Storm Search Hijacker - How to remove

Storm Search is a browser hijacker that replaces the default search engine with Find.stormsearch.net. Find.stormsearch.net redirects to another search engine, often with more ads. In addition, Storm Search causes excessive ads and redirects and logs user data, such as their search history. Storm Search is nothing less than a browser hijacker.

Users might have a hard time removing Storm Search because it’s managed by an administrator or by an organization, but there are some solutions.

In short about Storm Search:

Classification	Adware, browser hijacker.
Problems with Storm Search	Logs user data, interferes with searches, causes ads and redirects, gets installed without permission, can’t be removed normally.
Signs of an infection	The site that delivers search results changes unexpectedly, excessive ads fill the browser.
How to remove Storm Search	Find and remove Storm Search with anti-malware tools (Combo Cleaner Mac, Spyhunter for PC, Malwarebytes, others), fix the settings that were keeping the extension installed, check browser settings.

Problems with Storm Search

Storm Search is a browser hijacker that brings a lot of problems for the user:

• Changes the search engine.
• Includes ads and redirects in the hijacked browser.
• Collects user information, including search terms.
• Gets installed without the user’s knowledge.

Replaces the search engine

When Storm Search is installed, it replaces the browser’s default search engine with Find.stormsearch.net. It also causes ads and redirects that promote affiliated sites. Overall, it’s a bad time for users who have to deal with ads and redirects when they’re just trying to search the internet.

The default search engine is the site used by your browser. When you search for something in your address bar, the browser sends the query to the default search engine. Storm Search replaces it with Find.stormsearch.net.

Initially, it doesn’t look like anything is wrong. It looks like searches still work the same as always, although careful users might notice suspicious redirects in their address bar. With time, though, it becomes apparent that the browser loads suspicious webpages, links lead to the wrong sites, and ads are more numerous than before. Storm Search may use Google, Yahoo, Bing, or Blpsearch.com – this depends on your location. In my experience, search results seen through Storm Search showed more ads.

Logs user data

Once Storm Search replaces the search engine in a browser, Find.stormsearch.net receives the search queries that are typed by Storm Search’s users. According to Storm Search’s privacy policy, this is the data about each user that may be automatically recorded:

• IP address and language settings.
• Demographic data (age, gender).
• What software is installed on the user’s computer.
• What exactly the user searched for and when.
• Which results the user clicked on and which sites they visited.
• Other data collected by third parties.

Storm Search allows third parties to advertise and can share data with them. All this is for ad targeting.

Unwanted installation

Most importantly, Storm Search gets installed without asking. It appears on the computer unexpectedly. This is repeated again and again by the victims of browser hijackers that are closely related to Storm Search, such as Mazy Search and Burst Search. People say that they did not install these extensions, call them viruses, and warn others to stay away.

Storm Search may come bundled with various free applications, plug-ins, mods. and other programs. It could also be downloaded accidentally by following deceptive ads.

And that would be bad enough, but there’s another problem – Storm Search abuses browser configuration policies. When Storm Search is installed, it might cause the user’s browser to say that it’s managed by an administrator or managed by an organization. These features are meant to allow businesses and schools to manage their computers but are abused by malware.

So, people who try to remove Storm Search may be unable to when the “Remove” button is grayed out or missing.

How to remove Storm Search

Use anti-malware programs

I put the basic browser extension removal instructions at the bottom. But if they don’t work, don’t worry – you don’t need to replace your browser or even uninstall it. You just need to manage some system settings.

First, though, I recommend trying an anti-malware program, such as Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, or Malwarebytes. These can sometimes find and remove malicious extensions. Storm Search may be detected as DefaultSearch. Using an anti-malware tool might be safer than removing malware yourself. And it’s always useful for checking if you removed the malware completely.

Remove it manually

To remove Storm Search manually, the instructions are different for macOS and Windows users. But those who use Chromium browsers, including Google Chrome and the new Microsoft Edge, should find the ID of the extension that they want to remove. This ID can be found in the browser’s Extension settings by turning on the Developer mode switch in the upper right corner.

MacOS users should check their System Preferences for Profiles and then delete any suspicious profiles. That should work but in case it does not, users should also check their Applications folder for Storm Search and other suspicious items. Sometimes, Mac users can’t remove managed browser extensions because a malicious app is still installed. They might need the help of an anti-malware tool to check for malicious apps.

Windows users can follow this article by How-to Geek. The instructions there involve editing the registry, which is very sensitive and full of extremely important settings. Doing something wrong or careless can lead to problems. That’s another reason why it might be safer to use an anti-malware app.

If, after Storm Search is removed, the browser still shows strange behavior, then it’s worth checking if any of the other browser extensions are interfering with it in unhelpful ways. Disabling the extensions one-by-one could help find out which of them are causing unwanted effects.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Restore browser settings

TopHow To remove Storm Search 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 Storm Search 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 Storm Search 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 Storm Search 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 Storm Search 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 Storm Search 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 Storm Search 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.