ResearchConverter Redirects - How to remove

ResearchConverter is a browser hijacker. It makes unwanted changes to web browsers, forcing them to use Researchconverter.com as their default search engine. It might cause Yahoo to unexpectedly deliver your search results, pop-up ads to appear on your screen, and your private data to be collected and used for advertising purposes.

In short about ResearchConverter:

Classification	Browser hijacker, adware.
How to remove ResearchConverter	Uninstall browser-hijacking extensions and other unwanted programs manually and with antivirus programs (Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, others), check your browser’s notification settings and block unwanted sites.
How ResearchConverter changes web browsers	It replaces the default search engine, redirecting search queries to affiliated sites, it logs user data, potentially harming privacy, it may display pop-up ads.
How hijackers get installed	Advertised misleadingly, tricking people into installing them, bundled with freeware and installed without permission.

How to remove ResearchConverter

To stop your browser from opening Researchconverter.com whenever you search for something in your address bar, you need to fix the default search engine setting in your browser. You can find it by opening the main menu of your browser, clicking on Settings, and finding the Search category (it’s a little different in all browsers).

Most likely, the ResearchConverter extension took control of that setting, so you need to remove this extension first.

You can do this in your browser settings, the Extensions section. Find ResearchConverter and click the Remove button. See if there are other third party extensions that you see but didn’t install – you might want to remove them, too.

If you can’t click the Remove button, like if it’s grayed out, check this post on removing such hijackers.

Once that’s done, you should be able to control your default search engine settings and other browser settings.

Removing the ResearchConverter extension doesn’t remove it from your notification settings, so you still need to review those:

• Chrome – open Settings, scroll down to Site settings (under Privacy and security), click on Notifications.
• Edge (Chromium) – open Settings, click Site Permissions, Notifications.
• Firefox – open Settings, Privacy & Security, scroll down to Permissions, and click on Settings next to Notifications.
• Safari – in the Safari menu, choose Preferences, Websites, Notifications.

If there’s still something messing with your browser settings or an extension that gets reinstalled, scan your computer with antivirus programs, such as Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, and others. It’s especially important to scan your computer if you don’t remember how you installed ResearchConverter – it might have come with a potentially unwanted program. This program also ought to be removed.

ResearchConverter takes over web browsers

Web browsers help you navigate the internet, but some malicious actors would like to interfere with that in order to get more people to visit affiliated sites. Browser hijackers usually make unhelpful changes to web browser settings in order to force them to visit certain websites – sites that can make money for the people who made these hijackers.

In my experience, ResearchConverter uses Yahoo to deliver your search results – but it uses an affiliate link, which might mean that it shares ad revenue with Yahoo. This way, it gets paid for getting more people to use that search link. Yahoo is not bad on its own, but users might not like losing the ability to choose which search engine they want to use. It’s just a restriction for no good reason.

Another issue is that ResearchConverter logs user data:

• location and language,
• search history,
• browsing history,
• which ads were clicked.

Some of this data is useful for advertising and it’s not always easy to get. Ordinarily, the only site that has your search history is your search engine, such as Google (My Activity). And nobody should be able to see your browsing history without breaking into your computer. But that’s exactly what ResearchConverter did – and now it can spy on you like no website can.

There are lots of similar websites that do the same thing: SearchConverterInc, Nuzzero, and others.

How browser hijackers spread

ResearchConverter is advertised online and it might also be bundled with various free programs, advertised in their installers.

As ResearchConverter has no useful features, you might wonder how it is advertised. But it doesn’t use honest descriptions to entice people to install it. Instead, it’s promoted with fake and misleading ads that trick people into thinking that it’s a mandatory extension or a completely different item. Such ads appear on pirating websites and other controversial sites that allow unsafe ads to be displayed. Ads for ResearchConverter might appear in new browser tabs that look as though they replace the site that you were just on, being nearly impossible to ignore.

That is, if you don’t use an ad blocker. Ad blockers can improve your online security quite a lot.

For now, Researchconverter.com is not detected by antivirus scanners, but that is likely to change soon. At that point, anti-malware apps should also start warning you about the Researchconverter.com site, which would also help you stay safe.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Restore browser settings

TopHow To remove ResearchConverter Redirects 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 ResearchConverter Redirects, 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 ResearchConverter Redirects 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 ResearchConverter Redirects, 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 ResearchConverter Redirects 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 ResearchConverter Redirects 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 ResearchConverter Redirects, 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.