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  • Active
  • Severity: Medium
  • Browser Hijackers
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Apr 2022

How to remove VideoSearches browser hijacker

A step-by-step removal guide for affected devices. Follow the verified procedure below — most readers complete it in under 10 minutes.

Gabriel E. Hall · Passionate web researcher

VideoSearches browser hijacker is a fake search engine that reroutes to shady pages instead of showing real results

VideoSearches browser hijacker

VideoSearches browser hijacker is a program that promotes other search engines and tries to trick people into allowing other content by clicking on advertisements continuously. This program is always redirecting to commercial pages and injecting various unwanted content into the results of initiated online searches. This is annoying, but not a malicious program that can and should be removed from the machine once it starts the redirects and pop-up ads, causing issues with the performance of the computer.

Name VideoSearches redirect
Type Browser hijacker, fake search engine
Category Potentially unwanted program
Issues The program promises to improve the browsing experience and help with online searches but it affects the speed and performance with continuous redirects and issues with pop-ups, advertisements, redirects
IP address 172.67.219.145
URL portal.video-searches.com
Removal Threats like PUPs should be removed automatically with anti-malware tools and security programs
Repair Threats affect the machine, so files should be properly repaired and issues fixed. FortectIntego can help with virus damage

More details about the browser redirect

VideoSearches browser hijacker is the program designed to reroute all searches via the promotional search engine portal.video-searches.com. The page offers various additional functions and tools to seem more legitimate and useful for the user. These functions might be the reason why users commonly install the program themselves.

This particular application is the intrusive and annoying application categorized as a browser hijacker[1] as other search engines looking almost identical to this one:

These programs are controlled by the potentially unwanted intruder that aims to infiltrate more machines and further expose users to the sponsored materials, so views and clicks on particular third-party pages can be generated and collected. Such behavior is the main purpose of the PUAs.

In addition to this unwanted behavior, these applications like VideoSearches browser hijackers can cause direct installations of browser apps, extensions, toolbars, and other programs. The particular intruder is quick to manipulate the settings and preferences of the web browser, so the needed activities are controlled. Those alterations include changing the new tab, a new page, default search engine, and homepage settings.

VideoSearches redirect

Removing the annoying hijacker

VideoSearches browser hijacker is the PUP that affects the machine by running in the background and triggering issues with web browsing operations. The program diminishes the time online, but the speed of the internet gets affected because of the processes that get launched.

The issue with the persistent threat can be solved by running the antivirus tool like SpyHunterCombo Cleaner or MalwarebytesMalwarebytes and scanning the machine fully. Security programs like this can find malicious files or potentially dangerous programs and remove them to save the system. This is the way to stop the PUP from running all additional processes and controlling the online traffic.

Sometimes these intruders cause additional issues by altering preferences and settings on the web browser directly, so those redirects and searches still run mainly on the third-party domains and pages. You might want to remove the VideoSearches browser hijacker by altering settings on the commonly used browsers. This is the way to stop unwanted behavior.

However, there is a need to alter various settings and remove applications, extensions, toolbars, and other PUPs installed behind your back. It might be easier to fully reset the Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, or any other browsers you use. The full reset changes all alterations and changes made before. For that follow the removal guide below the article. A quick fix right here is including altering the homepage preference change that the VideoSearches site hijacked.

Changing the homepage altered by the PUP on your browsers

Change your homepage on Chrome:

  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 the Mozilla Firefox 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.

Change your IE homepage if it was altered:

  1. 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.

Avoiding issues created by the PUAs

VideoSearches redirect as any other PUP can be distributed via deceptive platforms and misleading advertising pages where freeware is offered freely, and users fall for such tricks and install these questionable programs without paying close attention to details. These issues also come with the promotional ads online.

All these intrusive browser-based programs can be distributed with the help of advertisers, commercial content creators, and related pages. In most cases, those claims that promote these apps are fake and not related to the distributed application. The most important issue with these procedures is the type and the method of freeware installation.

By choosing the Advanced or Custom options, you can control these procedures fully and expand the list of included or even pre-bundled programs.[2] Experts[3] always recommend choosing the proper source, so these unwanted installs can be avoided, and the threat like VideoSearches browser hijacker does not get downloaded.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

  1. Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
  2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 10/8

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

  1. Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
  2. In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 7/XP

Remove the unwanted program:

  1. In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
  2. If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.Uninstall the unwanted program from Windows

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

  1. From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
  2. In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).Uninstall from Mac

Delete leftover files and folders:

  1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
  2. Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
  3. Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.Delete leftover files from Mac
  4. Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Remove from Microsoft Edge

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 Remove.Remove extensions from Edge

Clear cookies and other browser data:

  1. Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. 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.Clear Edge browsing data

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

  1. Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
  2. Then find On startup section.
  3. Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.

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.Reset MS Edge

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.Remove extensions from Chromium Edge

Clear cache and site data:

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

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.
  5. This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.Reset Chromium Edge

Remove 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 the unwanted extension and click Remove.Remove extensions from Firefox

Reset the homepage:

  1. Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
  2. Choose Settings.
  3. Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.

Clear cookies and site data:

  1. Click Menu and pick Settings.
  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 and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.Clear cookies and site data from Firefox

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.Reset Firefox 1
  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.Reset Firefox 2

Remove from Google Chrome

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 suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chrome

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.Clear cache and web data from Chrome

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.Reset Chrome 2

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

  1. Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
  2. Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.Remove extensions from Safari

Clear history and website data:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
  2. Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.Clear history from Safari

Reset Safari:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
  2. Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
  3. From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.Reset Safari

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