OnlineMapSearch (MyWay Redirect) - How to remove

OnlineMapSearch (or Online Map Search) is a browser add-on that may or may not be useful to the users, but undoubtedly exhibits features of malware. Having this extension installed also results in your search queries being routed to MyWay, which is popular, if only because it employs dishonest and unsafe distribution methods. OnlineMapSearch is considered to be unwanted by reputable antivirus tools, and having this extension installed is not a good sign of a computer’s state of security.

Many similar extensions have been developed by MyWay, you can look at their designs and immediately see the similarities: GetFormsOnline, FreeLocalWeather, and most of all — MapsGalaxy. The developers have released multiple versions of the same extension, barely changing anything at all but the name. Like most of these search redirecting extensions, OnlineMapSearch is, according to VirusTotal, disliked by quite a few antivirus tools. We will talk about what makes OnlineMapSearch suspicious.

What does OnlineMapSearch do?

If OnlineMapSearch is useful to you, but you wish to restore your old search engine, whether it was Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, or something else, I have some bad news: the search redirecting is not an optional addition to OnlineMapSearch — it’s an essential part of it.

If you install OnlineMapSearch on Chrome, it bundles Ask — another extension that redirects your search queries to the Ask engine. As a browser hijacker, Ask camps over the hybrid address bar, while MyWay presides over the search field in OnlineMapSearch’s home page. This is such strange behavior, as, if you wanted to use Ask or MyWay, you could easily set them in the settings, no extension required. And yet, browser add-ons with the sole purpose of promoting search engines are being developed and aggressively promoted online.

The way that OnlineMapSearch is promoted definitely is a bit problematic. The extensions use deceptively crafted ads, like download-button looking ads on software-hosting websites. That’s sure to trick some people to accidentally start the OnlineMapSearch installation process. Besides, MyWay extensions often pop up through malicious ads and redirects. You might have been in a situation where clicking on one link unexpectedly opens a new tab with an unfamiliar page. Do not trust such pop-ups, especially if they insist that your software requires an update, or that your computer is unsafe. New tab ads are often used to promote serious malware and tech support scams, so don’t fall for those. And the fact that OnlineMapSearch is keeping the company of malware doesn’t do it any favors.

OnlineMapSearch is basically just a browser toolbar, but for such a primitive and bare extension, it requires a lot of permissions and privileges.

• Read and change your data on a number of websites
• Replace the page you see when opening a new tab
• Read your browsing history
• Display notifications
• Manage your downloads
• Manage your apps, extensions, and themes

The data being changed is most likely for ads being injected into the search results. If you compare the number of ads for results loaded through OnlineMapSearch and just plain MyWay, you’ll notice a small difference. The permission also allows OnlineMapSearch to monitor the queries that are typed into the search fields on its home page. This isn’t very outrageous — many extensions and websites do that — but that doesn’t make it okay. Generally, we trade our privacy for free services. Whether OnlineMapSearch is worth it for you is up for you to decide.

The power that OnlineMapSearch has thanks to those extensions makes it scary — in the wrong hands, “Display notifications”, “Manage your downloads” could be misused severely. There have been cases of extensions being turned into plain adware or some other malware. Luckily, it doesn’t seem like OnlineMapSearch is in danger of that. Sadly, it still does jeopardize your privacy.

How to remove OnlineMapSearch

Ultimately, you should decide if you’re comfortable with keeping OnlineMapSearch on your browser. Based on the older extensions, this one probably won’t be turned into any sort of seriously malicious add-on, so that’s probably not a danger. However, it’s still a powerful extension with too many permissions, so it should be watched carefully.

You can find great alternatives to OnlineMapSearch if you just look for them, but remember to be careful — install extensions by reputable or honest developers, check the permissions and decide if you’re okay with them.

If you do decide to remove OnlineMapSearch, manual removal should work. The instructions for the different browsers are below: very easy for Chrome, a bit more complicated for Internet Explorer. Automatic antivirus scan should also be performed (Spyhunter) to find out if any PUP (potentially unwanted program) is on your machine. Desktop PUPs and promoted the same way that browser extensions are. Malware invites more malware, so find and removing it now is a way to avoid future problems.

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Remove OnlineMapSearch

How to remove OnlineMapSearch using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Online Map Search install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to OnlineMapSearch (MyWay Redirect) . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make OnlineMapSearch easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

How to remove OnlineMapSearch (MyWay Redirect) from macOS

Delete OnlineMapSearch from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the Online Map Search app.
5. Select it and right-click it (or hold the Ctrl and click the left mouse button).
6. In the dropdown, click Move to Bin/Trash. You might be asked to provide your login password.

TopHow To remove OnlineMapSearch (MyWay Redirect) 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 Online Map Search, 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 OnlineMapSearch (MyWay Redirect) 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 OnlineMapSearch (MyWay Redirect) 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 Online Map Search, 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.

How to remove OnlineMapSearch (MyWay Redirect) 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 Online Map Search, 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 OnlineMapSearch (MyWay Redirect) from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall Online Map Search and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings(older versions) If you are still experiencing any issues related to OnlineMapSearch (MyWay Redirect), reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari…
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

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