Protected Search Hijacker - How to remove

Protected Search is a very basic browser add-on – it changes your search settings so that Yahoo returns your internet search results. Besides causing Yahoo redirects, Protected Search reads your browsing history. There’s no reason to keep it installed, no useful function that Protected Search offers. It’s just a browser hijacker.

In short about Protected Search:

Classification	Browser hijacker.
How to remove Protected Search	Manually uninstall unwanted browser add-ons, find and remove hijackers and malware with antivirus programs (like Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, and others), block unwanted notifications.
Problems with Protected Search	Reads your browsing history, redirects you to Yahoo, may have been installed unintentionally.
How hijackers get installed	Ads pop up on file download sites, hijackers are bundled with other hijackers.

Protected Search is a browser hijacker

Protected Search changes the default search setting in your web browser. With Protected Search installed, your search queries are no longer sent to your usual search engine (most people use Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc.). Instead, they’re sent to Feed.protected-search.com, which then opens Yahoo.com. So, the most noticeable effect of Protected Search is that Yahoo.com returns your internet search results.

It does more than that. Protected Search can also read your browsing history and your data on Protected-search.com.

But why? Based on its name, Protected Search could be some sort of a security or privacy-focused browser add-on. But it’s not. According to its description on the Chrome web store, Protected Search is a single-purpose extension that changes your default search settings. That’s it.

The default search engine is a setting in your browser. It affects how your address bar behaves. As long as Protected Search is installed, you cannot change that setting. The only way to get rid of the Yahoo redirect is to remove Protected Search.

Protected Search is made by Webcoapps, the company that also made Booster Search, SearchZilla, Video Browse, and a bunch of others. Looks like hijacking browsers is this company’s business because the other browser extensions offer no useful features, either.

How hijackers get installed

You can find and install Protected Search on Install.protected-search.com. This site has some potentially confusing ads that may trick careless people into installing Protected Search without realizing what they’re doing. This is always a concern with browser hijackers.

Here are a few examples of how Protected Search advertises itself:

• Ads for Protected Search appear on monetized URL shorteners, such as Adf.ly. These are download links that, instead of downloading your file, take you to an ad-filled webpage and then make you wait or watch an ad.
• Adware sites and notification spammers, such as Bestdealfor.life. These are the same sites that open random ads on certain websites and show unwanted pop-ups in the form of notifications.
• Protected-search.com may also open right after installing another browser extension, such as Getvideoconverter.com, Convertmyvid.com, and Pdfconverterhd.com.

You most likely installed Protected Search unintentionally or without realizing what it does. It’s possible that your computer is otherwise completely clean, but it’s also possible that some other adware infection helped Protected Search make it on your device.

How to remove Protected Search

Removing a browser extension is as simple as right-clicking its icon and then choosing the option that starts with “Remove”. You should see the icons of all of your installed extensions at the top right corner of your browser. Chrome browsers sometimes hide these, so if you see no icons, try dragging the address bar’s right edge to the left.

It’s advisable to review all of your installed extensions in browser settings. If you have any more add-ons that, like Protected Search, change your default search engine, or maybe read and change your data on some important websites, consider if you really trust those add-ons. Privacy-breaching and ad-injecting extensions should be removed as quickly as possible.

In addition, you can discover malicious and potentially unwanted browser extensions (and other apps and programs) by scanning your device with an anti-malware tool, for example, Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, and others.

Finally, if you have to deal with unwanted pop-up ads (notifications) in your browser, block them.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manually remove browser extensions

TopRemoving Protected Search Hijacker from Chrome

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Google Chrome window. Select “Settings”.
  
• Click “Extensions” on the left menu bar.
• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Protected Search Hijacker. Click on the trash bin icon next to Protected Search Hijacker or other add-ons you want to remove.
  
• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.
  
• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.
  
• Restart Chrome.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

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

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

TopRemoving Protected Search Hijacker from Firefox

• 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 Protected 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.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Protected 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.
  
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

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

How to remove Protected Search Hijacker from Microsoft Edge:Top

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

• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Protected Search Hijacker. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Protected Search Hijacker or other add-ons you want to remove.

• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.

• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.

• Restart Microsoft Edge.