How to remove Search.privacy-search.net [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

If your browser startpage has replaced to the Search.privacy-search.net, then your personal computer is infected with nasty unwanted software from the browser hijacker family. It means that an unwanted application has taken over and changed web-browsers settings, without your desire or permission. So, if the Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Internet Explorer home page, newtab and default search provider has been changed or your browser being rerouted to the web-page you never intended to visit, then it is a sign that you need to clean up your PC as quickly as possible in order to get rid of Search.privacy-search.net unwanted startpage.

http://search.privacy-search.net/

A malware which changes current settings of installed browsers on Search.privacy-search.net usually affects only Chrome, IE, FF and Edge. However, possible situations, when any other browsers will be affected too. The Search.privacy-search.net hijacker can alter the Target property of web-browser’s shortcuts, so every time you start the web-browser, instead of your homepage, you will see a completely different web site.

Table of contents

What is Search.privacy-search.net
How to remove Search.privacy-search.net
1. How to get rid of Search.privacy-search.net redirect without any software
2. Run free malware removal utilities to completely get rid of Search.privacy-search.net
  1. Automatically remove Search.privacy-search.net redirect with Malwarebytes
  2. Run AdwCleaner to delete Search.privacy-search.net
How to block Search.privacy-search.net startpage
How did Search.privacy-search.net hijacker get on your machine
Finish words

As mentioned above, the Search.privacy-search.net browser hijacker also changes the browser’s search provider. So, your browser, when searching something, will display a hodgepodge of advertisements, links to unwanted and ad web sites and search results of a big search providers like Google or Bing. As a result, actual use of a internet browser’s search becomes uncomfortable. Moreover, it may also lead to slowing or even freeze your internet browser.

The Search.privacy-search.net browser hijacker infection is not a virus, but the virus behaves similarly. As a rootkit hides in the system, alters internet browsers settings, and blocks them from changing. Also this browser hijacker infection can install additional web browser addons, extensions and modules that will open advertisements and popups. And finally, the Search.privacy-search.net hijacker infection can collect lots of personal data such as what pages you’re opening, what you’re looking for the World Wide Web and so on. This information, in the future, may be used for marketing purposes.

Thus, it’s clear that the presence of hijacker on your PC system is not desirable, and you need to clean up your PC system ASAP. Follow the few simple steps below in order to delete Search.privacy-search.net annoying start page.

How to remove Search.privacy-search.net

In the tutorial below we will have a look at the browser hijacker and how to remove Search.privacy-search.net from Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and MS Edge web-browsers for Windows OS, natively or by using a few free removal tools and applications.

If you are using an Apple computer running Mac OS, then use the following step by step guide How to remove browser hijacker, pop-ups, ads from Mac

How to remove Search.privacy-search.net redirect without any software

The useful removal instructions for the Search.privacy-search.net search. 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.privacy-search.net search let us know how you managed by sending us your comments please.

Uninstalling the Search.privacy-search.net, check the list of installed applications first

The process of browser hijacker removal is generally the same across all versions of Microsoft Windows OS from 10 to XP. To start with, it’s necessary to check the list of installed programs on your computer and delete all unused, unknown and suspicious software.

Windows 8, 8.1, 10

First, click Windows button

, then press Search

. Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as shown below.

When the ‘Control Panel’ opens, click the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category as shown below.

You will see the ‘Uninstall a program’ panel like below.

Very carefully look around the entire list of software installed on your machine. Most likely, one or more of them are responsible for the appearance of pop-ups and browser redirect to the unwanted Search.privacy-search.net web-site. If you have many programs installed, you can help simplify the search of malicious programs by sort the list by date of installation. Once you have found a suspicious, unwanted or unused application, right click to it, after that click ‘Uninstall’.

Windows XP, Vista, 7

First, click ‘Start’ button and select ‘Control Panel’ at right panel as shown in the figure below.

When the Windows ‘Control Panel’ opens, you need to click ‘Uninstall a program’ under ‘Programs’ as shown on the screen below.

You will see a list of software installed on your machine. We recommend to sort the list by date of installation to quickly find the applications that were installed last. Most likely they responsibility for the appearance of pop-ups and browser redirect. If you are in doubt, you can always check the application by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. When the program which you need to delete is found, simply click on its name, and then press ‘Uninstall’ as shown on the screen below.

Clean up the web browsers shortcuts

Unfortunately, the browser hijacker can also hijack Windows shortcuts (mostly, your web browsers shortcuts}), so that the Search.privacy-search.net startpage will be displayed when you run the Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox and Microsoft Edge or another web-browser.

Right click on the shortcut of infected internet browser as on the image below.

Select the “Properties” option and it will show a shortcut’s properties. Next, click the “Shortcut” tab and then delete the “http://site.address” string from Target field as shown in the figure below.

Then click OK to save changes. Repeat the step for all web browsers that are re-directed to the Search.privacy-search.net unwanted web site.

Delete Search.privacy-search.net from IE

The Microsoft Internet Explorer reset is great if your browser is hijacked or you have unwanted addo-ons or toolbars on your internet browser, which installed by an malware.

First, start the IE. Next, click the button in the form of gear (). It will open the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” like below.

In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then press the Reset button. The Microsoft Internet Explorer will open the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as shown in the figure below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.

You will now need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Get rid of Search.privacy-search.net from Chrome

Reset Chrome settings is a simple way to get rid of the browser hijacker, harmful and adware extensions, as well as to restore the internet browser’s startpage, new tab and search provider by default that have been changed by browser hijacker.

Open the Google Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will display the drop-down menu. Next, click to “Settings” option.

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 on the screen below and click the “Reset settings” button.

Confirm your action, click the “Reset” button.

Remove Search.privacy-search.net from Mozilla Firefox by resetting browser settings

First, launch the Firefox and click button. It will open the drop-down menu on the right-part of the browser. Further, press the Help button () like below

In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the web browser adress bar and press Enter. It will show the “Troubleshooting Information” page as shown on the screen below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, press the “Refresh Firefox” button.

It will display the confirmation dialog box. Further, click the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Firefox will start a procedure to fix your problems that caused by the Search.privacy-search.net hijacker. Once, it’s done, click the “Finish” button.

Run free malware removal utilities to completely get rid of Search.privacy-search.net

Manual removal is not always as effective as you might think. Often, even the most experienced users can not completely remove hijacker from the infected computer. So, we suggest to check your machine for any remaining malicious components with free browser hijacker removal applications below.

Automatically remove Search.privacy-search.net redirect with Malwarebytes

Manual Search.privacy-search.net redirect removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the hijacker can be not completely removed. We suggest that use the Malwarebytes Free that are completely free your computer of hijacker infection. Moreover, the free program will help you to remove malware, potentially unwanted software, adware (sometimes called ‘ad-supported’ software) and toolbars that your machine may be infected too.

Please download Malwarebytes to your desktop from the following link.

Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326457 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
At the download page, click on the Download button. Your internet browser will display the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
Once the download process is done, please close all software and open windows on your personal computer. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
This will start the “Setup wizard” of Malwarebytes onto your PC system. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the Malwarebytes will start and display the main window.
Further, click the “Scan Now” button . This will begin scanning the whole personal computer to find out hijacker infection which cause a redirect to Search.privacy-search.net. A system scan may take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your PC.
When the Malwarebytes has finished checking, the results are displayed in the scan report.
Review the report and then click the “Quarantine Selected” button to start cleaning your PC. Once the procedure is complete, you may be prompted to restart the personal computer.
Close the Anti-Malware and continue with the next step.

Video instruction, which reveals in detail the steps above.

Run AdwCleaner to delete Search.privacy-search.net

If MalwareBytes anti malware cannot remove this hijacker, then we recommends to run the AdwCleaner. AdwCleaner is a free removal tool for browser hijacker infections, adware, potentially unwanted programs and toolbars.

Download AdwCleaner from the following link.

AdwCleaner download
225298 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
Select the file location as Desktop, and then click Save.
After downloading is done, launch the AdwCleaner, double-click the adwcleaner_xxx.exe file.
If the “User Account Control” prompts, click Yes to continue.
Read the “Terms of use”, and click Accept.
In the AdwCleaner window, click the “Scan” to perform a system scan for the Search.privacy-search.net hijacker and other malware and ad supported software. This process may take quite a while, so please be patient. During the scan it’ll detect all threats present on your machine.
Once the scan is finished, it’ll show a list of detected threats. Review the report and then click “Clean”. If the AdwCleaner will ask you to reboot your PC system, click “OK”.

The guide shown in detail in the following video.

How to block Search.privacy-search.net startpage

It’s also critical to protect your browsers from dangerous web-pages and ads by using an ad blocker program such as AdGuard. Security experts says that it’ll greatly reduce the risk of malware, and potentially save lots of money. Additionally, the AdGuard can also protect your privacy by blocking almost all trackers.

Installing the AdGuard ad blocker application is simple. First you will need to download AdGuard from the following link.

After the download is done, double-click the downloaded file to start it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as shown on the screen below.

Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed and an icon will be placed on your desktop. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick instructions as shown on the screen below.

Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick guide that will help you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you start your system, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop ads, web sites such Search.privacy-search.net, as well as other harmful or misleading web sites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, that can be found on your desktop.

How did Search.privacy-search.net hijacker get on your machine

The Search.privacy-search.net hijacker actively distributed with freeware, along with the installer of these programs. Therefore, it is very important, when installing an unknown program even downloaded from known or big hosting web-site, read the Terms of use and the Software license, as well as to select the Manual, Advanced or Custom setup mode. In this mode, you can disable the installation of unneeded modules and applications and protect your PC from such browser hijacker infections as the Search.privacy-search.net. Unfortunately, most users when installing unknown programs, simply click the Next button, and do not read any information that the free applications open them during its installation. This leads to the fact that the web-browser settings are modified and internet browser’s new tab page, home page and search provider by default set to Search.privacy-search.net.

Finish words

Once you have done the few simple steps outlined above, your computer should be free from browser hijacker, adware and malware. The Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge and Internet Explorer will no longer open Search.privacy-search.net unwanted start page on startup. Unfortunately, if the step-by-step instructions does not help you, then you have caught a new browser hijacker, and then the best way – ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.