Remove SearX (Removal Guide) - Tutorial

Erase SearX from Windows systems

Using the instructions below you will learn how to remove Searx.me or any other Searx-related hijacker from your computer manually.

To remove SearX from Windows 10/8  machines, please follow these steps:

1. Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
3. From the list, find entries related to SearX (or any other recently installed 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.

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.
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.

Get rid of SearX from Mac OS X system

Remove SearX from Applications folder:

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

To fully remove SearX, 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 related to SearX and then delete them.
4. Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the SearX-related entries.

Delete SearX from Internet Explorer (IE)

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 SearX and other suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.

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.

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.

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 again to complete SearX removal.

Uninstall SearX from Microsoft Edge

When exterminating the hijacker from your computer, pay attention to your web browsers as well. Go through the list of Edge extensions and remove the unwanted components manually. Then, perform the reset.

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 SearX-related extension and click on the Gear icon.
3. Click on Uninstall at the bottom.

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.

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.

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
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

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.

Clear cache and site data:

1. Click on Menu and go to Settings.
2. Select Privacy and services.
3. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
4. Under Time range, pick All time.
5. Select Clear now.

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.

Remove SearX 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 plugins that are related to SearX and click Remove.

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 Options.
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.

Reset Mozilla Firefox

In case SearX did not get removed after following the instructions above, reset Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
2. Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.
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 – this should complete SearX removal.

Eliminate SearX from Google Chrome

To help you remove the PUP from your Google Chrome, we have prepared the following guidelines:

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 SearX by clicking Remove.

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.

Change your homepage:

1. Click menu and choose Settings.
2. Look for a suspicious site like SearX 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 SearX-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 to complete SearX removal.

Erase SearX from Safari

Remove unwanted extensions from Safari:

1. Click Safari > Preferences…
2. In the new window, pick Extensions.
3. Select the unwanted extension related to SearX and select Uninstall.

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.

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 SearX 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: ReimageIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.