The Search.softonic.com is a PUP (potentially unwanted program) from the group of browser hijackers. When infected with this browser hijacker, the Firefox, Google Chrome, IE and Microsoft Edge web-browser’s settings such as home page, newtab page and default search provider may be altered without permission. Whenever you start the web-browser, the Search.softonic.com appears as your startpage instead of your previous homepage. All the time, while the Search.softonic.com web page will be set as your start page and search provider, its authors will can gather personal info about you, everything related to what are you doing on the Internet.
http://search.softonic.com/
The Search.softonic.com browser hijacker will change your web-browser’s search provider so that all searches are sent via Search.softonic.com, which redirects to Bing, Yahoo or Google Custom Search engine that displays the search results for your query. The creators of this hijacker are utilizing legitimate search provider as they may generate revenue from the ads that are displayed in the search results.
It is not a good idea to have an unwanted program like Search.softonic.com hijacker on your PC. The reason for this is simple, it doing things you don’t know about. The hijacker can be used to gather lots of confidential info which may 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 don’t know what will happen when you click on any advertisements on the Search.softonic.com site.
We strongly recommend that you perform the step-by-step guidance below that will assist you to delete Search.softonic.com using the standard features of Windows and some proven free programs.
How to remove Search.softonic.com from system
The following few simple steps will allow you to remove Search.softonic.com from the Google Chrome, IE, Firefox and Edge. Moreover, the few simple steps below will allow you to get rid of malicious software such as PUPs, adware and toolbars that your PC system may be infected. Please do the tutorial step by step. If you need help or have any questions, then ask for our assistance or type a comment below. Read it once, after doing so, please print this page as you may need to shut down your browser or restart your personal computer.
To remove Search.softonic.com, perform the following steps:
- How to manually get rid of Search.softonic.com
- How to remove Search.softonic.com with free software
- Use AdBlocker to stop Search.softonic.com and stay safe online
- Method of Search.softonic.com hijacker infection intrusion into your computer
- To sum up
How to manually get rid of Search.softonic.com
If you perform exactly the step by step tutorial below you should be able to remove the Search.softonic.com from the Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer and MS Edge web-browsers.
Uninstall dubious programs using Windows Control Panel
The process of 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 system and delete all unused, unknown and dubious applications.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
First, click Windows button
, then click Search 
. Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as shown below.
Once the ‘Control Panel’ opens, click the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category as on the image below.
You will see the ‘Uninstall a program’ panel as displayed on the screen below.
Very carefully look around the entire list of programs installed on your PC. Most probably, one of them is the hijacker which modifies internet browser settings to replace your startpage, new tab and default search provider with Search.softonic.com web-site. If you’ve 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 program, right click to it, after that click ‘Uninstall’.
Windows XP, Vista, 7
First, press ‘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 displayed below.
You will see a list of apps installed on your computer. We recommend to sort the list by date of installation to quickly find the programs that were installed last. Most likely, it is the hijacker which designed to redirect your web browser to the Search.softonic.com site. If you’re 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 below.
Remove Search.softonic.com from Firefox
First, open 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 click on “Refresh Firefox” button as displayed below.
Confirm your action, press the “Refresh Firefox”.
Get rid of Search.softonic.com from Chrome
Reset Google Chrome settings is a simple way to delete the hijacker, malicious and ‘ad-supported’ extensions, as well as to recover the browser’s start page, new tab and default search engine that have been modified by Search.softonic.com hijacker infection.
- First, run the Chrome and click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
- It will display the Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You’ll see the list of installed add-ons. If the list has the addon labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guide: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
- Next, click “Advanced” link, that located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
- The Chrome will open the reset settings dialog box as shown on the screen above.
- Confirm the internet browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, read the article How to reset Chrome settings to default.
Delete Search.softonic.com redirect from Internet Explorer
By resetting Internet Explorer browser you restore your web-browser settings to its default state. This is first when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by hijacker like Search.softonic.com.
First, launch the Microsoft Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (
). It will open the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” as shown on the screen below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The Internet Explorer will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as displayed on the screen below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then press “Reset” button.
You will now need to reboot your PC for the changes to take effect.
How to remove Search.softonic.com with free software
Many antivirus companies have created software that help detect and remove browser hijacker, and thereby restore browsers settings. Below is a a few of the free programs you may want to run. Your computer can have lots of potentially unwanted apps, adware and hijackers installed at the same time, so we recommend, if any unwanted or harmful application returns after restarting the PC, then launch your PC system into Safe Mode and use the anti-malware utility once again.
Scan and free your PC of Search.softonic.com with Zemana Free
We suggest using the Zemana Free that are completely clean your PC of the hijacker infection. The tool is an advanced malicious software removal program designed by (c) Zemana lab. It is able to help you get rid of potentially unwanted apps, hijacker infections, ad supported software, malicious software, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your PC for free.
Please go to the following link to download the latest version of Zemana for Microsoft Windows. Save it to your Desktop.
164112 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
Once the download is finished, close all software and windows on your machine. Double-click the install file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as displayed in the figure below, click the “Yes” button.
It will open the “Setup wizard” which will help you setup Zemana on your machine. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
Once setup is finished successfully, Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) will automatically start and you can see its main screen like below.
Now click the “Scan” button to begin scanning your computer for the Search.softonic.com hijacker and other web-browser’s harmful plugins. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your PC system and the speed of your machine. While the Zemana Anti-Malware application is scanning, you can see number of objects it has identified as threat.
After the scanning is done, Zemana AntiMalware will open a list of all threats detected by the scan. 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 click “Next” button. The Zemana Anti-Malware will remove hijacker that redirects your web-browser to undesired Search.softonic.com web site and move threats to the program’s quarantine. When disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to restart the computer.
Remove Search.softonic.com with Malwarebytes
We advise using the Malwarebytes Free. You can download and install Malwarebytes to scan for and remove Search.softonic.com from your computer. When installed and updated, the free malicious software remover will automatically scan and detect all threats present on the computer.
- Please go to the following link to download MalwareBytes. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326462 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- At the download page, click on the Download button. Your browser will show the “Save as” dialog box. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
- When downloading is finished, please close all apps and open windows on your computer. Double-click on the icon that’s called mb3-setup.
- This will run the “Setup wizard” of MalwareBytes Anti-Malware onto your computer. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
- When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware will open and show the main window.
- Further, click the “Scan Now” button to look for browser hijacker which made to redirect your internet browser to the Search.softonic.com web page. This process may take some time, so please be patient.
- Once MalwareBytes Free completes the scan, MalwareBytes will display you the results.
- When you are ready, click the “Quarantine Selected” button. Once the cleaning process is finished, you may be prompted to reboot the system.
- Close the Anti-Malware and continue with the next step.
Video instruction, which reveals in detail the steps above.
Scan and free your computer of hijacker infection with AdwCleaner
AdwCleaner is a free removal utility which can check your computer for a wide range of security threats like ad supported software, malicious software, potentially unwanted applications as well as hijacker infection which cause Search.softonic.com web-page to appear. It will perform a deep scan of your system including hard drives and Microsoft Windows registry. Once a malware is detected, it will help you to remove all detected threats from your PC system with a simple click.
- Visit the following page to download the latest version of AdwCleaner for Windows. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
AdwCleaner download
225300 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
- Once the download is complete, double click the AdwCleaner icon. Once this tool is started, press “Scan” button to begin checking your computer for the hijacker infection responsible for Search.softonic.com . A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your machine and the speed of your computer. While the tool is checking, you can see how many objects and files has already scanned.
- When the scan is finished, AdwCleaner will open a list of found threats. Review the report and then click “Clean” button. It will show a prompt, click “OK”.
These few simple steps are shown in detail in the following video guide.
Use AdBlocker to stop Search.softonic.com and stay safe online
By installing an ad-blocker program like AdGuard, you’re able to stop Search.softonic.com, autoplaying video ads and remove a large amount of distracting and intrusive ads on sites.
- Download AdGuard application by clicking on the following link. Save it directly to your MS Windows Desktop.
Adguard download
26659 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After the download is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- After the setup is finished, click “Skip” to close the install application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will help 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 run your computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop ads, web-sites such Search.softonic.com, as well as other harmful or misleading web-pages. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, that is located on your desktop.
Method of Search.softonic.com hijacker intrusion into your computer
The Search.softonic.com hijacker gets onto PC by being attached to various free programs. This means that you need to be very careful when installing applications downloaded from the Net, even from a large proven hosting. Be sure to read the Terms of Use and the Software license, choose only the Manual, Advanced or Custom setup option, switch off all additional modules and applications are offered to install.
To sum up
Now your personal computer should be free of the browser hijacker responsible for redirecting your web-browser to Search.softonic.com page. Remove AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep Zemana (to periodically scan your personal computer for new browser hijacker infections and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you block unwanted popups and harmful pages). Moreover, to prevent hijacker infections, please stay clear of unknown and third party apps, make sure that your antivirus program, turn on the option to find PUPs (potentially unwanted programs).
If you need more help with Search.softonic.com home page related issues, go to our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
