Searchy.online virus. How to remove? (Uninstall guide)
Searchy.online imitates Google and takes advantage of unsuspecting users to generate ad-revenue
Searchy.online virus is a browser-targeted infection which infiltrates computers against user’s will and runs silently in the background of the system. In the meanwhile, users often do nothing but witness different changes taking place on their computers. The most obvious one is, of course, the replacement of the search engine and browser. To be more precise, Searchy online page becomes the new default website which loads whenever the user launches the browser, opens a new tab or browser window. Besides, while this virus sits on the computer, all searches carried out through the URL tab will end up on this shady website which imitates the well-recognizable style of Google search. In more technical terms, this is called browser hijacking [1]. Such behavioral pattern is an unmistakable sign that the device has been hit by a redirect virus and should encourage everyone to take appropriate action to locate and weed out this malware from their computers. If this is your first time dealing with such parasite, it would be wise to look for some professional assistance to help you with the elimination. Luckily, our experts already prepared a quick tutorial at the end of the article which will come in handy when carrying out Searchy.online removal manually. Besides, you can always save time and choose an much easier option — automatic virus removal. Reputable antivirus software such as Reimage or Plumbytes Anti-MalwareWebroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus are perfect tools to serve this purpose.
We already talked about how Searchy.online finds its way on the computer, but why exactly does it do that? Well, it’s all about making money, really. This search engine is very much advertising-based which means it generates revenue [2] by promoting various products or services. Unfortunately, the pursuit of a greater profit makes advertisers quite indifferent to what they promote and whether the products they sell are actually legitimate and trustworthy. There are numerous cases when browser hijackers will collaborate with Tech Support scammers or malvertisers just to get that extra penny. This search provider does not disclose its affiliations, so we do not think it is safe to keep it installed on the computer, not to mention using it for the web search. It would be best to simply remove Searchy.online from the computer and choose other search services that are safer.
Click 'Start -> Control Panel -> Programs and Features' (if you are 'Windows XP' user, click on 'Add/Remove Programs').
If you are 'Windows 10 / Windows 8' user, then right-click in the lower left corner of the screen. Once 'Quick Access Menu' shows up, select 'Control Panel' and 'Uninstall a Program'.
Right click on each of suspicious entries and select 'Uninstall'
Right click on browsers' icon and select 'Properties'
Select 'Shortcut' tab and delete 'http://isearch.babylon.com...' or other suspicious URL
Cick 'Go' and select 'Applications'
Click on every malicious entry and select 'Move to Trash'
Click on menu icon and select 'Manage add-ons'
Right click on each of malicious entries and select 'Disable'
Delete malicious URL, enter your desired domain name and click 'Apply' to save changes
Go to 'Advanced' tab and click on 'Reset' button. Now select 'Delete personal settings' and click on 'Reset' button again
Go to Settings and select 'Choose what to clear'
Select 'Clear' button
Open the start menu and select 'Task Manager'
Right-click 'Microsoft Edge' and select 'Go to details'
Select 'More details' if 'Go to details' option fails to show up
Find Microsoft Edge entries and select 'End Task'
Go to Microsoft Edge folder on your computer, right-click every entry and click 'Delete'
Find Windows PowerShell, right-click it and select 'Run as administrator'
Copy and paste a required command and press 'Enter'
Click on menu icon and select 'Add-ons'
Select 'Extensions' and look for malicious entries. Click 'Remove' to get rid of each of them
When in 'General' tab, delete malicious URL from 'Home Page' section or click on 'Restore to Default' button. Click 'OK' to save changes
Click on menu icon and then on '?'. Select 'Troubleshooting Information'
Click on 'Reset Firefox' button for a couple of times
Click on menu icon. Select 'Tools' and 'Extensions'
Look for malicious entries and delete each of them by clicking on the Trash bin icon
After clicking on menu and 'Settings', select 'Set pages'
Click 'X' to remove malicious URLs
When in 'Settings', select 'Manage search engines...'
Click 'X' to remove malicious URLs
When in 'Settings', scroll down to 'Reset browser settings' button and click on it
Click on 'Reset' button to complete your removal
Click on 'Safari' and select 'Preferences'
Go to 'Extensions' and uninstall malicious add-ons
When in 'General', delete malicious URL and enter your desired domain name
Click on 'Safari' and select 'Reset Safari...'
Select all options and click on 'Reset' button
PUP gets delivered on the computers via freeware and shareware
Potentially unwanted programs like Searchy.online are not particularly difficult to deploy on the computers. In fact, their creators mostly bundle them with freeware programs and upload the rebundled packages to various software sharing websites. From there, the users can download them completely unaware of their additional malicious content. Luckily, these undesirable programs can be opted out during the installation process, though not all users know that. If you want to avoid Searchy.online from getting inside your PC, opt for the “Advanced” installation settings and follow the procedure steps closely. Unmark any options that allow making unfamiliar websites your default search engines or installing suspicious software.
Professional antivirus software ensures the smoothest Searchy.online removal
While there is always an option to remove Searchy.online virus manually, employing specialized software is always recommended, especially if you are aiming for a quick but thorough system cleanup. But you should always make sure that the software you are using for the virus elimination is legal and compatible with your system. Otherwise, it may cause more damage rather than fix your computer. When you are all set up and ready to perform Searchy.online removal, just run a full system scan, sit back and watch the virus components being deleted from your computer one by one.
You can remove Searchy.online automatically with a help of one of these programs: Reimage, Plumbytes Anti-MalwareWebroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus, Malwarebytes Anti Malware. We recommend these applications because they can easily delete potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
Manual Searchy.online virus Removal Guide:
Remove Searchy.online from Windows systems
The manual Searchy.online virus removal guide from Windows OS is presented below:
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Click Start → Control Panel → Programs and Features (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
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If you are Windows 10 / Windows 8 user, then right-click in the lower left corner of the screen. Once Quick Access Menu shows up, select Control Panel and Uninstall a Program.
- Uninstall Searchy.online and related programs
Here, look for Searchy.online or any other recently installed suspicious programs. -
Uninstall them and click OK to save these changes.
- Remove Searchy.online from Windows shortcuts
Right click on the shortcut of Mozilla Firefox and select Properties. -
Go to Shortcut tab and look at the Target field. Delete malicious URL that is related to your virus.
Repeat steps that are given above with all browsers' shortcuts, including Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. Make sure you check all locations of these shortcuts, including Desktop, Start Menu and taskbar.
WindowsMac OS XInternet ExplorerMicrosoft EdgeFirefoxGoogle ChromeSafariRemove Searchy.online from Mac OS X system
You will remove the hijacker from your Mac OS X by following these simple steps:
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If you are using OS X, click Go button at the top left of the screen and select Applications.
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Wait until you see Applications folder and look for Searchy.online or any other suspicious programs on it. Now right click on every of such entries and select Move to Trash.
Remove Searchy.online from Internet Explorer (IE)
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Remove dangerous add-ons
Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top right corner of the browser and choose Manage Add-ons. -
You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for Searchy.online and other suspicious plugins. Disable these entries by clicking Disable:
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Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Click on the gear icon (menu) on the top right corner of the browser and select Internet Options. Stay in General tab. -
Here, remove malicious URL and enter preferable domain name. Click Apply to save changes.
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Reset Internet Explorer
Click on the gear icon (menu) again and select Internet options. Go to Advanced tab. - Here, select Reset.
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When in the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset again to complete Searchy.online removal.
Remove Searchy.online virus from Microsoft Edge
Free your Microsoft Edge browser from undesirable components, i.e.: toolbars, extensions and others by performing these steps:
Reset Microsoft Edge settings (Method 1):
- Launch Microsoft Edge app and click More (three dots at the top right corner of the screen).
- Click Settings to open more options.
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Once Settings window shows up, click Choose what to clear button under Clear browsing data option.
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Here, select all what you want to remove and click Clear.
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Now you should right-click on the Start button (Windows logo). Here, select Task Manager.
- When in Processes tab, search for Microsoft Edge.
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Right-click on it and choose Go to details option. If can’t see Go to details option, click More details and repeat previous steps.
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When Details tab shows up, find every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right click on each of them and select End Task to end these entries.
Resetting Microsoft Edge browser (Method 2):
If Method 1 failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method.
- Note: you need to backup your data before using this method.
- Find this folder on your computer:
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe. -
Select every entry which is saved on it and right click with your mouse. Then Delete option.
- Click the Start button (Windows logo) and type in window power in Search my stuff line.
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Right-click the Windows PowerShell entry and choose Run as administrator.
- Once Administrator: Windows PowerShell window shows up, paste this command line after PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> and press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml -Verbose}
Once these steps are finished, Searchy.online should be removed from your Microsoft Edge browser.
WindowsMac OS XInternet ExplorerMicrosoft EdgeFirefoxGoogle ChromeSafariRemove Searchy.online from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
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Remove dangerous extensions
Open Mozilla Firefox, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Add-ons → Extensions. -
Here, select Searchy.online and other questionable plugins. Click Remove to delete these entries.
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Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Click on the menu (top right corner), choose Options → General. - Here, delete malicious URL and enter preferable website or click Restore to default.
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Click OK to save these changes.
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Reset Mozilla Firefox
Click on the Firefox menu on the top left and click on the question mark. Here, choose Troubleshooting Information. -
Now you will see Reset Firefox to its default state message with Reset Firefox button. Click this button for several times and complete Searchy.online removal.
Remove Searchy.online from Google Chrome
Dispose of the virus and get back to using Google Chrome with the help of these guidelines:
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Delete malicious plugins
Open Google Chrome, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Tools → Extensions. -
Here, select Searchy.online and other malicious plugins and select trash icon to delete these entries.
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Change your homepage and default search engine if it was altered by your virus
Click on menu icon and choose Settings. -
Here, look for the Open a specific page or set of pages under On startup option and click on Set pages.
- Now you should see another window. Here, delete malicious search sites and enter the one that you want to use as your homepage.
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Click on menu icon again and choose Settings → Manage Search engines under the Search section.
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When in Search Engines..., remove malicious search sites. You should leave only Google or your preferred domain name.
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Reset Google Chrome
Click on menu icon on the top right of your Google Chrome and select Settings. -
Scroll down to the end of the page and click on Reset browser settings.
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Click Reset to confirm this action and complete Searchy.online removal.
Remove Searchy.online from Safari
Clean your Safari browser from any hijacker residue by following this tutorial:
- Remove dangerous extensions
Open Safari web browser and click on Safari in menu at the top left of the screen. Once you do this, select Preferences. -
Here, select Extensions and look for Searchy.online or other suspicious entries. Click on the Uninstall button to get rid each of them.
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Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Open your Safari web browser and click on Safari in menu section. Here, select Preferences as it was displayed previously and select General. -
Here, look at the Homepage field. If it was altered by Searchy.online, remove unwanted link and enter the one that you want to use for your searches. Remember to include the "http://" before typing in the address of the page.
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Reset Safari
Open Safari browser and click on Safari in menu section at the top left of the screen. Here, select Reset Safari.... -
Now you will see a detailed dialog window filled with reset options. All of those options are usually checked, but you can specify which of them you want to reset. Click the Reset button to complete Searchy.online removal process.
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References
- ^ Fix your hijacked web browser. Microsoft. Safety & Secruity center.
- ^ Paul J. Bruemmer. Search engines look for new revenue streams. Clickz. Insight and analysis on the latest trends, tools and technology in digital marketing and advertising.