention to details and choosing freeware sources can be crucial in such infections. PUP developers trick people into downloading, adding, or installing unwanted software by promoting tools online or included the installation as an additional one when people skip through steps if the installation of the desired software.

Such information about additional downloads and the unwanted programs included in the bundle gets hidden behind Custom or Advanced settings. If you go for Recommended or Quick options of the installation, you automatically agree to get all those tools and programs without having the option to deselect them.

So keep the system clean by choosing proper sources of programs, relying on official pages, developers' sites and always go for Advanced or Custom installation options. 

Protect My Search Daily has many components installed on the machine, so get rid of them all with AV tools

Protect My Search Daily virus fakes the legitimacy by redirecting your online searches through engine resembling Yahoo or Bing, but this is a fake search engine that generates unique results but filled with hyperlinks, advertisements, banners and other content that can possibly lead to malware infiltrations or expose you to the dangerous material. The potentially unwanted program and other sites, applications can gather information about you.

Since that data can be misused and needed for generating revenue, you should remove Protect My Search Daily as soon as possible. The more time PUP has on the systems, the more advertising material you encounter, and the more details about your browsing sessions get accessed and gathered. You can become a victim of identity theft or experience other privacy issues.

The best option for such stealthy intruders is an anti-malware tool and a proper system scan. When you go for such Protect My Search Daily removal method, you can eliminate all related applications and delete files associated with the particular intruder. Anti-malware tools check various system parts and places, so you don't need to find all programs manually. The only manual option is browser resetting, but you can find a guide for that 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.

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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