Startwebsearch.com virus (Simple Removal Guide) - updated Mar 2021

Uninstall from Windows

In order to remove the hijacker manually, you have to uninstall suspicious programs from the computer. If you cannot find any unknown programs, you should check the list of extensions of each browser.

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.
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.

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.

Delete from macOS

Uninstall suspicious Applications that might be responsible for bringing the hijacker to the computer by following these steps:

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)

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 from Microsoft Edge

After the hijack, you have to recover Microsoft Edge. Below you will find detailed instructions how to do it.

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.

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 from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

So-called Startwebsearch.com virus may have installed various extensions to Mozilla Firefox. Thus, you have to uninstall them.

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.

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

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.
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.

Remove from Google Chrome

To get back access to Google Chrome, you have to uninstall browser extensions related to Startwebsearch.com and reset the browser.

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.

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 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.

Delete from Safari

Follow the steps below to clean Safari after the hijack:

Remove unwanted extensions from Safari:

1. Click Safari > Preferences…
2. In the new window, pick Extensions.
3. Select the unwanted extension 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.