Search.privacy-search.net - How to remove

 

Search.privacy-search.net might appear as a homepage on your web browsers and that’s a clear sign that your computer is infected with this virus which is listed as browser hijacker. Please keep on reading this article to learn more about this virus and how to get rid of it.

We should start by saying that this treacherous website is trying to look like legitimate search engine that could replace regular search engine that you are using every day. However, if you actually attempt to search for something using Search.privacy-search.net, you will suddenly notice that it’s not working. Search results will look something like this:

Does not matter what search phrase you put in, there will be no results and you will be offered to transfer your search to other search providers, i.e. Yahoo, Bing or Google. On the right side of the search window you can notice a ‘SafeSearch’ switch, but it actually changes nothing. So even though Search.privacy-search.net is presented as a tool that will allow you to search the web more securely, it is not functioning at all.

The main goal of this application is to make money by selling your private information and redirecting you to various websites. So if your computer is infected with this virus, you are likely to experience random redirects to various websites. And that’s even not the biggest problems, since those websites might be owned by various cyber criminals. This being said, your computer can get infected with other viruses or you can even get scammed due to Search.privacy-search.net.

In case you are wondering how your computer got infected with this virus – it most likely came bundled with other free software that you have downloaded from the Internet. For instance, if you download and install some flash game or system optimiser from unreliable website, Search.privacy-search.net might come as a bundle. There is an easy way to avoid this happening – simply pay attention to the installation process of freeware. During the installation you might get an offer to install additional software or enhance your web browser with some add-ons. 9 times out of 10 this additional software happens to malware, just like this.

We have already mentioned, that this infection is trying to make money by collecting and selling your personal information. It is even stated in their Privacy Policy:

The only information that we collect is anonymous information, such as the search terms that you enter into the search box, browser version and type, internet protocol address, and operating system and type. By anonymous, we mean that these search terms and other information are never linked to any information about you, because we do not collect information that identifies you. We use the anonymous information that we collect to provide search results to you and to optimize and improve our service.

As you can see, they collect information about you and transfer it to third parties. That is very dangerous and we recommend eliminating this infection right now.

There are two most common methods to get rid of infection like this – it can be done either manually or automatically, so it’s completely up to you which removal method to choose. Since it’s easier and faster to do it automatically, we suggest to go for this removal method. All you have to do is to download reliable anti-malware application, such as SpyHunter or Malwarebytes, install it on your computer and then run a full scan of all files stored on your hard drive. Either one of these apps should eliminate the virus in no time. If you would like to perform this removal manually – scroll down below this article and take a look at our step-by-step Search.privacy-search.net manual removal guide. Do your best to complete all steps correctly and you should be able to eliminate the virus by your own.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manual removal of Search.privacy-search.net virus

How to remove privacy-search using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Search.privacy-search.net 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 privacy-search . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Search.privacy-search.net 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 privacy-search from macOS

Delete Search.privacy-search.net from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the privacy-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 Search.privacy-search.net 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 Search.privacy-search.net, 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 Search.privacy-search.net 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 Search.privacy-search.net 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 privacy-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 Search.privacy-search.net 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 Search.privacy-search.net, 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 Search.privacy-search.net from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall privacy-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 Search.privacy-search.net, 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.