Remove Select-search.com (Free Guide) – Virus Removal Instructions

Select-search.com – questionable search engine that manages to alter settings and preferences to interfere with online traffic

Select-search.com – potentially unwanted program that monitors and collects browsing-related information. This is the site that resembles a proper search engine but is not a legitimate page since the material shown on the page itself and after the search, attempts are related to tons of different advertising services and commercial content creators. In general, these PUPs are designed to spread around and inject ads in various forms to useful sites that get views and visits from users. Pay-per-click revenue^[1] is the purpose of PUPs and developers try to distribute these tools as widely as possible.

Even though the term Select-search.com virus is not used to describe this hijacker, there is a huge possibility to get exposed to malicious content or even install malware on the device. It is because the material that ad-supported sites deliver to your screen is not controlled by the search engine creators. You can end up on adult sites, online gambling services, or gaming sites where commercial pop-ups are not only intrusive and annoying but also malicious and triggering virus downloads.

Name	Select-search.com
Type	Browser hijacker
Category	Potentially unwanted program
Symptoms	The system starts running slow and homepage, new tab, default search engine settings get altered and pre-set to this domain. Additional extensions and applications appear added without your permission or even knowledge, all the search attempts lead to commercial sites and pages filled with ads and redirects triggering pop-ups
Distribution	Freeware installations include applications that get pre-bundled in advance and can affect the performance of the machine significantly by installing these PUPs without users' knowledge. Deceptive sites also lead to infiltration of such browser-based cyber threats
Elimination	Select-search.com removal process should include anti-malware tools and full system scans, so even possibly dangerous files can get deleted
Damage	Your browsing history, preferences, and other data get tracked by the hijacker itself and third-party commercial content creators. Advertisers may use those details in advertising campaigns and other suspicious activities
Repair	For the proper system cleaning, you should clean virus damage too. When you run Fortect Intego or a similar PC repair tool, you can ensure that affected files and corrupted programs get fixed and recovered

Select-search.com may seem harmless because it only delivers commercial content and shows unwanted redirects constantly but the page triggers various installations of files that can be considered malicious or get detected^[2] as supposedly dangerous. You should consider this PUP as a useless search hijacker and get rid of it and other applications that possibly get added behind your back.

Select-search.com hijacker can affect any device from mobile phone or iPad to computer because it can be delivered via the shady online website or with the help of insecure downloads and freeware bundling techniques. It manages to change settings of Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, or Internet Explorer, so most of the internet users can get affected by such fake search engines.

This rogue site Select-search.com sets the homepage, new tab, new window URLs to its own and controls the traffic by showing its site with each reboot and browser launch. Users are forced to use this engine instead of their default one, so useful search results get injected with sponsored content, and at least the first 5 results on the list are sites that provide nothing for you. When these processes happen and repeat daily, users stop using their devices normally since the needed material is not accessed anyway.

Additionally to these changes in settings and preferences, Select-search.com triggers:

pop-ups ads;
redirects that open new windows and tabs;
additional browser content installed like extensions toolbars;
programs added without your permission or knowledge.

When Select-search.com is installed it redirects your browser to various engines that show search results and promotional material. Ad-supported sites work as tools for collecting and generating views and page visits. This is how all the sponsored content creators can make a profit from visitors. PUP developers designed thousand of such engines and adware-type sites to ensure that visitors are clicking on their ads. Unfortunately, advertisements that Select-search.com delivers on the screen and push notifications that occur out of nowhere can track those details about you for other purposes, not only advertising campaigns. Location details, preferences for searching online, and even habits of clicking on ads or social media activity are useful for various third-parties.^[3]

This third-party involvement is the reason for you to remove Select-search.com because companies may use those personal details for secondary campaigns, targeted attacks, or sell emails, locations, and other information for hackers online. The more time adware or hijacker has on the machine the more data it can obtain and the more damage is done.

However, when the site is not the initial threat and the one responsible for all the intrusive behavior, you may face the difficulty of the Select-search.com removal process. Since the startup preferences and registry entries get altered by the PUP, you may not find the program yourself or remove only a part of the content that PUP has installed.

The best option, in this case, will be an automatic system scan using security tools or anti-malware programs. This is how all associated files and the intruder itself can be terminated. When you launch the system scan and get Select-search.com in results you need to follow the suggested steps and delete the intruder easily. Then run Fortect Intego or different optimizers and fix the damage that was caused by the hijacker.

PUPs make changes to browsers and overwhelm users with ads

When you get to a page that shows questionable content you get exposed to various material without even noticing and can trigger installations of PUPs or even serious malware. This all happens when you get redirected to commercial sites or when you visit the page on purpose. The Internet is not a safe place, especially when you don't tend to pay close attention to particular details.

This habit should be especially important when it comes to installations of software and content that is downloaded on the machine. When you rely on the particular program, you should think twice about the source you get it from too because any promotional site can be filled with useless commercial content and include additional scripts that trigger malware drop or redirect to malicious sites.

If you download the program from the official source, developers' page, or legitimate App store, you should be safe. When it comes to other sources always go for Advanced or Custom installation options to reveal the function of un-checking suspicious apps from the list on the installation wizard. Reading the Privacy section or EULA can also help to determine if the site is trustworthy or not.

Get rid of the shady Select-search.com PUP with proper anti-malware tools

You need to remove Select-search.com as soon as possible because anything related to this or another PUP can trigger functions that affect your machine and interferes with the speed of the PC and other programs. The best cleaning is achieved when you run the proper anti-malware tool or a security program.

AV detection based programs work the best for Select-search.com removal because any PUP itself that runs in the background and applications that get added behind your back can get indicated and removed. The full system scan should check all the parts of the machine and indicate various programs or files that interfere with the performance in various ways.

Remember to tackle Select-search.com virus damage too because any changes left or applications, toolbars, apps can still run those intrusive processes and deliver pop-up ads, redirects, other malicious material.

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.

Reset Internet Explorer

Remove dangerous add-ons:

Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
Pick Manage Add-ons.
You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.

Change your homepage if it was altered:

Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
Select Internet Options.
In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
Click Apply and then select OK.

Delete temporary files:

Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
Under Browsing history, click Delete...
Select relevant fields and press Delete.

Reset Internet Explorer:

Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
Select Reset.
In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.

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.

How to remove Select-search.com

Select-search.com – questionable search engine that manages to alter settings and preferences to interfere with online traffic

PUPs make changes to browsers and overwhelm users with ads