How to remove SearchAssist.me [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

The SearchAssist.me browser hijacker can also set the unwanted “https://www.searchassist.net/” web-page as your search engine. You will encounter the fact that the search in the web-browser has become uncomfortable to use, because the search results will consist of a large number of advertisements, links to ad and unwanted web pages and a small amount of regular links, which are obtained from a search in the major search engines. Therefore, look for something using SearchAssist.me would be a waste of time or worse, it may lead to even more infected PC system.

Some hijacker infections also contain adware (sometimes called ‘ad-supported’ software) which may be used to show undesired ads and or gather a wide variety of personal info that can be transferred to third parties. These unwanted ads can be shown as pop-unders, pop-ups, in-text advertisements, video ads, text links or banners or even massive full page ads. Most of the ad-supported software is developed to open ads, but some adware is form of spyware that often used to track users to collect lots of personal information about you.

We suggest you to get rid of SearchAssist.me and clean your PC of browser hijacker infection as soon as possible, until the presence of the hijacker has not led to even worse consequences. Use the step by step tutorial below that will help you to completely delete SearchAssist home page, using only the built-in Windows features and a few of specialized free tools.

SearchAssist.me removal steps

The following tutorial will help you to remove SearchAssist.me from the Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer and MS Edge. Moreover, the guide below will help you to remove malicious software such as PUPs, adware and toolbars that your computer may be infected. Please do the instructions step by step. If you need assist or have any questions, then ask for our assistance or type a comment below. Some of the steps will require you to restart your PC system or close the web site. So, read this guide carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.

Manual SearchAssist.me removal

The following instructions is a step-by-step guide, which will help you manually get rid of SearchAssist.me from the Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Edge.

Uninstall SearchAssist.me related applications through the Control Panel of your computer

Some of PUPs, adware and browser hijacker can be deleted using the Add/Remove programs utility that can be found in the Microsoft Windows Control Panel. So, if you are using any version of MS Windows and you have noticed an unwanted program, then first try to delete it through Add/Remove programs.

Windows 8, 8.1, 10

First, click Windows button , then press Search . Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as shown in the figure below.

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

You will see the ‘Uninstall a program’ panel as shown on the image below.

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

Windows XP, Vista, 7

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

Once 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 programs installed on your personal computer. 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 advertisements and browser redirect. If you are in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. Once the program which you need to uninstall is found, simply click on its name, and then click ‘Uninstall’ as shown on the screen below.

Clean up the browsers shortcuts that have been hijacked

A hijacker can hijack various Windows shortcuts on your desktop (most often, all internet browsers shortcuts), so in this step you need to check and clean them by removing the argument such as http://site.address/.

Right click on the shortcut of infected web browser as shown in the figure below.

Select the “Properties” option and it’ll show a shortcut’s properties. Next, press the “Shortcut” tab and then delete the “http://site.address” string from Target field as on the image below.

Then press OK to save changes. Repeat the step for all browsers which are rerouted to the SearchAssist undesired site.

Get rid of SearchAssist.me from Chrome

1. First launch the Chrome and press Menu button (small button in the form of three horizontal stripes).
2. It will open the Google Chrome main menu. Select “Settings” option.
3. You will see the Google Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and press “Show advanced settings” link.
4. Scroll down again and click the “Reset settings” button.
5. The Google Chrome will open the reset profile settings page as on the image above.
6. Next click the “Reset” button.
7. Once this process is finished, your web-browser’s startpage, newtab and default search provider will be restored to their original defaults.
8. To learn more, read the article How to reset Chrome settings to default.

Remove SearchAssist homepage from Internet Explorer

By resetting Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser you return your browser settings to its default state. This is basic when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by browser hijacker like SearchAssist.me.

First, run the Microsoft Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (). It will display 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 below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.

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

Delete SearchAssist home page from Mozilla Firefox

The Firefox reset will keep your personal information such as bookmarks, passwords, web form auto-fill data and remove unwanted search engine and startpage such as SearchAssist, modified preferences, extensions and security settings.

First, open the FF and press button. It will show the drop-down menu on the right-part of the internet browser. Further, click the Help button () as shown in the figure below

.

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

It will display the confirmation prompt. Further, press the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Firefox will begin a procedure to fix your problems that caused by the SearchAssist.me hijacker. Once, it is finished, click the “Finish” button.

How to automatically remove SearchAssist.me browser hijacker

There are not many good free anti malware programs with high detection ratio. The effectiveness of malware removal tools depends on various factors, mostly on how often their virus/malware signatures DB are updated in order to effectively detect modern malicious software, adware, browser hijacker infections and other potentially unwanted applications. We suggest to use several programs, not just one. These programs that listed below will allow you delete all components of the browser hijacker from your disk and Windows registry and thereby delete SearchAssist.me .

Automatically remove SearchAssist redirect with Zemana Anti-malware

We suggest using the Zemana Anti-malware that are completely clean your computer of the browser hijacker infection. The utility is an advanced malware removal program developed by (c) Zemana lab. It is able to help you remove PUPs, browser hijacker infections, ad supported software, malware, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your personal computer for free.

1. Please download Zemana anti malware to your desktop from the following link.
   
   

   Zemana AntiMalware
   164107 downloads
   Author: Zemana Ltd
   Category: Security tools
   Update: July 16, 2019
   
2. At the download page, click on the Download button. Your internet browser will show the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
3. After downloading is done, please close all software and open windows on your computer. Next, start a file named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
4. This will run the “Setup wizard” of Zemana antimalware onto your system. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
5. When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the anti-malware will start and open the main window.
6. Further, click the “Scan” button . This will begin scanning the whole computer to find out browser hijacker infection and other malware and adware. While the utility is scanning, you can see how many objects it has identified either as being malware.
7. Once the system scan is done, the results are displayed in the scan report.
8. Review the scan results and then click the “Next” button to begin cleaning your computer. Once the procedure is complete, you may be prompted to restart the PC.
9. Close the Zemana Anti-Malware and continue with the next step.

How to automatically remove SearchAssist.me with Malwarebytes

We suggest using the Malwarebytes Free. You may download and install Malwarebytes to detect and get rid of SearchAssist.me from your PC system. When installed and updated, the free malicious software remover will automatically scan and detect all threats present on the machine.

1. Download Malwarebytes (MBAM) by clicking on the link below.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware
   326460 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: April 15, 2020
   
2. When downloading is finished, close all programs and windows on your machine. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
3. Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
4. Once installation is finished, press the “Scan Now” button . This will begin scanning the whole PC system to find out hijacker infection . A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the count of files on your system and the speed of your machine. While the tool is scanning, you can see how many objects it has identified as being infected by malicious software.
5. Once the checking is complete, you will be displayed the list of all detected items on your machine. Next, you need to click “Quarantine Selected”. Once disinfection is finished, you can be prompted to reboot your computer.

The following video offers a guide on how to remove browser hijacker with Malwarebytes.

If the problem with SearchAssist.me is still remained

AdwCleaner is a free portable program that scans your PC for adware, potentially unwanted programs and browser hijackers such as SearchAssist.me and helps remove them easily. Moreover, it’ll also allow you delete any malicious web browser extensions and add-ons.

1. Download AdwCleaner from the link below.
   
   

   AdwCleaner download
   225298 downloads
   Version: 8.4.1
   Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: October 5, 2024
   
2. After downloading is complete, double click the AdwCleaner icon. Once this utility is launched, click “Scan” button for checking your personal computer for the SearchAssist.me browser hijacker that redirects your web browser to the SearchAssist unwanted web page. This process can take some time, so please be patient.
3. Once the scan is finished, it will open a scan report. Next, you need to click “Clean” button. It will display a prompt, click “OK”.

These few simple steps are shown in detail in the following video guide.

Stop SearchAssist redirect and other annoying web pages

In order to increase your security and protect your personal computer against new annoying advertisements and malicious sites, you need to use ad-blocker program that stops an access to harmful advertisements and web sites. Moreover, the application can stop the show of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of web pages and reduce the consumption of web traffic.

Installing the AdGuard ad blocking program is simple. First you will need to download AdGuard by clicking on the following link.

Adguard download
26656 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018

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

Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick instructions which will allow you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you launch your PC, AdGuard will run automatically and stop advertisements, SearchAssist.me redirects, 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 AdGuard icon, that is located on your desktop.

How can you prevent the SearchAssist.me hijacker

The browser hijacker usually come as a part of free applications that downloaded from the Net. Which means that you need to be proactive and carefully read the Terms of use and the License agreement properly. For the most part, the SearchAssist.me browser hijacker will be clearly described, so take the time to carefully read all the information about the software that you downloaded and want to install on your machine. In the Setup wizard, you should choose the Advanced, Custom or Manual installation mode to control what components and optional programs to be installed, otherwise you run the risk of infecting your PC system with an infection like the SearchAssist.me browser hijacker.

To sum up

Now your machine should be free of the SearchAssist.me hijacker. Remove AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop up advertisements and annoying dangerous sites) and Malwarebytes (to periodically scan your computer for new browser hijackers, malware and adware). Probably you are running an older version of Java or Adobe Flash Player. This can be a security risk, so download and install the latest version right now.

If you are still having problems while trying to delete SearchAssist.me from the Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.