How to remove Any Search [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

Except that the Any Search imposes changes to web browser’s startpage and newtab, it also changes your search engine, which leads to the fact that use of the web browser’s search becomes uncomfortable. The reason for this is that the search results will consist of a lot of advertisements, links to unwanted and ad web pages and only the remaining part is search results for your query from well-known search engines such as Google or Bing.

It’s not a good idea to have an unwanted program like Any Search browser hijacker on your computer. The reason for this is simple, it doing things you don’t know about. The browser hijacker infection can also be used to gather a wide variety of user data which can be later sold to third parties. You don’t know if your home address, account names and passwords are safe. And of course you completely do not know what will happen when you click on any advertisements on the Any Search site.

The Any Search browser hijacker commonly affects only the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Edge and IE. However, possible situations, when any other web browsers will be affected too. The hijacker will perform a scan of the machine for web browser shortcuts and change them without your permission. When it infects the web browser shortcuts, it’ll add the argument like ‘http://site.address’ into Target property. So, each time you open the internet browser, you will see the Any Search annoying web-page.

Therefore it is very important to clean your computer of browser hijacker as soon as possible. Follow the guide below to remove Any Search redirect, as well as other malware and adware, which can be installed onto your machine along with it.

Remove Any Search

In the instructions below we will have a look at the browser hijacker and how to remove Any Search from Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers for MS Windows OS, natively or by using a few free removal tools. Read it once, after doing so, please print this page as you may need to exit your web browser or restart your machine.

Delete Any Search without any tools

If you perform exactly the step-by-step instructions below you should be able to get rid of the Any Search start page from the Chrome, Internet Explorer, FF and MS Edge internet browsers.

Uninstall suspicious software using MS Windows Control Panel

First method for manual browser hijacker removal is to go into the MS Windows “Control Panel”, then “Uninstall a program” console. Take a look at the list of applications on your computer and see if there are any suspicious and unknown software. If you see any, you need to delete them. Of course, before doing so, you can do an Web search to find details on the application. If it is a potentially unwanted application, ‘ad supported’ software or malicious software, you will likely find information that says so.

Carefully browse through the list of installed programs and delete all software that has the name such as “Any Search”. We advise to click ‘Installed programs’ and even sorts all installed programs by date. After you have found anything suspicious that may be the hijacker, adware or PUPs, then select this application and press ‘Uninstall’ in the upper part of the window. If the suspicious program blocked from removal, then use Revo Uninstaller Freeware to fully delete it from your machine.

Clean up the web browsers shortcuts which have been hijacked by Any Search

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.

To clear the web browser shortcut, right-click to it and select Properties. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target field. Click inside, you will see a vertical line – arrow pointer, move it (using -> arrow key on your keyboard) to the right as possible. You will see a text such as “http://site.address” which has been added here. You need to delete it.

When the text is removed, click the OK button. You need to clean all shortcuts of all your web-browsers, as they may be infected too.

Remove Any Search from FF

The Firefox reset will keep your personal information like bookmarks, passwords, web form auto-fill data and remove unwanted search engine and homepage like Any Search, modified preferences, extensions and security settings.

First, run the Firefox. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will open the drop-down menu. Next, press the Help button ().

In the Help menu click the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page press on “Refresh Firefox” button as displayed in the figure below.

Confirm your action, click the “Refresh Firefox”.

Delete Any Search from Google Chrome

Like other modern browsers, the Chrome has the ability to reset the settings to their default values and thereby restore the internet browser new tab, home page and search engine by default that have been modified by the Any Search hijacker.

First run the Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will open the main menu. Further, click the option named “Settings”. Another way to show the Google Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the internet browser adress bar and press Enter.

The web browser will open the settings screen. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and press the “Show advanced settings” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset settings” section is visible, as displayed on the screen below and click the “Reset settings” button.

The Chrome will open the confirmation dialog box. You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The browser will start the process of cleaning. When it’s complete, the browser’s settings including start page, newtab and default search provider back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your computer.

Delete Any Search from Microsoft Internet Explorer

If you find that IE internet browser settings like homepage, newtab page and search engine by default having been hijacked, then you may return your settings, via the reset web browser process.

First, launch the Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (). It will display the Tools drop-down menu, press the “Internet Options” as shown in the following example.

In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The IE will open the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as displayed on the screen below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.

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

How to remove Any Search with freeware

If your system is still infected with the Any Search browser hijacker, then the best solution of detection and removal is to use an anti malware scan on the system. Download free malicious software removal tools below and run a full system scan. It will allow you remove all components of the hijacker infection from hardisk and Windows registry.

How to automatically get rid of Any Search with Zemana Free

You can remove Any Search homepage automatically with a help of Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM). We recommend this malicious software removal tool because it may easily delete browser hijackers, potentially unwanted applications, adware and toolbars with all their components such as folders, files and registry entries.

Download Zemana Free by clicking on the following link and save it to your Desktop.

After the download is finished, close all windows on your PC system. Further, run the setup file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as on the image below, press the “Yes” button.

It will open the “Setup wizard” which will assist you install Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) on the computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once installation is done successfully, Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) will automatically start and you can see its main window as displayed on the screen below.

Next, click the “Scan” button to begin scanning your system for the hijacker that cause a reroute to Any Search page. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your system. While the tool is scanning, you may see how many objects and files has already scanned.

Once the scan is finished, Zemana Anti-Malware will show a scan report. All detected items will be marked. You can remove them all by simply press “Next” button.

The Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) will remove hijacker infection which reroutes your internet browser to unwanted Any Search page and add threats to the Quarantine. After finished, you can be prompted to reboot your PC.

How to automatically delete Any Search with Malwarebytes

We recommend using the Malwarebytes Free. You can download and install Malwarebytes to find and delete Any Search from your machine. When installed and updated, the free malware remover will automatically scan and detect all threats present on the computer.

Download MalwareBytes from the following link and save it directly to your Windows Desktop.

Once the download is complete, close all windows on your computer. Further, open the file called mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as displayed on the image below, click the “Yes” button.

It will display the “Setup wizard” which will allow you install MalwareBytes on the machine. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once installation is complete successfully, click Finish button. Then MalwareBytes will automatically run and you may see its main window as on the image below.

Next, press the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the hijacker that causes web-browsers to show intrusive Any Search web-site. This task may take some time, so please be patient.

Once the scan is done, you may check all threats detected on your computer. Review the results once the utility has finished the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply press “Quarantine Selected” button.

The MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will delete Any Search hijacker and other browser’s malicious extensions and add threats to the Quarantine. After disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to restart your computer. We recommend you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) to delete hijacker infections, ad supported software and other malware.

If the problem with Any Search is still remained

AdwCleaner is a free portable program that scans your computer for adware, potentially unwanted programs and browser hijackers such as Any Search and allows remove them easily. Moreover, it’ll also help you get rid of any harmful browser extensions and add-ons.

Download AdwCleaner from the link below.

When the download is done, open the folder in which you saved it. You will see an icon like below.

Double click the AdwCleaner desktop icon. Once the utility is launched, you will see a screen as displayed in the figure below.

Further, click “Scan” button .AdwCleaner program will scan through the whole personal computer for the hijacker which changes browser settings to replace your start page, new tab page and search engine by default with Any Search site. This process can take some time, so please be patient. When the scan get finished, the results are displayed in the scan report as shown on the screen below.

Review the report and then press “Clean” button. It will display a dialog box as on the image below.

You need to press “OK”. After the cleaning procedure is finished, the AdwCleaner may ask you to restart your computer. When your personal computer is started, you will see an AdwCleaner log.

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

Use AdBlocker to block Any Search and stay safe online

We recommend to install an ad blocker program which may stop Any Search and other annoying web-pages. The ad-blocking utility such as AdGuard is a application which basically removes advertising from the Net and blocks access to malicious sites. Moreover, security experts says that using ad-blocker programs is necessary to stay safe when surfing the World Wide Web.

Download AdGuard program from the following link. Save it on your MS Windows desktop.

When the downloading process is complete, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as shown below.

Follow the prompts. After the install is complete, you will see a window as shown in the following example.

You can press “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial which will allow you get to know AdGuard better.

In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you launch your PC, AdGuard will run automatically and stop advertisements, web-sites such Any Search, as well as other harmful or misleading web sites. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, which may be found on your desktop.

Tips to prevent Any Search and other unwanted applications

Most often, the freeware installer includes the optional adware or potentially unwanted programs such as this hijacker. So, be very careful when you agree to install anything. The best way – is to select a Custom, Advanced or Manual installation mode. Here disable (uncheck) all additional software in which you are unsure or that causes even a slightest suspicion. The main thing you should remember, you do not need to install the optional applications which you don’t trust! The only thing I want to add. Once the free applications is installed, if you uninstall this software, the new tab page, startpage and search engine by default of your favorite web browser will not be restored. This must be done by yourself. Just follow the guide above.

To sum up

Now your machine should be free of the browser hijacker infection that reroutes your web-browser to annoying Any Search site. Remove AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted popup advertisements and unwanted malicious web sites) and Zemana AntiMalware (to periodically scan your PC system for new hijackers and other malicious software). 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 remove Any Search homepage from the Chrome, Firefox, MS Edge and Internet Explorer, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.