Conf Search Hijacker - How to remove

Conf Search is a browser extension that makes Conf-search.com your default search engine. It logs your search history and forces you to visit potentially unwanted websites. Conf Search is not very dangerous or malicious, but it should still be removed. It unnecessarily restricts browser settings and it’s really bad for privacy.

About Conf Search:

Type of threat	Potentially unwanted program, browser hijacker.
Problems with Conf Search	It hijacks your search settings, replacing the default search engine with Yahoo or another unexpected website, it reads your browsing data.
How browser hijackers get installed	Bundled with free programs, advertised online.
How to stop Conf-search.com redirects	Uninstall Conf Search and other unwanted extensions manually and with antivirus programs (Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, etc.), check browser settings.

Conf Search, search hijacking, and advertising

Conf Search hijacks your default search engine

Conf Search is a browser add-on. You can install it on the Chrome Web Store, where it currently is listed with over a thousand users.

Normally, browser extensions offer some sort of a useful feature, like universal dark mode, content blocking, or spell checking. Conf Search offers… “features to facilitate Internet search”. This is hardly a feature – if anything, Conf Search takes away features from your browser.

Web browsers (Chrome, Edge, Safari, etc.) are able to search the internet just fine – you can use the address bar to type in a search query your browser will open your preferred search engine, which you can change in your settings (Settings -> Search -> Manage search engines).

It tracks your data

What Conf Search does is take over your default search engine, replacing it with Conf-search.com. This enables the people who control this extension to track and control your web search activity.

Here’s the data that Conf Search tracks according to its privacy policy:

• Your IP and some technical data about your device, including what software is installed on your computer.
• Your search query text and the times of your searches (remember that your search queries can contain some very personal information).
• Your search history and which results you clicked on.
• The ads on which you clicked and a unique advertising identifier.

This data is valuable for targeted advertising. But it’s difficult for a website to get so much of such intimate info. Browser extensions, though, are able to get a lot more information. To put it another way, browser add-ons are bad for privacy.

It’s one of many browser hijackers

Conf Search and Conf-search.com seem to be related to Search Dimension. They also look very similar to Storm Search, Burst Search, Comet Search, Mazy Search, Mint Search, etc.

These extensions do not provide useful features, so how come they get downloaded by thousands of users? Here are a few possibilities:

• Browser hijackers get advertised online, often by fake and misleading ads – various fake download links and “required” extensions.
• They also come bundled with free programs, included in their installers as optional offers. If a program’s installer offers you to “enhance” your browser or try out a new search engine, it’s best to decline.

People don’t really choose to install extensions like Conf Search. So, it’s best to remove it.

How to get rid of Conf Search

By default, browser extensions don’t work when you use private browsing mode. You can open a private window with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+N on Windows or Cmd+Shift+N on macOS.

To completely remove the Conf-search.com hijacker, uninstall the Conf Search extension. At the same time, remove (or disable if you’re not sure) some other browser extensions, especially those that you don’t use yourself.

You can use antivirus programs, such as Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, and others, to find and delete all malicious and low-reputation programs. Delete them and consider how they might have got on your computer.

Be careful when downloading and installing free software. It sometimes brings adware bundles that can infect your computer with adware and browser hijackers.

Below are instructions for manually uninstalling extensions and reviewing the settings of your browser. Pay attention to your default search engine, home and new tab pages, and your notification permissions. If you find that unknown or unwanted websites have taken control of some of these settings, remove them.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Restore browser settings

TopHow To remove Conf Search Hijacker from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Conf Search Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How to remove Conf Search Hijacker from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.

• Click on the three-dot menu on the browser toolbar and Select Settings

• Select Privacy and Services and scroll down. Press on Address bar.

• Choose Manage search engines.

• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list: open the three-dot menu and choose Remove.

• Go back to Settings. Open On start-up.
• Delete malicious search websites at Open specific page or pages by opening the three-dot menu and clicking Delete.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Conf Search Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings

• Click on Edge's menu button and select Settings. Click on the Reset Settings button on the left.
• Press the Restore settings to their default values option.

• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How To remove Conf Search Hijacker from Firefox:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything Conf Search Hijacker related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Options → General. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Restore to Default.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Conf Search Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• ChooseTroubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on theReset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.