Search.searchtheuniverses.com (Free Guide) - Removal Instructions

Search.searchtheuniverses.com Removal Guide

What is Search.searchtheuniverses.com?

Search.searchtheuniverses.com – a browser hijacker that “levels up” the browsing experience in a negative way

Search.searchtheuniverses.com virusSearch.searchtheuniverses.com - a PUP which might look legal from the first view but truly is just an unwanted app which does not bring any real value for the users.

Search.searchtheuniverses.com is a fake search engine which is promoted by the SearchTheUniverses browser addon. This PUP[1] manages to enter the system without any sign because of bundling. However, it might seem only from the first sight because victims are typically convinced into letting this hijacker after hearing that it can improve their browsing activity. Unfortunately, once installed, SearchTheUniverses starts displaying ads in users' searches and redirects them to sponsored websites. Switching to Google, Yahoo or other search provider becomes almost impossible because this virus changes the homepage or the default search engine on each of web browsers to hxxt://search.searchtheuniverses.com.

Name Search.searchtheuniverses.com
Type Browser hijacker
Browsers affected Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Opera
Danger level Low. Affects only browsers by itself but might redirect you to a harmful website
Data collection This browser-hijacking collects data related to users' browsing habits. Personal information is not collected
distribution Freeware; shareware
Prevention Install an antivirus program; avoid visiting dubious-looking pages; use only original downloaders; follow every installation step to deselect optional components
Elimination Use FortectIntego to uninstall SearchTheUniverses

You can start facing redirects caused by Search.searchtheuniverses.com virus out of nowhere. In this case, you should try to remember what freeware have you installed on your computer recently. No matter how harmless this browser hijacker[2] seems, beware that this search provider provides search query results that might be false.

Moreover, developers of SearchTheUniverses are very likely to capture such data:

  • Sites you have visited;
  • Bookmarks saved;
  • IP addresses;
  • Search requests typed in;
  • Videos and photos viewed;
  • Audios listened.

This data is shared with third-parties and might bring even bigger income for the PUP's developers. If you treat your personal information with carefulness, avoid such possibly malicious programs by performing the Search.searchtheuniverses.com removal on your computer. For that, we recommend using FortectIntego or any other trusted and professional anti-malware program.

Search.searchtheuniverses.com hijack is very similar to many other ones caused by:

No matter that these search providers are considered as potentially unwanted, you should not ignore the symptoms of the browser hijacker. In this case, remove Search.searchtheuniverses.com from your PC and also reset your web browsers permanently. You can also find manual removal steps below this article. Perform them as required, otherwise, you might not get rid of all browser-hijacking components correctly.

Searchtheuniverses PUPSearchtheuniverses is a browser hijacker that promises to improve users' searches. Unfortunately, it might redirect you to harmful web pages by providing altered search results.

Freeware and shareware are likely to spread PUPs

According to IT researchers[3], if you got a browser hijacker infection, it might have come from a bundle that you have downloaded recently. When you use third-party installers you might install unwanted components together with the regular program. To avoid this, deselect the Quick/Recommended settings option and click on the Custom or Advanced section. Opt-out all components that you do not want to download on your computer.

Moreover, various networks and web pages might also be responsible for a browser hijacker distribution. Websites such as peer-to-peer ones come from secondary sources and might be improperly disclosed. Stay away from such sites as much as possible. Furthermore, install antivirus protection to secure your computer system fully.

Make sure Search.searchtheuniverses.com vanishes permanently

To remove Search.searchtheuniverses.com virus from your PC, you need to install an anti-malware tool which will guide you thru the entire process and make it easy to maintain. However, if you want to get rid of the cyber threat by yourself and clean browsers on your own, you can read the instructions that are provided below.

After your proceed with the automatical Search.searchtheuniverses.com hijack elimination process, you will need to refresh browsers that were affected by the PUP. Reset them to make sure that all dubious components were deleted successfully.

If you want to perform manual Search.searchtheuniverses.com removal and clean browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, or Safari, you will need to eliminate all unnecessary browser extensions, add-ons, and plug-ins. Make sure you follow each step cautiously.

You may remove virus damage with a help of FortectIntego. SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner and Malwarebytes are recommended to detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.

Offer
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Compatible with Microsoft Windows Compatible with macOS
What to do if failed?
If you failed to fix virus damage using Fortect Intego, submit a question to our support team and provide as much details as possible.
Fortect Intego has a free limited scanner. Fortect Intego offers more through scan when you purchase its full version. When free scanner detects issues, you can fix them using free manual repairs or you can decide to purchase the full version in order to fix them automatically.
Alternative Software
Different software has a different purpose. If you didn’t succeed in fixing corrupted files with Fortect, try running SpyHunter 5.
Alternative Software
Different software has a different purpose. If you didn’t succeed in fixing corrupted files with Intego, try running Combo Cleaner.

Getting rid of Search.searchtheuniverses.com. Follow these steps

Uninstall from Windows

Remove the browser-hijacking app from your Windows operating system by following these steps:

Instructions for Windows 10/8  machines:

  1. Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
  2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program. Uninstall from Windows 1
  3. From the list, find the entry of the suspicious program.
  4. Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
  5. If User Account Control shows up, click Yes.
  6. Wait till uninstallation process is complete and click OK. Uninstall from Windows 2

If you are Windows 7/XP user, proceed with the following instructions:

  1. Click on Windows Start > Control Panel located on the right pane (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
  2. In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program. Uninstall from Windows 7/XP
  3. Pick the unwanted application by clicking on it once.
  4. At the top, click Uninstall/Change.
  5. In the confirmation prompt, pick Yes.
  6. Click OK once the removal process is finished.

Delete from macOS

Clean your Mac OS X from the PUP and all its components by reading these instructions:

Remove items from Applications folder:

  1. From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
  2. In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
  3. Click on the app and drag it to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash) Uninstall from Mac 1

To fully remove an unwanted app, you need to access Application Support, LaunchAgents, and LaunchDaemons folders and delete relevant files:

  1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
  2. Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
  3. In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
  4. Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files. Uninstall from Mac 2

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Reset Microsoft Edge using this guide:

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 on Uninstall at the bottom. 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 Privacy & security.
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. Select everything (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 Disable if you found any suspicious domain.

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

If this solution failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method. Note that you need to backup your data before proceeding.

  1. Find the following folder on your computer: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Packages\\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
  2. Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all folders.
  3. Right-click on them and pick Delete Advanced MS Edge reset 1
  4. Now right-click on the Start button and pick Windows PowerShell (Admin).
  5. When the new window opens, copy and paste the following command, and then press Enter:

    Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\\AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose Advanced MS Edge reset 2

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. 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 unwanted plugin 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 Options.
  3. Under Home options, enter your preferred site that will open every time you newly open the Mozilla Firefox.

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, as well as Cached Web Content and press 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

Clean your Google Chrome browser by going thru these steps:

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 the suspicious plugins that might be 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 unwanted extensions from Safari:

  1. Click Safari > Preferences…
  2. In the new window, pick Extensions.
  3. Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall. Remove extensions from Safari

Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:

  1. Click Safari > Clear History…
  2. From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
  3. Confirm with Clear History. Clear cookies and website data from Safari

Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:

  1. Click Safari > Preferences…
  2. Go to Advanced tab.
  3. Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
  4. From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches. Reset Safari

After uninstalling this potentially unwanted program (PUP) and fixing each of your web browsers, we recommend you to scan your PC system with a reputable anti-spyware. This will help you to get rid of Search.searchtheuniverses.com registry traces and will also identify related parasites or possible malware infections on your computer. For that you can use our top-rated malware remover: FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.

How to prevent from getting stealing programs

Do not let government spy on you

The government has many issues in regards to tracking users' data and spying on citizens, so you should take this into consideration and learn more about shady information gathering practices. Avoid any unwanted government tracking or spying by going totally anonymous on the internet. 

You can choose a different location when you go online and access any material you want without particular content restrictions. You can easily enjoy internet connection without any risks of being hacked by using Private Internet Access VPN.

Control the information that can be accessed by government any other unwanted party and surf online without being spied on. Even if you are not involved in illegal activities or trust your selection of services, platforms, be suspicious for your own security and take precautionary measures by using the VPN service.

Backup files for the later use, in case of the malware attack

Computer users can suffer from data losses due to cyber infections or their own faulty doings. Ransomware can encrypt and hold files hostage, while unforeseen power cuts might cause a loss of important documents. If you have proper up-to-date backups, you can easily recover after such an incident and get back to work. It is also equally important to update backups on a regular basis so that the newest information remains intact – you can set this process to be performed automatically.

When you have the previous version of every important document or project you can avoid frustration and breakdowns. It comes in handy when malware strikes out of nowhere. Use Data Recovery Pro for the data restoration process.

About the author
Ugnius Kiguolis
Ugnius Kiguolis - The mastermind

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