Searchlee.com Redirects - How to remove

Searchlee.com is a search-hijacking website. It unexpectedly replaces the search results on infected browsers. Searchlee.com is somewhat worse than many other search hijackers because it severely lacks features that are necessary for search engines. As a result, it can be very frustrating to have on your Mac.

To stop the Searchlee.com redirects, look for and delete suspicious browser add-ons, apps, and review your browser and Mac settings.

Searchlee.com in short:

Classification	Adware, browser hijacker.
Effects of the hijacking	Your browsing data is logged by the site, internet search is made difficult because of Searchlee.com’s lack of features.
What causes Searchlee.com redirects	Malicious apps and browser extensions, usually installed deceptively.
How to stop Searchlee.com redirects	Find and remove malicious apps and browser add-ons manually and with antivirus tools (Combo Cleaner, Malwarebytes, others), review your search and network settings and change them if needed.

What causes Searchlee.com redirects?

Browser hijacker

Some Mac users have noticed that their browsers, such as Safari, were taken over by Searchlee.com. This is an extremely unhelpful website that seems to be an alternative search engine.

SearchLee is made by  Linkury LTD, responsible for other search hijackers. While this is disclosed in their privacy policy, seerchlee.com contact address (besides email) is hard to find, which shows that they fear user complaints. It uses Taboola ads / Outbrain ads for both additional traffic and serving part of advertising. While these ad networks are legitimate, they are not privacy-friendly and used by adware in the past.

Searchlee.com collects data about your device, such as what browsers you use and what your operating system is. It also reads your location (IP), what you search for, and which results you click on. This is pretty much required for a search engine to work. The problem is that Searchlee.com is a very unreliable search engine that should not be trusted with anyone’s browsing data.

Another problem with Searchlee.com is that it severely lacks features. A lot of browser hijackers force victims to use sites like Yahoo.com – competent search engines that do indeed have features, such as result filtering by type, date, location, and info cards. SearchLee uses their own interface, as they would not be able to serve their own ads in search results. Search results are used using yahoo API, but not all data is visible (e.g. no video, news tabs available).

Malicious apps and extensions

So far, it looks like Searchlee.com targets macOS users. Search hijackers can infect almost any system, mostly because they tend to work as browser extensions that are extremely easy to install.

Malicious browser add-ons and other adware infections usually spread in a few ways:

• Malicious ads for browser extensions. Usually, ads that pretend to be download links and are displayed on file download sites. Unsurprisingly, this leads some people to mistakenly install the advertised hijackers.
• Malicious ads for infected programs. Fake updates for Adobe Flash Player used to be very popular. They’re actually just adware bundles.
• Other infected installers. Apps found on fake or unofficial websites, pirated apps, etc.

People don’t install the Searchlee.com hijacker intentionally. They get tricked into it.

How to stop Searchlee.com redirects

There must be a browser or network setting causing Searchlee.com to hijack your searches. Malicious apps and browser add-ons might be responsible for these settings.

Remove malicious apps and browser add-ons manually and with the help of an anti-malware app. Combo Cleaner, Malwarebytes, and other anti-malware scanners can help you find and remove suspicious software. You can also remove suspicious apps (just open Finder -> Applications and Trash all suspicious items) and browser extensions (the instructions for removing extensions are below).

Below are also the instructions for reviewing your browser settings. The important ones are the default search engine and the new tab page. Since Searchlee.com might have been added to these settings, you need to check them. If needed, change them to use your preferred sites.

But that’s not all. MacOS infections can be very persistent. It’s a good idea to review your System Preferences and remove any traces of Searchlee.com or anything else that’s suspicious.

Open your System Preferences:

• If the Profiles icon is present, open it. Select and delete unknown and suspicious configuration profiles.
• Open Network and click Advanced -> Proxies. Check the list on the left. If any proxies are checked that you didn’t set up, deselect them.
• Open Users & Groups and go to Login Items. Like with the other settings, get rid of all the items that you don’t want to be run when you log in.

These settings might revert if you haven’t removed whatever malware is controlling them and causing the Searchlee.com redirects. If you have trouble removing malware, use safe mode – hold the Shift key while booting up your Mac (Support.apple.com). This mode prevents unnecessary apps from running and can help you remove malware more effectively.

Restore browser settings

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to remove Searchlee.com Redirects from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall Searchlee.com Redirects 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 Searchlee.com Redirects, 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.

TopHow to remove Searchlee.com Redirects from Google Chrome on Mac:

• Open Chrome browser.
• Enter in the url field “chrome://extensions” address and hit Enter.
• Find Searchlee.com Redirects on the extensions list and click on the recycle bin icon next to it.
• Click on 'Chrome' button at the top left corner. Select 'Preferences' on a drop-down menu box.
• Find 'Search' options on Settings tab. If your search engine is changed, click 'Manage Search Engines' and set your preferred search engine.
• On the same page find 'Show home button' checkbox and change your homepage.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Searchlee.com Redirects, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• On the 'Preferences' menu window, scroll down to the bottom and find 'Reset settings' button. Click it.
• Confirm your selection and click 'Reset' on the following window.

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

How To remove Searchlee.com Redirects from Firefox on Mac OS:

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press cmd+Shift+A on your keyboard).
• Go through Extensions list, remove everything Searchlee.com 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.
• Enter “about:preferences” in URL bar and hit enter.
• Open Search settings tab.
• If your search engine is changed, click 'Default Search Engines' and set your preferred search engine.
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Preferences-> General. Enter a preferable URL to the home page field.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Searchlee.com 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.
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
• Click on the Refresh Firefox button.
• Click on the Refresh 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.