Safe2Search Hijacker - How to remove

Safe2Search is a browser add-on. It promises to enable safe search – a filter that hides adult content in internet search results.

But Safe2Search takes over browser settings that aren’t needed for it to work. It limits browser customization and logs user data, even though it doesn’t need to do those things in order to enable safe search.

As every mainstream search engine already allows users to turn on the safe search filter without using any extensions, it might be best to remove Safe2Search from your browser.

About Safe2Search:

Type of threat	Browser hijacker, potentially unwanted program.
How Safe2Search changes browsers	It replaces the default search engine, it takes over the new tab page.
Problems and issues	Safe2Search may be installed by users unintentionally, it logs user data and takes over browser settings when these things are not needed for it to function.
How to remove Safe2Search	Uninstall the extension, check your browser settings, if needed, scan your computer with security programs (Spyhunter for PC, Spyhunter for Mac, Combo Cleaner for Mac, etc.).

Is Safe2Search safe?

Safe2Search replaces the default search engine

Safe2Search, which can be found on Safe2search.com, is developed by Bony Innovation Ltd. This company has a bunch of other search-related browser add-ons, such as Search Tools Hub, Video2Video, Movie Search, eBook Search, Screen Search, and Game Pro.

The Safe2Search extension promises to help you filter adult content from search results. It does this by settings Yahoo as your main search engine. It also changes your home/new tab page, which makes it inconvenient to use a search engine other than Yahoo.

After Safe2Search is installed, your home page might look different – missing the search box that’s usually there. Whenever you type a search query into your omnibox, Safe2Search sends the query to Yahoo which displays the results.

It’s also possible to have Safe2Search installed, but for it to be turned off. When a browser add-on is installed and changes the default search settings, Google Chrome warns the user about it and gives them an easy option to reverse that change. This option disables the extension. In this case, Safe2Search is installed but it doesn’t do anything.

It’s not needed

The thing is, you don’t need a browser extension to use safe search filters. Settings to hide adult content from search results are accessible in all main search engines (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Yahoo, etc.). No browser add-ons are needed.

In other words, Safe2Search pushes Yahoo.com on people and hijacks people’s browser settings completely unnecessarily. It also logs user data, which is bad for privacy.

Extensions that take over the new tab page without justification might be called new tab viruses. They usually make money by promoting a certain website. That’s why so many add-ons in all sorts of diverse topics replace the new tab page in the exact same way – all that they really want is to wedge themselves into browsers and control people’s searches.

How to remove Safe2Search

Safe2Search is not dangerous. But it’s very unnecessary and it limits browser features for no good reason.

You can uninstall the extension as described in the instructions below. Check your other browser add-ons and your search engine settings, too. Make sure that no unwanted add-on is controlling these settings. Decide for yourself which search engine you want to use as your default.

Remember how you installed Safe2Search. Was it thanks to an advertisement that you saw online? Do you see similar ads often?

Or maybe Safe2Search was bundled with an installer for another program or browser extension?

Many potentially unwanted apps are promoted in ways that can cause people to install them accidentally. Scan your computer with an anti-malware app (Spyhunter for PC, Spyhunter for Mac, Combo Cleaner for Mac) to see if there are other potentially unwanted programs that need to be removed.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manually uninstall unwanted extensions

TopHow To remove Safe2Search 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 Safe2Search 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 Safe2Search 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 Safe2Search 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 Safe2Search 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 Safe2Search 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 Safe2Search 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.