There are certain PUPs known as hijackers which once get installed onto your computer makes changes to your Firefox, MS Edge, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer internet browser, change your start page with an undesired one, set a search engine which may reroute your searches to pages with intrusive ads. You are probably reading this post because your PC system is affected by SearchPrivacy.live PUP and you are searching for method to remove it for good.
http://www.searchprivacy.live/spsearch/?q= …
When the SearchPrivacy.live hijacker is installed on a web browser, it might:
- set SearchPrivacy.live as search engine by default, newtab, and startpage;
- prevent users from replacing search provider or startpage address;
- redirect your queries to sponsored web-sites;
- provide altered search results;
- record your search queries;
- show annoying ads;
- collect World Wide Web browsing habits and sell it to third party companies.
Some hijackers also contain ‘ad-supported’ software (also known as adware) that can be used to show unwanted ads or gather privacy data which can be sold to third parties. These unwanted ads may be shown in the form of pop-unders, pop-ups, in-text ads, video advertisements, text links or banners or even massive full page ads. Most of the adware is made to show advertisements, but certain ad-supported software is form of spyware that often used to track users to collect confidential info about you.
Therefore, the browser hijacker is a potentially unwanted program and should not be used. If you found any of the symptoms mentioned above, we recommend you to complete step-by-step instructions below to get rid of the hijacker infection and get rid of SearchPrivacy.live from your browser settings.
Remove SearchPrivacy.live from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
There are a simple manual guide below which will help you to delete SearchPrivacy.live from your Microsoft Windows computer. The most effective method to remove this browser hijacker is to perform the manual removal guide and then use Zemana Free, MalwareBytes Free or HitmanPro automatic tools (all are free). The manual way will help to weaken this browser hijacker and these malicious software removal tools will completely remove SearchPrivacy.live and return the MS Edge, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox settings to default.
To remove SearchPrivacy.live, execute the following steps:
- How to delete SearchPrivacy.live homepage without any software
- How to automatically remove SearchPrivacy.live browser hijacker infection
- Stop SearchPrivacy.live redirect and other intrusive web-pages
- Why is my browser redirected to SearchPrivacy.live?
- Finish words
How to delete SearchPrivacy.live homepage without any software
The following instructions is a step-by-step guide, which will help you manually delete SearchPrivacy.live search from the Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.
Removing the SearchPrivacy.live, check the list of installed programs first
Some of PUPs, ad-supported software and hijacker infection can be deleted using the Add/Remove programs tool which can be found in the MS Windows Control Panel. So, if you’re running any version of Windows and you have noticed an unwanted program, then first try to remove it through Add/Remove programs.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
First, click Windows button
, then click Search 
. Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as displayed below.
Once the ‘Control Panel’ opens, press the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category as shown on the screen below.
You will see the ‘Uninstall a program’ panel as shown in the following example.
Very carefully look around the entire list of programs installed on your computer. Most likely, one of them is the hijacker infection that redirects your internet browser to annoying SearchPrivacy.live site. If you’ve many software installed, you can help simplify the search of malicious apps by sort the list by date of installation. Once you have found a questionable, unwanted or unused program, right click to it, after that press ‘Uninstall’.
Windows XP, Vista, 7
First, click ‘Start’ button and select ‘Control Panel’ at right panel as on the image below.
When the Windows ‘Control Panel’ opens, you need to press ‘Uninstall a program’ under ‘Programs’ like 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 software that were installed last. Most likely, it is the browser hijacker responsible for redirects to SearchPrivacy.live. If you are in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. When the application which you need to remove is found, simply click on its name, and then click ‘Uninstall’ as shown in the figure below.
Delete SearchPrivacy.live homepage from Microsoft Internet Explorer
In order to restore all browser default search engine, newtab page and homepage you need to reset the Microsoft Internet Explorer to the state, that was when the MS Windows was installed on your machine.
First, open the IE. Next, press the button in the form of gear (
). It will display the Tools drop-down menu, press the “Internet Options” as displayed on the screen below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The Microsoft Internet Explorer will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window like below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then press “Reset” button.
You will now need to reboot your machine for the changes to take effect.
Remove SearchPrivacy.live search from Google Chrome
If your Google Chrome internet browser is rerouted to undesired SearchPrivacy.live web page, it may be necessary to completely reset your internet browser program to its default settings.
- First start the Google Chrome and click Menu button (small button in the form of three dots).
- It will show the Google Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You will see the list of installed plugins. If the list has the extension labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following tutorial: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Google Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
- You will see the Google Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and press “Advanced” link.
- Scroll down again and click the “Reset” button.
- The Google Chrome will show the reset profile settings page as on the image above.
- Next click the “Reset” button.
- Once this task is finished, your web-browser’s default search provider, startpage and newtab will be restored to their original defaults.
- To learn more, read the post How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.
Remove SearchPrivacy.live from Firefox by resetting web browser settings
Press the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and click the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as on the image below.
A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, press “Refresh Firefox” button as on the image below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to revert back your Firefox browser settings to its original state.
How to automatically remove SearchPrivacy.live browser hijacker infection
In order to completely delete SearchPrivacy.live, you not only need to remove it from the browsers, but also delete all its components in your computer including Windows registry entries. We suggest to download and use free removal utilities to automatically clean your computer of SearchPrivacy.live hijacker.
Remove SearchPrivacy.live with Zemana
We recommend using the Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM). You can download and install Zemana Free to detect and get rid of SearchPrivacy.live search from your PC system. When installed and updated, the malware remover will automatically scan and detect all threats exist on the PC system.
- Zemana can be downloaded from the following link. Save it to your Desktop.
Zemana AntiMalware
164107 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- At the download page, click on the Download button. Your web browser will show the “Save as” dialog box. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
- When downloading is finished, please close all programs and open windows on your computer. Next, start a file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
- This will open the “Setup wizard” of Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) onto your PC. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
- When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the Zemana will open and show the main window.
- Further, click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the browser hijacker which developed to redirect your web-browser to the SearchPrivacy.live web page. Depending on your PC, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. When a threat is found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is finished.
- As the scanning ends, you will be displayed the list of all detected items on your personal computer.
- All found threats will be marked. You can remove them all by simply press the “Next” button. The tool will remove hijacker responsible for redirecting user searches to SearchPrivacy.live and add threats to the Quarantine. When disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to restart the computer.
- Close the Zemana Anti-Malware and continue with the next step.
Scan your personal computer and remove SearchPrivacy.live redirect with HitmanPro
HitmanPro is a completely free (30 day trial) utility. You don’t need expensive solutions to delete hijacker infection which cause SearchPrivacy.live web-page to appear and other misleading apps. HitmanPro will delete all the undesired apps like ad supported software and browser hijackers at zero cost.
Visit the page linked below to download the latest version of Hitman Pro for Windows. Save it on your Desktop.
After downloading is finished, open the file location and double-click the HitmanPro icon. It will launch the Hitman Pro utility. If the User Account Control dialog box will ask you want to open the program, click Yes button to continue.
Next, click “Next” to perform a system scan with this tool for the hijacker which developed to reroute your web browser to the SearchPrivacy.live web-page. A system scan may take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your personal computer. During the scan HitmanPro will scan for threats present on your PC system.
After the scan is finished, you’ll be shown the list of all found items on your computer as on the image below.
Make sure all threats have ‘checkmark’ and click “Next” button. It will show a prompt, press the “Activate free license” button. The HitmanPro will remove browser hijacker infection that cause a reroute to SearchPrivacy.live web site and add items to the Quarantine. Once the procedure is complete, the utility may ask you to reboot your computer.
Remove SearchPrivacy.live redirect with Malwarebytes
We recommend using the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your machine of the browser hijacker. The free tool is an advanced malicious software removal application designed by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular anti malware technology. It is able to help you remove hijackers, PUPs, malicious software, adware, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your personal computer for free.
Installing the MalwareBytes Free is simple. First you will need to download MalwareBytes Anti Malware on your MS Windows Desktop by clicking on the link below.
326461 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
After the download is finished, close all applications and windows on your system. Double-click the set up file called mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as displayed on the screen below, click the “Yes” button.
It will open the “Setup wizard” that will help you install MalwareBytes AntiMalware on your PC system. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
Once setup is done successfully, press Finish button. MalwareBytes Free will automatically start and you can see its main screen as displayed in the figure below.
Now click the “Scan Now” button to search for hijacker infection responsible for redirects to SearchPrivacy.live. When a threat is found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly.
After MalwareBytes has finished scanning, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) will display you the results. Review the report and then press “Quarantine Selected” button. The MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) will remove browser hijacker that made to redirect your web-browser to the SearchPrivacy.live page and move threats to the program’s quarantine. After that process is finished, you may be prompted to reboot the personal computer.
We suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the MalwareBytes Free to remove adware, hijacker and other malicious software.
Stop SearchPrivacy.live redirect and other intrusive web-pages
Using an ad-blocker application such as AdGuard is an effective way to alleviate the risks. Additionally, adblocker programs will also protect you from malicious ads and web-sites, and, of course, stop redirection chain to SearchPrivacy.live and similar websites.
Visit the following page to download AdGuard. Save it on your Windows desktop.
26656 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
After downloading it, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as on the image below.
Follow the prompts. After the setup is finished, you will see a window as shown on the screen below.
You can click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial that will help you get to know AdGuard better.
In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you start your PC, AdGuard will run automatically and stop pop-ups, web-sites like SearchPrivacy.live, as well as other harmful or misleading webpages. 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.
Why is my browser redirected to SearchPrivacy.live?
Many hijackers like SearchPrivacy.live are included in the free applications setup package. In most cases, a user have a chance to disable all included “offers”, but some installers are created to confuse the average users, in order to trick them into installing an adware or potentially unwanted software. Anyway, easier to prevent the browser hijacker infection rather than clean up your computer after one. So, keep the web-browser updated (turn on automatic updates), use a good antivirus software, double check a free software before you launch it (do a google search, scan a downloaded file with VirusTotal), avoid harmful and unknown web-sites.
Finish words
Now your computer should be clean of the browser hijacker that causes browsers to open annoying SearchPrivacy.live page. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted ads and undesired malicious webpages) and Zemana Free (to periodically scan your PC system for new malware, hijacker infections and ad supported software). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Windows OS. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new hijacker infections, harmful programs and adware are released.
If you are still having problems while trying to remove SearchPrivacy.live from your browser, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
