SearchManuals.co Adware - How to remove

The SearchManuals.co webpage looks like the promotion page of dozens of browser hijackers posing as useful browser extensions. Promising “easy access to manuals”, SearchManuals.co is a website that actually advertises browser hijackers. It’s targeted at users from the USA and leads them to one of a selection of browser add-ons, only some of which have anything to do with device manuals.

This website is not really dangerous to your computer, at least not immediately. However, it does promote some unsafe and useless browser extensions and uses some dishonest advertising to achieve more installations. The end goal seems to be more users to show ads to, as well as to promote particular search engines.

What is SearchManuals.co?

The SearchManuals.co site can be called adware that tries to install ProMediaConverter Ads, FreeManualsAndGuides, and other web extensions, some of which genuinely just show you ads while you browse the web. Some of the hijackers that SearchManuals.co advertises bundle Search Encrypt, which is a hijacker that’s going to make using other search engines cumbersome and difficult. While it promises to encrypt your traffic, there are better options for privacy than a dubious extension that partners with adware.

Hijackers are not rare online, and they are considered unwanted by a lot of antivirus tools. That’s because they hijack the settings of the browser they’re installed on, replacing the default search engine, the new tab page, and asking for more privileges than an honest add-on with the stated functions would ever need.

Some of the add-ons that SearchManuals.co lead me to were not traditional hijackers, but more plain adware, such as TheMediaConverter Promos and ClassifiedsNearMe Promos. Not only do these extensions have nothing to do with instruction manuals, but they don’t do anything other than display some ads. With the single ability to “Read and change all your data on the websites you visit”, they can inject advertisements into your view of any website. In theory, they can change anything about how the websites you visit are displayed, and read everything you type, including usernames and passwords.

Overall, browser extensions are dangerous and risky. And not just the ones promoted by SearchManuals.co. Some extensions, when given too much power, accidentally or intentionally endanger the device they were installed on.

Ads and redirects to SearchManuals.co

The majority of people who find SearchManuals.co end up there thanks to online ads. SearchManuals.co employs ads by reputable ad-networks and posts them on trusted websites, mostly ones that collect and make available instruction manuals of various devices. SearchManuals.co makes itself look relevant by promising people an easily accessible database of device manuals. Most of the time, that promise isn’t true because a lot of the extensions that SearchManuals.co pushes have nothing to do with manuals.

The page also receives visitors from other, unrelated sites. If you’ve ever clicked on a link that opened some totally unrelated webpage, one that wanted you to download and install something, that’s what SearchManuals.co and other dishonest sites do. Sometimes this is due to a site being infected, other times it’s because the ads are very intrusive. Websites like Rithardimired.info serve to redirect people to hijackers like SearchManuals.co without them even noticing.

How to avoid SearchManuals.co

There are a few different types of adware, and the add-ons that SearchManuals.co promotes are browser hijackers. They can be removed by uninstalling the extensions and the instructions are listed below this article.

If you wish to avoid extensions like these, there are a few things you can do:

• Scan your device for potentially unwanted software and adware. You can use some strong and professional tool for that, for example, Combo-Cleaner (for Mac), Spyhunter (for Windows).
• Review your browser settings for suspicious notification permissions. These can be used by malicious websites to spam you with unwanted pop-ups and to redirect you to promoted websites. Those promoted sites are often a lot like SearchManuals.co — ones that promote various browser hijackers. In fact, if you don’t use them, it might be safer to disable notifications altogether.
• Update your browser and other software and take advantage of all the security settings. Disable pop-ups and redirects if your browser has those options. Legitimate ads that SearchManuals.co uses are fine, but the redirects are not.
• Think before installing a browser extension — do you really need it? The functionality of the add-ons that SearchManuals.co promotes can easily be recreated by simply marking a few websites that are useful to you as favorite and adding them to your bookmarks.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to remove SearchManuals.co Adware using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like SearchManuals.co Adware 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 SearchManuals.co Adware . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make SearchManuals.co Adware 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 SearchManuals.co Adware from macOS

Delete SearchManuals.co Adware from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the SearchManuals.co Adware 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.

TopRemove malicious extensions from Internet Explorer

• Press on the Gear icon→Manage Add-ons.
  
• Go through Toolbars and extensions. Remove everything related to SearchManuals.co Adware and items you do not know that are made not by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle or Adobe.
  
• Close the Options.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to SearchManuals.co Adware, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Press on the Gear icon->Internet Options.
  
• Choose the Advanced tab and click on the Reset button.
  
• Select a “Delete personal settings” checkbox and click on the Reset button.
  
• Click on the Close button on the confirmation box, then close your browser.
  

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

TopRemoving SearchManuals.co Adware 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 SearchManuals.co Adware. Click on the trash bin icon next to SearchManuals.co Adware 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 SearchManuals.co Adware, 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 SearchManuals.co Adware 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 SearchManuals.co Adware 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 SearchManuals.co Adware, 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 SearchManuals.co Adware 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 SearchManuals.co Adware. Click on the "Remove" icon next to SearchManuals.co Adware 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.

TopRemoving SearchManuals.co Adware from Safari (Mac OS X)

• Click on the Safari menu.
• Choose Preferences.
  
• Click on the Extensions Tab.
• Click on the Uninstall button near the SearchManuals.co Adware. Remove all other unknown or suspicious entries too. If you are not sure whether you need the extension or not, you can simply uncheck the Enable check-box to disable the extension temporarily.
  
• Restart Safari.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to SearchManuals.co Adware, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the 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.