Is your web-browser re-directed to different website named Private Searching ? This problem can be caused by browser hijacker. The browser hijacker is a type of malicious software that is made to alter current settings of all your typical internet browsers. If you get it on your machine, then you can experience any of the following problems: a ton of pop up ads, multiple toolbars on your browser that you didn’t install, web-pages load slowly, default search provider, newtab and startpage is modified without your permission. The few simple steps which follow, we will tell you about how to solve these problems, remove browser hijacker and thus remove Private Searching from the Internet Explorer, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Chrome forever.
The Private Searching hijacker can also change the default search engine that will virtually block the possibility of finding information on the Internet. The reason for this is that the Private Searching search results can open a large number of ads, links to undesired and ad websites. Only the remaining part is the result of your search request, loaded from the major search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing.
Often, the system which has been affected by Private Searching hijacker, will be also infected by adware (sometimes called ‘ad-supported’ software) that displays lots of various ads. It can be pop-ups, text links in the sites, banners where they never had. What is more, the adware may replace the legitimate advertisements with malicious ads that will offer to download and install malware and unwanted apps or visit the various dangerous and misleading web-sites.
In addition to that, as was mentioned earlier, some hijacker infections like Private Searching to also alter all web-browsers shortcuts which located on your Desktop or Start menu. So, every infected shortcut will try to redirect your browser to annoying websites, certain of which might be harmful. It can make the whole machine more vulnerable to hacker attacks.
Therefore, the hijacker infection is a potentially unwanted program and should not be used. If you noticed any of the symptoms mentioned above, we advise you to complete step-by-step instructions below to remove the browser hijacker and get rid of Private Searching from your browser settings.
How to remove Private Searching from Google Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
There are present several free hijacker removal tools. Also it is possible to remove Private Searching home page manually. But we suggest to combine all these ways below into the one removal algorithm. Follow the steps of the guide. Read this manual carefully, bookmark or print it, because you may need to shut down your internet browser or reboot your PC.
To remove Private Searching, perform the following steps:
- How to remove Private Searching search without any software
- How to remove Private Searching with freeware
- Block Private Searching and other undesired web-sites
- How does your PC get infected with Private Searching hijacker
- Finish words
How to remove Private Searching search without any software
The guidance will help you get rid of Private Searching home page. These Private Searching removal steps work for the Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge and IE, as well as every version of Microsoft Windows operating system.
Delete potentially unwanted apps using MS Windows Control Panel
Some potentially unwanted programs, browser hijacking apps and adware can be uninstalled by uninstalling the freeware they came with. If this way does not succeed, then looking them up in the list of installed applications in Windows Control Panel. Use the “Uninstall” command in order to remove them.
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 open the Windows Control Panel as shown in the following example.
Further, click “Uninstall a program” 
It will display a list of all software installed on your PC. Scroll through the all list, and remove any dubious and unknown applications.
Delete Private Searching from Chrome
Reset Chrome settings to remove Private Searching. If you are still experiencing issues with Private Searching, you need to reset Google Chrome browser to its default state. This step needs to be performed only if hijacker infection has not been removed by the previous steps.
First open the Chrome. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal dots (
).
It will open the Chrome menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed extensions. If the list has the extension signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guide: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Open the Chrome menu once again. Further, click the option called “Settings”.
The internet browser will display the settings screen. Another solution to display the Google Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the internet browser adress bar and press Enter
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and press the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset” section is visible, as shown in the following example and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
The Chrome will display the confirmation dialog box like below.
You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The web-browser will launch the procedure of cleaning. When it is done, the internet browser’s settings including default search engine, newtab page and startpage back to the values which have been when the Chrome was first installed on your machine.
Delete Private Searching homepage from Mozilla Firefox
If the Mozilla Firefox settings like default search provider, homepage and new tab page have been modified by the hijacker infection, then resetting it to the default state can help. However, your saved bookmarks and passwords will not be lost.
Press the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and press the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as shown on the screen below.
A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button as displayed in the figure below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to restore your Mozilla Firefox internet browser settings to their default state.
Get rid of Private Searching redirect from Internet Explorer
By resetting Internet Explorer internet browser you revert back your internet browser settings to its default state. This is basic when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by browser hijacker such as Private Searching.
First, open the Internet Explorer, then click ‘gear’ icon 
. It will show the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the web-browser, then click the “Internet Options” like 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, press the “Reset” button as displayed in the figure below.
After the process is finished, click “Close” button. Close the Microsoft Internet Explorer and reboot your system for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your web browser’s home page, new tab page and default search engine to default state.
How to remove Private Searching with freeware
AntiMalware apps differ from each other by many features such as performance, scheduled scans, automatic updates, virus signature database, technical support, compatibility with other antivirus software and so on. We suggest you use the following free apps: Zemana Anti Malware, MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) and HitmanPro. Each of these programs has all of needed features, but most importantly, they can identify the hijacker and remove Private Searching from the Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and MS Edge.
Scan and clean your computer of Private Searching with Zemana Free
Zemana is a tool which can remove adware, potentially unwanted software, browser hijacker infections and other malicious software from your machine easily and for free. Zemana Free is compatible with most antivirus software. It works under Windows (10 – XP, 32 and 64 bit) and uses minimum of computer resources.
- Zemana Free can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your Windows desktop.
Zemana AntiMalware
164101 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- When the download is finished, close all apps and windows on your PC system. Open a folder in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
- Further, press Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once setup is complete, press the “Scan” button . Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) program will scan through the whole computer for the hijacker infection that modifies web-browser settings to replace your new tab, homepage and search provider by default with Private Searching webpage. Depending on your PC system, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. When a threat is found, the count of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is finished.
- When the scan is done, Zemana Free will display a screen which contains a list of malicious software that has been detected. Review the report and then click “Next”. After the clean-up is finished, you may be prompted to reboot your computer.
Run HitmanPro to delete Private Searching search
Hitman Pro is a completely free (30 day trial) utility. You do not need expensive methods to remove browser hijacker responsible for modifying your browser settings to Private Searching and other misleading apps. Hitman Pro will uninstall all the undesired programs such as ad-supported software and browser hijacker infections at zero cost.
Visit the following page to download Hitman Pro. Save it on your Desktop.
Once downloading is finished, open the file location and double-click the HitmanPro icon. It will start the HitmanPro tool. If the User Account Control prompt will ask you want to open the application, press Yes button to continue.
Next, press “Next” to begin scanning your PC system for the hijacker responsible for Private Searching . A scan may take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your computer and the speed of your PC system. While the Hitman Pro is checking, you may see how many objects it has identified either as being malware.
When the scan is done, HitmanPro will open you the results as shown on the screen below.
Make sure all threats have ‘checkmark’ and click “Next” button. It will show a dialog box, click the “Activate free license” button. The HitmanPro will delete Private Searching browser hijacker infection and other web-browser’s malicious extensions and move threats to the program’s quarantine. Once disinfection is finished, the tool may ask you to reboot your system.
How to remove Private Searching with Malwarebytes
Manual Private Searching home page removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the hijacker infection can be not completely removed. We suggest that run the Malwarebytes Free that are completely free your computer of hijacker. Moreover, the free application will help you to delete malicious software, potentially unwanted programs, ad-supported software and toolbars that your system can be infected too.
Download MalwareBytes from the following link.
326456 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
After the downloading process is finished, close all windows on your computer. Further, start the file called mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as displayed below, click the “Yes” button.
It will show the “Setup wizard” which will help you install MalwareBytes AntiMalware on the personal computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once setup is done successfully, click Finish button. Then MalwareBytes Free will automatically start and you can see its main window as displayed below.
Next, press the “Scan Now” button . MalwareBytes Free program will scan through the whole PC system for the browser hijacker responsible for redirecting user searches to Private Searching. Depending on your system, 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.
When the system scan is finished, you’ll be opened the list of all detected threats on your machine. Review the results once the utility has done the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply click “Quarantine Selected” button.
The MalwareBytes will start to delete browser hijacker which modifies internet browser settings to replace your homepage, new tab and search engine with Private Searching web-page. After finished, you can be prompted to reboot your computer. We suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the MalwareBytes Free to remove hijackers, adware and other malicious software.
Block Private Searching and other undesired web-sites
The AdGuard is a very good ad-blocker program for the Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Google Chrome, with active user support. It does a great job by removing certain types of undesired advertisements, popunders, popups, intrusive newtabs, and even full page ads and website overlay layers. Of course, the AdGuard can stop the Private Searching redirect automatically or by using a custom filter rule.
Download AdGuard by clicking on the following link.
26655 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
After downloading it, double-click the downloaded file to launch it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as displayed in the following example.
Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed and an icon will be placed on your desktop. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick guidance as shown in the following example.
Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick instructions that will help you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you start your computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and block unwanted ads, Private Searching redirect, 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 is located on your desktop.
How does your PC get infected with Private Searching hijacker
Most commonly Private Searching hijacker infection is bundled within free applications. So, think back, have you ever download and run any free software? Because most users, in the Setup Wizard, simply press the Next button and don’t read any information such as ‘Terms of use’ and ‘Software license’. This leads to the fact that the PC system is infected, the web-browser’s settings are changed and your’s new tab page, home page and search engine by default set to the Private Searching. Even removing the free software that contains this hijacker, your browser’s settings will not be restored. Therefore, you must follow the step-by-step guidance above to return the Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Chrome and Internet Explorer’s newtab, search engine and home page.
Finish words
Once you’ve finished the step-by-step instructions above, your computer should be free from hijacker responsible for redirects to Private Searching and other malicious software. The Google Chrome, Edge, Firefox and IE will no longer open annoying Private Searching webpage on startup. Unfortunately, if the few simple steps does not help you, then you have caught a new browser hijacker, and then the best way – ask for help here.
