How to remove Yahoo search bar from Chrome, Firefox, IE

Technically, “Yahoo search bar” is a browser hijacker, it is not a virus. Once this hijacker infection gets installed on your computer, it changes the settings of all your internet browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Edge. It will add the “Yahoo search bar” into your homepage and new tab page and set search.yahoo.com as your search engine by default. Thus, if you start any of the web-browsers, it will always be open this annoying search bar. Moreover, when you create a new tab, the Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge can be also display the page that contains the Yahoo search bar.

A malicious software that alters the settings of internet browsers an insert the Yahoo search bar into the browser’s startpage usually affects only Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge. However, possible situations, when any other browsers will be affected too. The Yahoo search bar infection may also change the Target property of a web-browser’s shortcut, so every time you run the web-browser, instead of your homepage, you will see a completely different web page.

Besides the fact that Yahoo search bar hijacker injects unwanted toolbar into your start page, this unwanted web-site can set Search.yahoo.com as your search engine. But, obviously, it does not give you a good search results, as they will consist of a huge number of ads and only the remaining part is search results for your query from the major search engines. Of course, the very fact that you encounter with the inability to properly search the Internet, is an unpleasant moment. Moreover, the Yahoo search bar hijacker infection may collect information about you, and in the future to transfer it to third parties. What creates the risk of theft of your personal data.

We suggest you to remove Yahoo search bar and clean your system as quickly as possible, until the presence of the infection has not led to even worse consequences. You need to follow the instructions that will allow you to completely uninstall this unwanted toolbar, using only the built-in Windows features and a few of specialized free tools.

How to “Yahoo search bar” get installed onto system

The Yahoo search bar infection actively distributed with free programs, as a part of the installer of these programs. Therefore, it is very important, when installing an unknown software even downloaded from known or big hosting page, read the Terms of use and the Software license, as well as to choose the Manual, Advanced or Custom installation mode. In this mode, you can disable the installation of unneeded modules and programs and protect your PC system from such hijackers as the Yahoo search bar. Unfortunately, most users when installing unknown programs, simply click the Next button, and do not read any information that the free software displays them during its installation. This leads to the fact that the browser’s settings are changed and web-browser’s start page contains the Yahoo search bar.

How to manually remove Yahoo search bar

This useful removal guide for the Yahoo search toolbar. The detailed procedure can be followed by anyone as it really does take you step-by-step. If you follow this process to remove search bar from your startpage let us know how you managed by sending us your comments please.

1. Remove Yahoo search bar associated software by using Windows Control Panel
2. Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to remove Yahoo search redirect
3. Remove Yahoo search bar from Google Chrome
4. Get rid of Yahoo search toolbar in FF
5. Delete Yahoo search bar from Microsoft Internet Explorer

Remove Yahoo search bar associated software by using Windows Control Panel

We recommend that you start the PC cleaning process by checking the list of installed programs and get rid of all unknown or suspicious applications. This is a very important step, as mentioned above, very often the malicious software such as adware and browser hijackers may be bundled with free applications. Uninstall the unwanted software may remove the unwanted advertising links or browser redirect to unknown or unwanted web-sites.

It will open the Windows Control Panel as shown below.

Click “Uninstall a program” It will show a list of all programs. Scroll through the all list, and remove any suspicious and unknown programs. To quickly find the latest installed software, we recommend sort applications by date in the Control panel.

Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to remove Yahoo search redirect

Now you need to clean up the internet browser shortcuts. Check that the shortcut referring to the right exe-file of the browser, and not on any unknown file. Right click to a desktop shortcut for your browser. Choose the “Properties” option.

It will open the Properties window. Select the “Shortcut” tab here, after that, look at the “Target” field. The hijacker infection can replace it. If you are seeing something like “…exe http://site.address” then you need to remove “http…” and leave only, depending on the web-browser you are using:

• Google Chrome: chrome.exe
• Opera: opera.exe
• Firefox: firefox.exe
• Internet Explorer: iexplore.exe

Look at the example on the screen below. Once is done, press the “OK” button to save the changes. Please repeat this step for browser shortcuts which redirects to an annoying web-sites. When you have completed, go to next step.

Remove Yahoo search bar from Google Chrome

Like other modern browsers, the Chrome has the ability to reset the settings to their default values and thus restore the start page, search provider by default that have been modified by the Yahoo search bar hijacker.

Start the Google Chrome. Click on the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will appear the main menu. Click on the option named “Settings”. Another way to open the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the browser address bar and press Enter. The browser will display the settings screen. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Show advanced settings” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset settings” section is visible, as shown below and click on the “Reset settings” button. The Google Chrome will show the confirmation dialog box. You need to confirm your action. Press on the “Reset” button. The program will start the process of cleaning and when it is finished, the browser settings including homepage, search engine by default back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your system.

Get rid of Yahoo search toolbar in FF

Open the Firefox menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It opens the drop-down menu. Click on the Help button (). In the Help menu click on the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page click on “Refresh Firefox” button. Confirm your action. Click on the “Refresh Firefox”.

Delete Yahoo search bar from Microsoft Internet Explorer

Open the Internet Explorer tools menu by clicking on the button in the form of gear (). It opens the drop-down menu. Click on the “Internet Options”. In the Internet Options window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The Internet Explorer will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click on “Reset” button. You will now need to restart your personal computer for the changes to take effect.

How to remove Yahoo search bar with Antimalware

Remove Yahoo search toolbar manually is difficult and often infection is not completely removed. Therefore, we recommend you to use the MalwareBytes Anti-malware Free that are completely clean your computer. Moreover, the free software will help you to remove adware and toolbars that your personal computer may be infected too.

1. Download MalwareBytes Anti-malware (MBAM) from the link below.
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware
   326464 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: April 15, 2020
   
2. Close all programs and windows on your computer. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that named mbam-setup.
3. Click Next and follow the prompts.
4. Once installation is complete, click on the “Scan Now” button to start scanning your computer for Yahoo search bar infection. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient.
5. When the scan is finished, make sure all entries have “checkmark” and click “Remove Selected”. Once disinfection is completed, you may be prompted to Restart.

Block unwanted sites and annoying ads

To increase your security and protect your PC against new unwanted advertising banners and malicious sites, you need to use an application that blocks access to dangerous advertisements and web-pages. Moreover, the software can block the open of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of pages and reduce the consumption of web traffic.

Download AdGuard program using the following link.

After the download is complete, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as shown below.

Follow the prompts. After installation is complete, you will see a window as shown in the figure below.

You can click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial that will help you get to know AdGuard better.
In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you start your system, AdGuard will run automatically and block pop-up ads, as well as other malicious or misleading pages. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon AdGuard, which is located on your desktop.

If the problem with Yahoo search bar is still remained

If MalwareBytes Anti-malware cannot remove this browser hijacker, then we suggests to use the AdwCleaner. AdwCleaner is a free removal tool for browser hijackers, adware, PUPs, toolbars. Also you can ask for help our Myantispyware team below.

 

1. Download AdwCleaner from the link below.
   

   AdwCleaner download
   225301 downloads
   Version: 8.4.1
   Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: October 5, 2024
   
2. Double click the AdwCleaner icon. Once this tool is started, press “Scan” button to perform a system scan for Yahoo search bar.
3. Once AdwCleaner has finished, it will open a scan report. Review the report and then click “Clean” button. It will display a prompt. Click “OK”.

How to ask for help the Myantispyware team

If you are seeking a help for Yahoo search bar removal then follow these steps.

1. Download HijackThis from the link below and save it to your Desktop.
   

   HijackThis download
   4711 downloads
   Version: 2.0.5
   Author: OpenSource
   Category: Security tools
   Update: November 7, 2015
   
2. Double-click on the HijackThis icon, and click the button labeled “Do a system scan only”.
3. Once the scan is complete, the scan button will read “Save log”, click it. Save this log to your desktop

Create a Myantispyware account here. Once you’ve registered, check your e-mail for a confirmation link, and confirm your account. After that, login.

• Copy and paste the contents of the HijackThis log into your post. If you are posting for the first time, please start a new thread by using the “New Topic” button in the Spyware Removal forum. When posting your HJT log, try to give us some details about your problems, so we can try to help you more accurately.
• Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with Yahoo search bar removal.