How to remove Sports Search redirect [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

The Sports Search is categorized as hijackware (also known as browser hijacker). After its installation, it alters web-browsers settings. It will set Sports Search as your search provider by default, start page and newtab. Thus, if you run any of the internet browsers, it will always be show this intrusive webpage. Moreover, when you create a new tab, the Microsoft Internet Explorer, Edge, Chrome and Mozilla Firefox can be also redirected to Sports Search web page.

Except that the Sports Search introduces changes to browser’s start page and new tab, it also rewrites your search provider, which leads to the fact that use of the internet browser’s search becomes uncomfortable. The reason for this is that the search results will consist of a large amount of ads, links to unwanted and ad web pages and only the remaining part is search results for your query from well-known search engines like Google or Bing.

While the Sports Search browser hijacker is active, you won’t be able to revert back the Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and MS Edge’ settings such as search provider by default, new tab and home page. If you try to set your start page to be Google, Bing or Yahoo, those settings will be automatically modified to Sports Search with the next computer restart. But this does not mean that you should just ignore it or get along with this fact. Because this is not the best option, due to the Sports Search homepage you can have problems with the Chrome, IE, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge, intrusive ads and even personal data theft.

Most often, the Sports Search browser hijacker affects most common internet browsers like Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Edge and Internet Explorer. But such browser hijackers as well may infect other internet browsers by modifying its shortcuts (adding ‘http://site.address’ into Target field of web-browser’s shortcut). So every time you start the web browser, it will open Sports Search web page. Even if you setup your startpage again, the intrusive Sports Search webpage will be the first thing that you see when you run the web browser.

We strongly suggest you to complete the few simple steps which follow below. We will show you how to remove hijacker and thus remove Sports Search redirect from your Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox forever.

Remove Sports Search from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge

Not all undesired applications like hijacker that causes internet browsers to show undesired Sports Search site are easily uninstallable. You might see a new home page, new tab page, search engine and other type of undesired changes to the Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and MS Edge settings and might not be able to figure out the application responsible for this activity. The reason for this is that many unwanted programs neither appear in MS Windows Control Panel. Therefore in order to completely delete Sports Search redirect, you need to complete the steps below. Read it once, after doing so, please print this page as you may need to close your browser or restart your computer.

To remove Sports Search, execute the following steps:

1. How to remove Sports Search without any software
   • Delete suspicious applications using Windows Control Panel
   • Remove Sports Search redirect from Google Chrome
   • Get rid of Sports Search from Microsoft Internet Explorer
   • Remove Sports Search from Mozilla Firefox by resetting browser settings
2. Run free malware removal utilities to completely remove Sports Search redirect
   • Scan and clean your computer of Sports Search with Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM)
   • Scan your PC system and delete Sports Search with HitmanPro
   • Scan and clean your personal computer of hijacker with Malwarebytes
3. How to block Sports Search
4. How did Sports Search browser hijacker get on your machine
5. To sum up

How to remove Sports Search without any software

Most common browser hijackers may be removed without any antivirus programs. The manual browser hijacker removal is step-by-step guidance that will teach you how to remove the Sports Search home page.

Delete suspicious applications using Windows Control Panel

First, you should try to identify and uninstall the application that causes the appearance of undesired ads or web-browser redirect, using the ‘Uninstall a program’ which is located in the ‘Control panel’.

Carefully browse through the list of installed applications and delete all questionable and unknown programs. We suggest to click ‘Installed programs’ and even sorts all installed software by date. When you’ve found anything suspicious that may be the hijacker infection responsible for redirecting your internet browser to Sports Search page or other potentially unwanted application (PUA), then select this program and click ‘Uninstall’ in the upper part of the window. If the suspicious program blocked from removal, then use Revo Uninstaller Freeware to fully remove it from your computer.

Remove Sports Search redirect from Google Chrome

Reset Chrome settings can help you solve some problems caused by browser hijacker and remove Sports Search from newtab page, startpage and search engine. This will also disable malicious extensions as well as clear cookies and site data. However, your saved passwords and bookmarks will not be changed, deleted or cleared.

First run the Google Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal dots ().

It will open the Google Chrome menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed plugins. If the list has the plugin signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following instructions: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.

Open the Google Chrome menu once again. Further, press the option named “Settings”.

The browser will open the settings screen. Another way to show the Google Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the 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 displayed on the screen below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.

The Chrome will open the confirmation dialog box as displayed in the figure below.

You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The browser will start the task of cleaning. After it’s done, the web browser’s settings including search engine by default, home page and newtab page back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your system.

Get rid of Sports Search from Microsoft Internet Explorer

By resetting Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser you restore your web-browser settings to its default state. This is good initial when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by browser hijacker such as Sports Search.

First, open the Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (). It will display the Tools drop-down menu, press the “Internet Options” like 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 as shown on the screen below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.

You will now need to reboot your personal computer for the changes to take effect.

Remove Sports Search from Mozilla Firefox by resetting browser settings

The Firefox reset will remove unwanted search engine and start page such as Sports Search, modified preferences, extensions and security settings. When using the reset feature, your personal information like passwords, bookmarks, browsing history and web form auto-fill data will be saved.

First, launch the Mozilla Firefox and click button. It will show the drop-down menu on the right-part of the web browser. Further, press the Help button () as on the image below.

In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the web-browser adress bar and press Enter. It will open the “Troubleshooting Information” page as displayed on the image below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.

It will show the confirmation prompt. Further, click the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Mozilla Firefox will start a process to fix your problems that caused by the browser hijacker responsible for redirecting your web browser to Sports Search page. When, it’s finished, click the “Finish” button.

Run free malware removal utilities to completely remove Sports Search redirect

Manual removal is not always as effective as you might think. Often, even the most experienced users can not completely remove hijacker from the infected machine. So, we suggest to scan your computer for any remaining malicious components with free hijacker removal software below.

Scan and clean your computer of Sports Search with Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM)

You can remove Sports Search automatically with a help of Zemana. We suggest this malicious software removal tool because it can easily get rid of hijacker infections, PUPs, adware and toolbars with all their components such as folders, files and registry entries.

Now you can install and use Zemana Free to get rid of Sports Search redirect from your internet browser by following the steps below:

Visit the following page to download Zemana installation package called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup on your machine. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

Start the installer after it has been downloaded successfully and then follow the prompts to install this tool on your machine.

During install you can change some settings, but we suggest you do not make any changes to default settings.

When setup is complete, this malware removal tool will automatically start and update itself. You will see its main window as displayed on the image below.

Now click the “Scan” button . Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) program will scan through the whole personal computer for the hijacker infection responsible for changing your web-browser settings to Sports Search. Depending on your machine, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the Zemana Anti Malware application is checking, you can see number of objects it has identified as threat.

Once the scan is finished, the results are displayed in the scan report. When you’re ready, click “Next” button.

The Zemana will begin to remove browser hijacker responsible for redirections to Sports Search. Once disinfection is complete, you can be prompted to reboot your computer to make the change take effect.

Scan your PC system and delete Sports Search with HitmanPro

Hitman Pro is a portable program which requires no hard installation to detect and get rid of browser hijacker which reroutes your web-browser to intrusive Sports Search page. The program itself is small in size (only a few Mb). Hitman Pro does not need any drivers and special dlls. It’s probably easier to use than any alternative malicious software removal tools you have ever tried. Hitman Pro works on 64 and 32-bit versions of Windows 10, 8, 7 and XP. It proves that removal tool can be just as effective as the widely known antivirus applications.

Please go to the link below to download HitmanPro. Save it directly to your MS Windows Desktop.

When downloading is finished, open the directory in which you saved it. You will see an icon like below.

Double click the HitmanPro desktop icon. When the utility is opened, you will see a screen as displayed in the following example.

Further, click “Next” button to start scanning your PC for the Sports Search browser hijacker and other web browser’s malicious plugins. This procedure can take quite a while, so please be patient. After finished, HitmanPro will create a list of unwanted applications adware as shown on the image below.

You may get rid of items (move to Quarantine) by simply click “Next” button. It will show a prompt, click the “Activate free license” button.

Scan and clean your personal computer of hijacker with Malwarebytes

We suggest using the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your PC system of the browser hijacker. The free utility is an advanced malware removal application developed by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular anti malware technology. It is able to help you remove browser hijackers, PUPs, malware, adware, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your PC for free.

Installing the MalwareBytes AntiMalware is simple. First you will need to download MalwareBytes Free on your personal computer by clicking on the link below.

Once the downloading process is done, close all applications and windows on your computer. Double-click the install file called mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as displayed in the figure below, click the “Yes” button.

It will open the “Setup wizard” which will help you set up MalwareBytes on your machine. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once install is done successfully, click Finish button. MalwareBytes Free will automatically start and you can see its main screen as shown in the figure below.

Now click the “Scan Now” button . MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) application will scan through the whole machine for the hijacker responsible for redirects to Sports Search. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient. While the MalwareBytes Anti Malware is checking, you may see number of objects it has identified either as being malware.

Once the system scan is complete, MalwareBytes will display a list of detected items. In order to get rid of all items, simply click “Quarantine Selected” button. The MalwareBytes Free will remove hijacker responsible for redirecting your browser to Sports Search web site and add items to the Quarantine. When the clean-up is finished, you may be prompted to restart the system.

We advise you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the MalwareBytes Free to get rid of adware, hijacker and other malicious software.

How to block Sports Search

Use an ad-blocking tool like AdGuard will protect you from malicious ads and content. Moreover, you can find that the AdGuard have an option to protect your privacy and block phishing and spam web pages. Additionally, ad-blocker apps will allow you to avoid intrusive pop-up advertisements and unverified links that also a good way to stay safe online.

Visit the following page to download the latest version of AdGuard for Windows. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

After downloading it, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as displayed in the figure below.

Follow the prompts. When the install is complete, you will see a window as shown on the screen below.

You can click “Skip” to close the setup application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial that will assist 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 launch your PC system, AdGuard will run automatically and stop popup ads, Sports Search redirect, as well as other malicious or misleading pages. 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.

How did Sports Search browser hijacker get on your machine

Many browser hijackers like Sports Search come from browser toolbars, internet browser extensions, BHOs (browser helper objects) and bundled apps. In most cases, these items claim itself as apps which improve your experience on the Net by providing a fast and interactive home page or a search engine that does not track you. Remember, how to avoid the unwanted apps. Be cautious, run only reputable apps which download from reputable sources. NEVER install an unknown and suspicious program.

To sum up

Once you’ve finished the guide shown above, your system should be clean from this hijacker and other malware. The Firefox, IE, Edge and Google Chrome will no longer open intrusive Sports Search site on startup. Unfortunately, if the guide does not help you, then you have caught a new hijacker infection, and then the best way – ask for help.

Please create a new question by using the “Ask Question” button in the Questions and Answers. Try to give us some details about your problems, so we can try to help you more accurately. Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with the Sports Search redirect.