If your internet browser search engine has modified to the Safe Finder DS Search, then most probably that you’re a victim of PUP (potentially unwanted program), specifically a browser hijacker. It means that an unwanted application or browser extention has taken over and changed some settings of your web browser, without your desire or permission. So, if the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge and Internet Explorer search provider by default, homepage and new tab page has been replaced or your web-browser being redirected to the web-page you never intended to visit, then it’s a sign that you need to clean up your PC as soon as possible in order to delete intrusive Safe Finder DS .
When the Safe Finder DS hijacker infection is installed on a internet browser, it might:
- set Safe Finder DS as default search provider, new tab, and home page;
- prevent users from changing search provider or startpage address;
- redirect your queries to sponsored web sites;
- provide altered search results;
- record your search queries;
- periodically redirects to questionable websites;
- show undesired ads;
- gather Net surfing habits and sell it to third parties.
As well as unwanted web-browser redirects to Safe Finder DS, the hijacker can collect your Net surfing activity by saving URLs visited, IP addresses, internet browser version and type, cookie information, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and web sites visited. Such kind of behavior can lead to serious security problems or privacy information theft. This is another reason why the hijacker that redirects the internet browser to Safe Finder DS, is categorized as potentially unwanted application (PUA).
We suggest you to clean your machine of browser hijacker as quickly as possible. Use the tutorial below which will help to remove Safe Finder DS startpage and malicious program, which can be installed onto your personal computer along with it.
How to remove Safe Finder DS from system
In the tutorial below we will have a look at the browser hijacker and how to remove Safe Finder DS from Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox and Edge web browsers for Microsoft 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 shut down your browser or reboot your PC.
To remove Safe Finder DS, complete the following steps:
- How to manually delete Safe Finder DS
- How to remove Safe Finder DS search with free programs
- How to stop Safe Finder DS
- How to Safe Finder DS browser hijacker get installed onto personal computer
- Finish words
How to manually delete Safe Finder DS
If you perform exactly the few simple steps below you should be able to get rid of the Safe Finder DS from the Google Chrome, MS Edge, Mozilla Firefox and IE internet browsers.
Remove suspicious programs using MS Windows Control Panel
First method for manual hijacker removal is to go into the MS Windows “Control Panel”, then “Uninstall a program” console. Take a look at the list of programs on your computer and see if there are any dubious and unknown applications. If you see any, you need to delete them. Of course, before doing so, you can do an Internet search to find details on the program. If it is a potentially unwanted program, ‘ad supported’ software or malware, you will likely find information that says so.
Make sure you have closed all web-browsers and other applications. Next, delete any unrequested and suspicious apps from your Control panel.
Windows 10, 8.1, 8
Now, click the Windows button, type “Control panel” in search and press Enter. Select “Programs and Features”, then “Uninstall a program”.
Look around the entire list of programs installed on your computer. Most likely, one of them is the browser hijacker responsible for redirections to Safe Finder DS. Select the suspicious application or the program that name is not familiar to you and uninstall it.
Windows Vista, 7
From the “Start” menu in Microsoft Windows, select “Control Panel”. Under the “Programs” icon, select “Uninstall a program”.
Select the dubious or any unknown programs, then press “Uninstall/Change” button to delete this undesired application from your machine.
Windows XP
Click the “Start” button, select “Control Panel” option. Click on “Add/Remove Programs”.
Choose an unwanted application, then press “Change/Remove” button. Follow the prompts.
Remove Safe Finder DS Search from Google Chrome
Reset Chrome settings is a simple way to remove the hijacker infection, malicious and ‘ad-supported’ extensions, as well as to recover the web browser’s new tab, start page and search provider that have been changed by Safe Finder DS hijacker infection.
Open the Google Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal dotes (
). It will show the drop-down menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions.
Carefully browse through 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 steps: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy otherwise, just go to the step below.
Open the Google Chrome main menu again, click to “Settings” option.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the Reset settings section is visible, as displayed on the image below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
Confirm your action, click the “Reset” button.
Get rid of Safe Finder DS from Mozilla Firefox by resetting web browser settings
The Firefox reset will get rid of unwanted search engine and startpage such as Safe Finder DS, modified preferences, extensions and security settings. It will keep your personal information such as browsing history, bookmarks, passwords and web form auto-fill data.
Run the Mozilla Firefox and press the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the internet browser screen. Next, click the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will display the slide-out menu.
Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you’re unable to access the Help menu, then type “about:support” in your address bar and press Enter. It bring up the “Troubleshooting Information” page as shown below.
Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation prompt. The Firefox will begin a task to fix your problems that caused by the hijacker that responsible for web browser redirect to the annoying Safe Finder DS webpage. Once, it is finished, click the “Finish” button.
Delete Safe Finder DS search from Internet Explorer
The IE reset is great if your web-browser is hijacked or you have unwanted addons or toolbars on your web-browser, that installed by a malware.
First, launch the Internet Explorer, then click ‘gear’ icon 
. It will open the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the internet browser, then press the “Internet Options” as shown in the figure below.
In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then press the “Reset” button. The IE will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” dialog box. Further, click the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, press the “Reset” button as shown on the image below.
Once the process is done, click “Close” button. Close the Microsoft Internet Explorer and reboot your PC system for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your web browser’s new tab page, startpage and default search engine to default state.
How to remove Safe Finder DS search with free programs
It is not enough to delete Safe Finder DS from your browser by following the manual steps above to solve all problems. Some Safe Finder DS browser hijacker infection related files may remain on your computer and they will restore the browser hijacker even after you remove it. For that reason we advise to run free anti-malware tool such as Zemana Free, MalwareBytes Free and Hitman Pro. Either of those programs should has the ability to find and delete browser hijacker which cause Safe Finder DS web-page to appear.
Use Zemana Anti-Malware to get rid of hijacker
Zemana Free is a free program for MS Windows operating system to search for and delete PUPs, adware, malicious web-browser extensions, browser toolbars, and other unwanted software such as browser hijacker which cause Safe Finder DS web-site to appear, installed on your PC system.
Visit the page linked below to download Zemana AntiMalware. Save it on your Windows desktop.
164100 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
Once the downloading process is finished, run it and follow the prompts. Once installed, the Zemana will try to update itself and when this process is finished, click the “Scan” button . Zemana Anti Malware tool will start scanning the whole PC to find out hijacker responsible for redirecting your web browser to Safe Finder DS web-page.
This procedure can take some time, so please be patient. Review the results once the tool has finished the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply click “Next” button.
The Zemana will remove browser hijacker that cause Safe Finder DS web-page to appear.
Remove Safe Finder DS from web-browsers with Hitman Pro
Hitman Pro is a free removal tool. It deletes PUPs, adware, hijacker infections and undesired browser plugins. It’ll detect and get rid of hijacker infection that developed to redirect your web-browser to the Safe Finder DS webpage. Hitman Pro uses very small PC system resources and is a portable program. Moreover, HitmanPro does add another layer of malware protection.
Download Hitman Pro by clicking on the following link. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
After the download is finished, open the file location and double-click the HitmanPro icon. It will start the Hitman Pro utility. If the User Account Control dialog box will ask you want to run the program, press Yes button to continue.
Next, click “Next” to begin checking your PC for the hijacker infection that causes internet browsers to show unwanted Safe Finder DS site. A system scan may take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your computer. While the Hitman Pro utility is checking, you may see how many objects it has identified as being infected by malware.
After that process is done, HitmanPro will display a scan report as displayed below.
Once you’ve selected what you wish to get rid of from your system press “Next” button. It will show a dialog box, click the “Activate free license” button. The Hitman Pro will remove browser hijacker that cause Safe Finder DS site to appear. Once the cleaning procedure is finished, the utility may ask you to restart your computer.
Delete Safe Finder DS with Malwarebytes
We suggest using the Malwarebytes Free which are completely clean your computer of the 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, malware, ad-supported software, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your system for free.
- Download MalwareBytes Anti Malware on your Windows Desktop from the following link.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326454 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- When the downloading process is done, close all applications and windows on your PC system. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once installation is finished, press the “Scan Now” button for checking your PC for the browser hijacker infection which cause Safe Finder DS site to appear. This task may take quite a while, so please be patient. While the MalwareBytes Free program is scanning, you can see number of objects it has identified as threat.
- After finished, MalwareBytes will open you the results. Next, you need to press “Quarantine Selected”. Once finished, you can be prompted to reboot your computer.
The following video offers a few simple steps on how to delete browser hijacker infections, adware and other malicious software with MalwareBytes Free.
How to stop Safe Finder DS
It’s important to run adblocker programs such as AdGuard to protect your personal computer from malicious sites. Most security experts says that it is okay to block ads. You should do so just to stay safe! And, of course, the AdGuard can to block Safe Finder DS and other intrusive web pages.
- AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop.
Adguard download
26655 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After downloading it, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- When the installation is complete, press “Skip” to close the install program and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that 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 system, AdGuard will start automatically and block pop-ups, websites like Safe Finder DS, as well as other harmful or misleading websites. 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 can be found on your desktop.
How to Safe Finder DS browser hijacker get installed onto personal computer
The browser hijacker come along with some freeware. So always read carefully the installation screens, disclaimers, ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Software license’ appearing during the install process. Additionally pay attention for third-party apps which are being installed along with the main program. Ensure that you unchecked all of them! Also, run an adblocker program that will help to block malicious, misleading, illegitimate or untrustworthy webpages.
Finish words
Now your system should be clean of the browser hijacker infection which made to reroute your internet browser to the Safe Finder DS page. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted popup ads and undesired malicious webpages) and Zemana (to periodically scan your PC for new malware, hijacker infections and adware). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Windows OS. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new browser hijackers, harmful software and adware are released.
If you are still having problems while trying to remove Safe Finder DS from your web-browser, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
