How to remove Search.pristineapp.com [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

If your internet browser’s startpage or search engine are being rerouted to the web-site called Search.pristineapp.com, then you most probably have a hijacker installed on your system. The browser hijacker infection will modify your internet browser’s homepage, newtab page and default search provider so that they automatically open the Search.pristineapp.com web page and use it for searches. If you would like to get rid of Search.pristineapp.com and are unable to do so, you can use the guidance below to find and remove this hijacker infection and any other malicious software for free.

https://search.pristineapp.com/

Except that the Search.pristineapp.com makes certain changes to internet browser’s home page and new tab page, it also rewrites your search provider, 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 huge number of ads, links to unwanted and ad web sites and only the remaining part is search results for your query from well-known search providers such as Google or Bing.

It is not a good idea to have an unwanted program such as Search.pristineapp.com hijacker infection on your system. The reason for this is simple, it doing things you do not know about. The hijacker infection be able to gather a wide variety of personal information about you which may be later used for marketing purposes. You do not 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 Search.pristineapp.com web-page.

A malware which makes some changes to some settings of all your typical internet browsers on Search.pristineapp.com commonly affects only Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Internet Explorer. However, possible situations, when any other web browsers will be affected too. The Search.pristineapp.com hijacker infection can modify the Target property of browser’s shortcuts, so every time you launch the web-browser, instead of your startpage, you will see a completely different site.

To find out how to remove Search.pristineapp.com search, we recommend to read the steps added to this blog post below. The tutorial was developed by experienced security experts who discovered a solution to delete the annoying Search.pristineapp.com hijacker infection out of the machine.

Remove Search.pristineapp.com redirect

As with uninstalling adware, malicious software or PUPs, there are few steps you may do. We recommend trying them all. If you do only one part of the instructions, then it should be run malicious software removal utility, because it should remove hijacker infection and block any further infection. But to completely delete the Search.pristineapp.com you will have to at least reset your internet browser settings such as homepage, newtab page and search engine by default to default state, disinfect web-browsers shortcuts, uninstall all unwanted and suspicious programs, and get rid of browser hijacker infection with malware removal tools. Read this manual carefully, bookmark or print it, because you may need to shut down your web-browser or reboot your PC system.

If you are using an Apple computer running Mac OS, then use the following few simple steps How to get rid of browser hijacker, pop-ups, advertisements from Mac

To remove Search.pristineapp.com, complete the following steps:

Remove Search.pristineapp.com without any utilities
How to automatically delete Search.pristineapp.com hijacker
Stop Search.pristineapp.com search and other intrusive pages
How was Search.pristineapp.com hijacker installed on PC
To sum up

Remove Search.pristineapp.com without any utilities

If you perform exactly the step-by-step guide below you should be able to delete the Search.pristineapp.com from the Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox and Edge internet browsers.

Removing the Search.pristineapp.com, check the list of installed programs first

We suggest that you begin the personal computer cleaning procedure by checking the list of installed software and remove all unknown or questionable programs. This is a very important step, as mentioned above, very often the malicious applications such as adware and hijackers may be bundled with free programs. Remove the unwanted software can remove the annoying advertisements or web-browser redirect.

Press Windows button , then press Search . Type “Control panel”and press Enter. If you using Windows XP or Windows 7, then press “Start” and select “Control Panel”. It will display the Windows Control Panel as shown in the following example.

Further, click “Uninstall a program”
It will show a list of all applications installed on your system. Scroll through the all list, and delete any dubious and unknown applications.

Delete Search.pristineapp.com from FF by resetting web browser settings

The Firefox reset will keep your personal information such as bookmarks, passwords, web form auto-fill data and remove unwanted search provider and start page such as Search.pristineapp.com, modified preferences, extensions and security settings.

Click the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and press the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as displayed below.

A small menu will appear, press the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button as shown on the image below.

Follow the onscreen procedure to revert back your FF internet browser settings to its original state.

Remove Search.pristineapp.com from Chrome

In order to be sure that there is nothing left behind, we recommend you to reset Google Chrome web browser. It will revert back Chrome settings including homepage, newtab page and default search engine to defaults.

First launch the Chrome. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal dots ().

It will show the Google Chrome menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed addons. If the list has the extension signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following tutorial: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.

Open the Chrome menu once again. Further, click the option called “Settings”.

The web-browser will show the settings screen. Another way to display the Google Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web-browser adress bar and press Enter

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset” section is visible, as shown in the figure below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.

The Chrome will show the confirmation dialog box as shown below.

You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The web-browser will start the process of cleaning. After it is done, the web-browser’s settings including homepage, new tab page and search engine by default back to the values that have been when the Chrome was first installed on your PC.

Remove Search.pristineapp.com homepage from IE

The Internet Explorer reset is great if your browser is hijacked or you have unwanted extensions or toolbars on your web-browser, which installed by a malicious software.

First, start the Microsoft Internet Explorer, then click ‘gear’ icon . It will open the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the web browser, then click the “Internet Options” as shown on the image below.

In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then click the “Reset” button. The Internet Explorer will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” dialog box. Further, click the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, click the “Reset” button as displayed below.

When the process is done, click “Close” button. Close the Microsoft Internet Explorer and reboot your personal computer for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your internet browser’s start page, new tab page and default search provider to default state.

Fix web-browser shortcuts, changed by Search.pristineapp.com browser hijacker

Unfortunately, the hijacker infection which modifies web-browser settings to replace your home page, new tab page and default search provider with Search.pristineapp.com site, can also hijack Windows shortcut files (mostly, your browsers shortcuts), so that the Search.pristineapp.com home page will be opened when you start the Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Internet Explorer or another browser.

Right click on the browser’s shortcut, click Properties option. 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 “http://site.address” that has been added here. Remove everything after .exe. An example, for Google Chrome you should remove everything after chrome.exe.

To save changes, press OK . You need to clean all web-browser’s shortcut files. So, repeat this step for the Chrome, Firefox, MS Edge and Internet Explorer.

How to automatically delete Search.pristineapp.com hijacker

Many antivirus companies have made programs that help detect and get rid of browser hijacker, and thereby restore all your typical web browsers settings. Below is a a few of the free applications you may want to run. Your machine can have a large amount of PUPs, adware and browser hijackers installed at the same time, so we suggest, if any unwanted or malicious program returns after rebooting the personal computer, then run your computer into Safe Mode and use the antimalware utility once again.

How to get rid of Search.pristineapp.com with Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM)

Zemana AntiMalware highly recommended, because it can scan for security threats such ad-supported software and browser hijacker infections which most ‘classic’ antivirus software fail to pick up on. Moreover, if you have any Search.pristineapp.com hijacker infection removal problems which cannot be fixed by this utility automatically, then Zemana provides 24X7 online assistance from the highly experienced support staff.

Please go to the link below to download the latest version of Zemana Anti-Malware for MS Windows. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

Zemana AntiMalware
159451 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019

When downloading is finished, close all windows on your computer. Further, open the install 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 show the “Setup wizard” that will help you install Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) on the PC system. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once setup is complete successfully, Zemana Free will automatically launch and you can see its main window like below.

Next, click the “Scan” button . Zemana Anti-Malware tool will start scanning the whole personal computer to find out browser hijacker responsible for redirections to Search.pristineapp.com. This procedure can take quite a while, so please be patient. During the scan Zemana Free will search for threats present on your personal computer.

Once the scan get completed, Zemana Free will display a list of detected threats. Review the results once the tool has complete the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply click “Next” button.

The Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) will begin to get rid of hijacker related to Search.pristineapp.com homepage. After disinfection is finished, you can be prompted to restart your computer.

How to automatically delete Search.pristineapp.com with Malwarebytes

You can delete Search.pristineapp.com automatically with a help of Malwarebytes Free. We recommend this free malicious software removal utility because it can easily remove browser hijackers, ad-supported software, potentially unwanted applications and toolbars with all their components such as files, folders and registry entries.

Download MalwareBytes from the link below.

Malwarebytes Anti-malware
317473 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” dialog box. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
When downloading is finished, please close all software and open windows on your computer. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
This will open the “Setup wizard” of MalwareBytes onto your system. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) will run and show the main window.
Further, click the “Scan Now” button to find browser hijacker which developed to redirect your internet browser to the Search.pristineapp.com web-page. While the MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) is scanning, you can see number of objects it has identified either as being malware.
When the system scan is finished, you will be opened the list of all found threats on your machine.
Review the scan results and then click the “Quarantine Selected” button. When that process is finished, you may be prompted to reboot the machine.
Close the AntiMalware and continue with the next step.

Video instruction, which reveals in detail the steps above.

Scan your machine and remove Search.pristineapp.com with AdwCleaner

If MalwareBytes antimalware or Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) cannot delete this hijacker, then we advises to run the AdwCleaner. AdwCleaner is a free removal utility for malicious software, adware, potentially unwanted programs, toolbars as well as hijacker that responsible for browser redirect to the undesired Search.pristineapp.com web site.

Please go to the following link to download AdwCleaner. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

AdwCleaner download
220678 downloads
Version: 8.3.2
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 28, 2022
When the downloading process is finished, double click the AdwCleaner icon. Once this utility is opened, click “Scan” button to begin checking your PC for the browser hijacker responsible for Search.pristineapp.com start page. While the AdwCleaner application is checking, you can see count of objects it has identified as threat.
Once the scan get completed, AdwCleaner will display you the results. When you are ready, click “Clean” button. It will display a prompt, click “OK”.

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

Stop Search.pristineapp.com search and other intrusive pages

Run adblocker application like AdGuard in order to block advertisements, malvertisements, pop-ups and online trackers, avoid having to install malicious and adware browser plug-ins and add-ons which affect your PC system performance and impact your machine security. Surf the Internet anonymously and stay safe online!

Download AdGuard application from the link below. Save it on your Windows desktop.

Adguard download
25640 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
When the downloading process is finished, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
When the installation is done, click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will assist 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 system, AdGuard will start automatically and stop advertisements, web sites such Search.pristineapp.com, as well as other malicious or misleading sites. 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, which is located on your desktop.

How was Search.pristineapp.com hijacker installed on PC

Probably Search.pristineapp.com hijacker infection get installed onto your computer when you have installed certain free software like E-Mail checker, PDF creator, video codec, etc. Because, in many cases, a hijacker can be bundled within the installers from Softonic, Cnet, Soft32, Brothersoft or other similar pages which hosts free software. So, you should run any files downloaded from the Web with great caution! Always carefully read the ‘User agreement’, ‘Software license’ and ‘Terms of use’. In the process of installing a new program, you need to select a ‘Manual’, ‘Advanced’ or ‘Custom’ installation type to control what components and bundled software to be installed. Nevertheless, even removing the program, which installs this Search.pristineapp.com hijacker, you do not delete the browser hijacker itself. Your web-browser settings will not be restored. Therefore, you must follow the few simple steps above to return your new tab, startpage and search provider by default.

To sum up

Now your system should be clean of the browser hijacker that responsible for web browser redirect to the undesired Search.pristineapp.com web site. Uninstall AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep Zemana Free (to periodically scan your system for new browser hijackers and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you block undesired ads and harmful web-sites). Moreover, to prevent browser hijacker infections, please stay clear of unknown and third party programs, make sure that your antivirus application, turn on the option to search for PUPs (potentially unwanted programs).

If you need more help with Search.pristineapp.com startpage related issues, go to our Spyware/Malware removal forum.