Yousearch.io virus (Removal Guide) - Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
Yousearch.io virus Removal Guide
What is Yousearch.io virus?
Yousearch.io warns about hijacked web browser
Yousearch.io virus belongs to the group of browser hijackers that take control over the attacked web browser and forces people to use a bogus search engine. This potentially unwanted program (PUP) is designed to alter browser’s settings and make this suspicious domain as default homepage and search engine. The main page of the YouSearch does not include any official documents, such as Privacy Policy, EULA or Terms of Services. However, users can see a moving text claiming that it’s a safe search engine which protects your family. Unfortunately, none of the provided hyperlinks are active. The fact that you cannot learn more about developers, data tracking, and sharing, a partnership with affiliates, should motivate you to remove Yousearch.io immediately. No one can assure that it cannot try to get sensitive information or sell it to third-parties. Thus, seeing this search engine informs about hijacked web browser. In order to fix this problem, you should scan the computer with FortectIntego or another anti-malware program.
At first sight Yousearch.io might look like an ordinary search engine. It has a simple and clean design. However, the biggest problems are hiding under the innocent look. This search engine generates search results from its own database. Thus, this feature allows altering search results, and authors of this app might be interested in doing that. Indeed, it sounds unfair, but developers of PUPs do not care about playing decently. One of the main functions of the hijacker is delivering commercial content. It may include sponsored links into search results or provide various forms of online ads – banners, in-text, ads, pop-ups, etc. Thus, using this search tool, you may encounter a world of aggressive and useless advertisements.[1] Only Yousearch.io removal can help to escape unwanted ads and possible threats[2] they might be hiding.
Yousearch.io browser hijacker might be collecting information about you as well. Learning about your frequently visited sites, clicked ads, latest search queries, IP address, computer’s location and other details can help to deliver accurate and engaging advertisements.[3] The rules of the game are simple. Personalized or interest-based ads get more clicks than regular ones. As a result, developers of the PUP generate revenue from advertising.[4] However, Yousearch.io redirect tendencies are worrying. Some ads or links may lead to the potentially dangerous websites where you can get infected or scammed.[5] Thus, you should not click commercial content and get rid of this program ASAP.
Yousearch.io is a bogus search engine that can hijack web browsers after incorrect installation of the freeware.
Bundling – the main distribution strategy of the hijacker
Authors of Yousearch.io virus use a software marketing method called bundling. This technique allows attacking this search engine as an optional component to the software package and promoting it with the help of freeware or shareware. Free programs that you can easily download from various online sources often include third-party apps. There’s nothing wrong with this method because users can reject installation of these programs. However, in order to do that they need to opt for the “right” installation method. If you found Yousearch.io set as your default homepage, it means that you made a wrong decision when installing a recent program. The “right” settings are known as “Custom” or “Advanced.” However, only choosing them is not enough. You need to slowly and attentively complete each step. If you rush to click “Next” button, you may overlook such pre-selected agreements as “I agree to make YouSearch my default search engine” or install other PUPs. It goes without saying that you need to unmark all ticks and stop unwanted applications from stepping into your PC. Unfortunately, the majority of users install new programs under “Recommended” or “Standard” settings which do not have this option. As a result, suspicious search engines, annoying browser extensions, and other apps are installed silently.
Yousearch.io removal options
One of the Yousearch.io removal options are investigating computer’s system and deleting hijacker-related components manually. This method requires putting some effort and patience. However, our team wants to help you and offers to use a step-by-step guide that helps to terminate the virus from the system and web browsers. However, in some cases, browser hijackers might install various entries that are hard to detect manually. If you complete our guideline and this search engine still bothers you, probably, some of the malicious components are still on the system. In this situation, you should scan the computer with a reputable anti-malware program and remove Yousearch.io automatically. Though, we recommend going for the automatic elimination option primarily. It helps to save your time and protect your device from cyber threats in the future.
You may remove virus damage with a help of FortectIntego. SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner and Malwarebytes are recommended to detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
Getting rid of Yousearch.io virus. Follow these steps
Uninstall from Windows
In order to remove browser hijacker, you need to delete all hijacker-related entries from the computer. The instructions below will help you to do that.
Instructions for Windows 10/8 machines:
- Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
- From the list, find the entry of the suspicious program.
- Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
- If User Account Control shows up, click Yes.
- Wait till uninstallation process is complete and click OK.
If you are Windows 7/XP user, proceed with the following instructions:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel located on the right pane (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.
- Pick the unwanted application by clicking on it once.
- At the top, click Uninstall/Change.
- In the confirmation prompt, pick Yes.
- Click OK once the removal process is finished.
Delete from macOS
If your Mac OS X got hijacked, follow the steps below to delete hijacker manually.
Remove items from Applications folder:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
- 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:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
- In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
- Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files.
Remove from Microsoft Edge
To get rid of the virus entirely, please follow the guidelines below. You need to delete suspicious entries from the device and reset 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 on Uninstall at the bottom.
Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Privacy & security.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- 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:
- Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
- Then find On startup section.
- Click Disable if you found any suspicious domain.
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.
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.
- Find the following folder on your computer: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Packages\\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
- Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all folders.
- Right-click on them and pick Delete
- Now right-click on the Start button and pick Windows PowerShell (Admin).
- 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):
- 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.
Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Deletion of the Yousearch.io requires uninstalling unknown browser extensions and resetting Mozilla Firefox. The latter step is necessary in order to delete tracking cookies and other hijacker-related entries.
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 unwanted plugin and click Remove.
Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Options.
- Under Home options, enter your preferred site that will open every time you newly open the Mozilla Firefox.
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, 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:
- 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
Follow the step-by-step guide and delete suspicious browser extension, plugins or add-ons. Then reset Google Chrome to delete tracking cookies.
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 the suspicious plugins that might be 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
In order to get rid of YouSearch you need to delete unknown entries from Safari and reset browser as shown below.
Remove unwanted extensions from Safari:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- In the new window, pick Extensions.
- Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall.
Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:
- Click Safari > Clear History…
- From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
- Confirm with Clear History.
Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- Go to Advanced tab.
- Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- 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 Yousearch.io 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: FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.
How to prevent from getting stealing programs
Do not let government spy on you
The government has many issues in regards to tracking users' data and spying on citizens, so you should take this into consideration and learn more about shady information gathering practices. Avoid any unwanted government tracking or spying by going totally anonymous on the internet.
You can choose a different location when you go online and access any material you want without particular content restrictions. You can easily enjoy internet connection without any risks of being hacked by using Private Internet Access VPN.
Control the information that can be accessed by government any other unwanted party and surf online without being spied on. Even if you are not involved in illegal activities or trust your selection of services, platforms, be suspicious for your own security and take precautionary measures by using the VPN service.
Backup files for the later use, in case of the malware attack
Computer users can suffer from data losses due to cyber infections or their own faulty doings. Ransomware can encrypt and hold files hostage, while unforeseen power cuts might cause a loss of important documents. If you have proper up-to-date backups, you can easily recover after such an incident and get back to work. It is also equally important to update backups on a regular basis so that the newest information remains intact – you can set this process to be performed automatically.
When you have the previous version of every important document or project you can avoid frustration and breakdowns. It comes in handy when malware strikes out of nowhere. Use Data Recovery Pro for the data restoration process.
- ^ Chris Crawfurd. Bad Ads Range From Annoying to Dangerous. Clickz. The Website Provides Insight And Analysis On The Latest Trends, Tools And Technology In Digital Marketing And Advertising.
- ^ Larry Loeb. Malvertising Poisons Banner Ads. Security Intelligence. Analysis & Insight on Information Security.
- ^ How online advertisers read your mind. The Economist. Offers authoritative insight and opinion on international news, politics, business, finance, science, technology and the connections between them.
- ^ Online Advertising Models: CPC, CPM or CPA?. Promise Media. Online Advertising and Marketing for Small Business.
- ^ How Ad Networks are Being Used for Scamvertising. Zvelo. The Official Website Of The Software Company.