How to remove Searchmime.com browser hijacker

Searchmime.com can take over your browsing experience by changing default settings

Searchmime.com is classified as a browser hijacker because it changes the main settings of the browser like the homepage, new tab address, search engine, and causes redirects. This poses a threat to user privacy and security. Although browser hijackers are not considered to be malicious, they can lead to serious infections.

Because the changes happen quickly and unexpectedly, many think that they have been infected with a virus. But most of the time, the appearance of a hijacker is a result of users' own carelessness. Usually, browser hijackers appear in a form of a browser extension or a PUP (potentially unwanted program)^[1] that is installed in the system and performs tasks in the background.

User privacy and security issues

Once Searchmime.com is added, it redirects search queries to search engines of their choice. Usually, hijacker developers do not create their own engines, they just use already existing ones to make them functional. These can be legitimate, like Google, Bing, and fake engines, like nearbyme.io.

If search requests are redirected to fake engines, this can lead to dangerous pages that are full of deceptive ads and more redirects. Pages that try to sell PUPs, or warn about an infection, a missing update, or giveaway. We write about browser hijackers frequently, some of the examples include Search-Mode, QuickAdBlockSearch, and GoCouponSearch.

Some of them users add willingly, without realizing that they will change the whole appearance of the browser. Extensions have been growing in demand and popularity. People want plugins that can block ads, dangerous pages or automatically add the biggest discounts by applying coupon codes automatically while shopping online.

But determining which programs are potentially unwanted by consumers has been hard for web stores. One plugin can be loved by some people and considered to be malicious by others. That is why sometimes hijackers can be installed even from official web stores, which we recommend our readers to use.

Users have to do their own research, getting something from trusted sources is not enough anymore. You have to see if the plugin has enough users or reviews. Look at the description and make sure that there are no spelling or grammar mistakes. The other part is reading the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Find out all the functions that the program has and how your information will be collected.

Many browser hijackers generate revenue not only from redirects to promotional pages but also from user data. They can collect browsing-related information and later sell it to advertising networks that use it to better target you with ads. A good thing to do when you remove the hijacker from your system is to use a repair tool FortectIntego. It can clear your browsers from cookies^[2] automatically so you do not have to worry about it. Besides that, it can fix various system errors that occur after virus infections.

Remove Searchmime.com redirects from your Mac

The first thing we suggest to do is to scan your system with professional security software like SpyHunterCombo Cleaner or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes because the PUA can be disguised as a handy tool. You may delete the wrong files if you attempt to remove them yourself. Many times users do not even know about the existence of such a program in their machine.

That is a result of software bundling^[3] which is mostly used by freeware^[4] distributors. They include additional programs in the installers without disclosing them on their page. They hope that most people will not notice and unfortunately that is what happens most of the time. You should always choose “Custom” or “Advanced” installation methods and not skip through the steps. Inspect the file list and uncheck the boxes next to files that you do not want to install. 

To remove a program manually, you can follow our guide. Keep in mind that this can result in an incomplete elimination and the symptoms can reemerge if you do not remove all the files related to it.

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)

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.

Remove the extension

You can remove plugins by going to your browser settings. Step-by-step instructions for Safari, Chrome, and Firefox are available below:

Safari

• Click Safari > Preferences…
• In the new window, pick Extensions.
• Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall.

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 the suspicious plugins that might be related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.

Mozilla Firefox

• 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 plugin and click Remove.

Additional steps

If you still experience some of the symptoms, you can try clearing your cache or resetting the browser completely.

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.

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.