SearchStreams Hijacker - How to remove

SearchStreams is a dubious browser extension that sneaks into computers with the help of some very misleading advertisements. People can install SearchStreams without even meaning to or realizing what or why they’re doing it. Once installed, SearchStreams changes the browser’s settings so that the default search engine is Feed.searchstreams.com, which sends search queries to Yahoo.com. Overall, SearchStreams does not offer any useful functions and only exists to hijack people’s searches.

Details on SearchStreams:

Type of threat	Browser hijacker, adware.
Problems with SearchStreams	It hijacks the default search engine setting, it logs your search queries, it uses data collected on you to advertise to you.
How Searchstreams.com spreads	Comes bundled with freeware, gets installed by tricking people with deceptive ads.
How to remove Searchstreams.com redirects	Uninstall SearchStreams and other suspicious browser add-ons, remove malware with antivirus tools (Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC), block unwanted notifications and malicious websites.

SearchStreams redirects and ads

SearchStreams is an add-on to a web browser, a small program that changes a few browser settings. It gets installed on the browser and can be found in the Main menu-> Settings -> Extensions page. In theory, browser add-ons should add functionality and personalize the browser. But SearchStreams does much less than that:

• it reads your browsing history,
• changes your search settings to Feed.searchstreams.com,
• reads your data on Searchstreams.com.

That’s it. Even in SearchStreams’ description, it says:

Search by SearchStreams – The best way to search

And that’s it. Trying to use Searchstreams.com for searching the internet just opens Yahoo.com. Just like any other Yahoo redirect virus. This is not necessarily malicious, but it is how browser hijackers operate.

Reading Searchstreams.com’s privacy policy reveals that this site collects each user’s technical information. This includes more than people’s browser types, operating system, IP address, and language; it also includes search logs and which links were clicked on. This information is then used for targeting ads to each user.

And that’s what SearchStreams really is – adware. It hijacks your searches and redirects you to sites that it wants you to use, sites that show ads that it wants you to see. Your time is wasted as you have to scroll past a few too many ads to get to the real search results. But, while SearchStreams is installed, your address bar is hijacked and any searches done using it are under Searchstreams.com’s control.

How Searchstreams.com spreads

Based on the address included in Searchstreams.com’s privacy policy, this website and browser add-on are related to Linkury, Safe Finder, and other search hijackers, including RollingSearch, SearchZilla, Tapufind.com, and many, many others.

These browser add-ons, like SearchStreams, use deceptive ads or bundling to get installed:

• Ads that imply that they are not ads, that show a vaguely official-looking warning telling you to install something. Often these are warnings lie and say that you need to install SearchStreams to play a video, download a file, even connect to WiFi. These ads appear as unexpected pop-ups on certain websites. People follow the fake warnings and install the extensions because they think that they have to.
• Programs whose installers are bundled with SearchStreams and other potentially unwanted browser add-ons. This allows the add-ons to be installed without even really asking the user for permission. SearchStreams gets installed in the background, just like that. Bundling is commonly used to spread adware.

SearchStreams has at least thirty-forty thousand users on the Chrome Web Store. No ratings or reviews are posted about it by any of its users. As if they don’t know or care that it was installed. SearchStreams is not the only browser add-on that does this. Every browser hijacker that I check out has an absurdly low number of reviews and ratings compared to legitimate browser add-ons with the same number of users. It’s because hijackers sneak into browsers instead of getting installed honestly. So, victims don’t even know what happened.

How to remove SearchStreams

Searchstreams.com is not a good or useful website. Most of its users would benefit from blocking it and the related sites. You can use an ad-blocker or an anti-malware app for this. Programs that block malicious sites help avoid malware infections, so consider using one.

Before that, though, the quickest way to get rid of SearchStreams and regain your control over your browser is to manually remove it. You can do that it browser settings or by right-clicking its icon and then clicking on “Remove”. That’s not all, though. It’s important to check your other browser extensions, too.

But removing SearchStreams alone may not be enough. Use antivirus or anti-malware programs to scan your computer and find all the adware, malware, and potentially unwanted software that may have been installed in the same way as SearchStreams was. Any competent anti-malware app, such as Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, and others can do this.

After you removed SearchStreams and other bad browser add-ons, you should have full control over your search settings again. If you’re still getting unwanted notifications, check this post.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manually remove SearchStreams extension

TopHow To remove SearchStreams 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 SearchStreams 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 SearchStreams 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 SearchStreams, 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 SearchStreams 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 SearchStreams 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 SearchStreams 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.