Search.montageobox.com is a suspicious website that might become your web browser’s startup page without your authorization. This website pretends to be a reliable web search provider while in reality it works as a tool to advertise a variety of third-party websites in an unfair way. If you want to find out how and why does this website may appear (or if it already did) on your Internet browser, continue reading below:
How can Search.montageobox.com hijack my web browser without my permission?
This website appears on the Internet browser (Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, or Internet Explorer) in case a computer user installs a particular type of potentially unwanted program (PUP), known as a browser hijacker. This one is named identically as the website mentioned before. Keep in mind that Search.montageobox.com browser hijacker can be installed with your approval only, but your ‘permission’ can be obtained in an unfair way.
It is hardly possible to find and directly download PUPs from the Internet. They are spread in an indirect way, via software bundling technique. If you do not want to accidentally install suspicious programs on your PC, be careful whenever you download and install free programs on your PC. PUPs are usually distributed via freeware or shareware, but you can refuse to install them – you just need to know how to do that. The key is to set proper installation settings when installing a new program on your PC. Opt for Advanced or Custom installation option – these settings allows you to choose which software components you do wish to install and which ones you do not. So deselect all offers to install programs you have never heard about, and finish the installation process.

How does Search.montageobox.com work?
Search.montageobox.com PUP is a program that is meant to promote affiliate marketing in exchange for pay-per-click revenue. Therefore, it pretends to be a reliable search engine, while in reality it delivers modified search outcomes every time the user attempts to search for something online via Search.montageobox. To be precise, it produces search results that have their original source hyperlinks replaced with links that lead to predetermined third-party websites. If the user clicks on such sponsored search outcome, Search.montageobox.com redirects him/her to one of its partners’ website. Such rerouting is used to drive traffic to particular sites that sponsor this dubious browser hijacker. For this reason, this hijacker can be called Search.montageobox.com redirect virus.
However, we recommend you to stay away from this search engine. It does not only deliver inaccurate and sponsored search results, but also exposes your computer system to a variety of cyber-risks. You should know that this search engine claims it is NOT liable for any damage these third-party websites might cause to your computer; therefore, it is easy to understand that aforementioned websites can be dangerous or even malicious. They might even try to promote questionable software or infectious apps, so make sure you do not agree to install any files from such unreliable web sources.
If you are a security-minded computer user, you should not consider using Search.montageobox.com as your primary search engine. We recommend replacing it with a more reputable one, e.g. Google, Bing, or Yahoo. Before doing that, you must remove Search.montageobox.com virus from your computer. For that, you can use an anti-spyware software, for example, FortectIntego; also, you can uninstall it manually (manual Search.montageobox.com removal guide is provided on page 2).
Search.montageobox.com removal options
We have already mentioned a list of negative qualities that this program has. However, there are some more. We haven’t mentioned yet that this PUP may send pop-up ads directly to your screen and also add advertising banners on the websites that you visit. Remember, these ads function the same way as Search.montageobox.com search results do – they cause dubious redirects to unreliable websites. All this suspicious activity of Search.montageobox.com virus slows down computer system – it is yet another negative trait of it. We do not think that it is worth to keep this computer parasite on your system because it hardly has any positive qualities at all. Read below to find out how to remove Search.montageobox.com malware – we have provided 2 removal options that you can choose from.
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.
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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