If your browser’s startpage or search provider are being re-directed to the website called Search Smart, then you most probably have a browser hijacker installed on your system. The browser hijacker infection will alter your browser’s startpage, default search provider and newtab so that they automatically open the Search Smart web-site and use it for searches. If you would like to delete Search Smart and are unable to do so, you can follow the guide below to search for and get rid of this browser hijacker and any other unwanted software for free.
Search Smart makes unwanted changes to browser settings
If your computer has been infected with Search Smart hijacker you will be forced to use its own search provider. It could seem not to be dangerous, but you still should be very careful, since it may show undesired and harmful ads created to force you into buying certain questionable apps or products, provide search results which may redirect your internet browser to certain deceptive, misleading or malicious web-sites. We recommend that you use only the reliable search provider like Google, Yahoo or Bing.
Threat Summary
| Name | Search Smart |
| Type | browser hijacker, search provider hijacker, start page hijacker, toolbar, unwanted new tab, redirect virus |
| Symptoms |
|
| Removal | Search Smart removal guide |
Take a deep breath. Learn everything you should know about Search Smart home page removal, how to get rid of browser hijacker infection from your browser and machine. Find the best free malicious software removal utilities here!
How to remove Search Smart from Windows 10 (8, 7, XP)
The answer is right here on this web-page. We have put together simplicity and efficiency. It will help you easily to free your PC system of browser hijacker. Moreover, you can choose manual or automatic removal way. If you’re familiar with the system then use manual removal, otherwise use the free anti-malware tool designed specifically to remove hijacker like Search Smart. Of course, you can combine both methods. Read this manual carefully, bookmark or print it, because you may need to close your web browser or reboot your machine.
To remove Search Smart, follow the steps below:
- How to manually delete Search Smart
- How to get rid of Search Smart automatically
- How to stop Search Smart redirect
- How did you get infected with Search Smart hijacker
- To sum up
How to manually delete Search Smart
Steps to get rid of Search Smart hijacker without any applications are presented below. Be sure to carry out the step-by-step steps completely to fully remove this unwanted Search Smart start page.
Delete Search Smart related applications through the Control Panel of your PC
First method for manual hijacker removal is to go into the Microsoft Windows “Control Panel”, then “Uninstall a program” console. Take a look at the list of software on your PC and see if there are any suspicious and unknown programs. If you see any, you need to remove 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, adware software or malicious software, you will likely find information that says so.
- If you are using Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 then press Windows button, next click Search. Type “Control panel”and press Enter.
- If you are using Windows XP, Vista, 7, then click “Start” button and click “Control Panel”.
- It will open the Windows Control Panel.
- Further, press “Uninstall a program” under Programs category.
- It will show a list of all applications installed on the PC system.
- Scroll through the all list, and remove questionable and unknown applications. To quickly find the latest installed apps, we recommend sort apps by date.
See more details in the video instructions below.
Remove Search Smart from Mozilla Firefox by resetting browser settings
If Mozilla Firefox start page or search provider are hijacked by the Search Smart, your web browser displays unwanted popup advertisements, then ‘Reset Mozilla Firefox’ could solve these problems. It will save your personal information such as saved passwords, bookmarks, auto-fill data and open tabs.
First, open the Firefox and press 
button. It will show the drop-down menu on the right-part of the web browser. Further, click the Help button (
) as shown in the figure 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 display the “Troubleshooting Information” page as shown on the image below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, press 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 Search Smart browser hijacker. Once, it is finished, press the “Finish” button.
Delete Search Smart from IE
By resetting Internet Explorer web browser you restore your browser settings to its default state. This is good initial when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by hijacker like Search Smart.
First, start the Microsoft Internet Explorer, then click ‘gear’ icon 
. It will open the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the browser, then click the “Internet Options” as shown in the following example.
In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then click the “Reset” button. The Microsoft Internet Explorer will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” prompt. Further, press the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, click the “Reset” button as shown below.
After the task is done, click “Close” button. Close the IE and restart your system for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your web browser’s newtab page, start page and search provider to default state.
Remove Search Smart from Chrome
Reset Google Chrome settings to get rid of Search Smart. If you are still experiencing issues with Search Smart, you need to reset Google Chrome browser to its original state. This step needs to be performed only if hijacker has not been removed by the previous steps.
Open the Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal dotes (
). It will display the drop-down menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
Carefully browse through the list of installed plugins. If the list has the addon labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following instructions: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy otherwise, just go to the step below.
Open the Google Chrome main menu again, press 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 shown on the screen below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
Confirm your action, click the “Reset” button.
How to get rid of Search Smart automatically
Many antivirus companies have developed software that help detect and delete browser hijacker, and thereby revert back browsers settings. Below is a a few of the free programs you may want to use. Your personal computer can have a huge count of PUPs, adware and hijacker infections installed at the same time, so we recommend, if any unwanted or harmful program returns after rebooting the PC system, then start your computer into Safe Mode and run the anti-malware utility once again.
Remove Search Smart with Zemana Free
If you need a free tool that can easily detect and remove hijacker infection that redirects your web-browser to undesired Search Smart web site, then use Zemana Anti-Malware. This is a very handy program, which is primarily designed to quickly detect and remove adware and malware infecting web browsers and changing their settings.
Now you can install and use Zemana to delete Search Smart home page from your web-browser by following the steps below:
Click the following link to download Zemana Anti-Malware setup file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup on your PC. Save it directly to your Windows Desktop.
159562 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
Launch the installation package after it has been downloaded successfully and then follow the prompts to install this tool on your machine.
During setup you can change certain settings, but we suggest you don’t make any changes to default settings.
When installation is finished, this malware removal tool will automatically run and update itself. You will see its main window similar to the one below.
Now click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the browser hijacker which cause a redirect to Search Smart web-page. This process may take some time, so please be patient. While the utility is checking, you may see number of objects and files has already scanned.
After the system scan is done, Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) will show a scan report. In order to delete all items, simply click “Next” button.
The Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) will start to remove browser hijacker that causes internet browsers to open undesired Search Smart web site. When disinfection is done, you may be prompted to reboot your PC to make the change take effect.
Scan and clean your computer of browser hijacker with Hitman Pro
Hitman Pro is a free removal tool. It deletes potentially unwanted applications, adware, browser hijackers and undesired internet browser addons. It’ll identify and remove hijacker responsible for redirects to Search Smart. HitmanPro uses very small PC resources and is a portable program. Moreover, Hitman Pro does add another layer of malware protection.
- Installing the Hitman Pro is simple. First you will need to download Hitman Pro on your PC system by clicking on the following link.
- When the downloading process is complete, double click the Hitman Pro icon. Once this utility is started, click “Next” button for scanning your computer for the hijacker responsible for redirecting your web browser to Search Smart web site. This process can take some time, so please be patient. While the Hitman Pro program is scanning, you may see how many objects it has identified as threat.
- After the scan is done, Hitman Pro will prepare a list of unwanted programs and hijacker infection. When you are ready, press “Next” button. Now click the “Activate free license” button to start the free 30 days trial to remove all malicious software found.
Scan and clean your computer of browser hijacker with MalwareBytes
We recommend using the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM). You can download and install MalwareBytes Free to search for and remove Search Smart from your system. When installed and updated, this free malware remover automatically searches for and deletes all threats present on the computer.
- Installing the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware is simple. First you’ll need to download MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) by clicking on the following link.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
317699 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- At the download page, click on the Download button. Your web-browser will open the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
- Once downloading is finished, please close all applications and open windows on your computer. Double-click on the icon that’s called mb3-setup.
- This will launch the “Setup wizard” of MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) onto your computer. 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 launch and open the main window.
- Further, click the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan for the browser hijacker infection that alters web-browser settings to replace your newtab page, default search provider and home page with Search Smart web site. Depending on your machine, the scan may take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) is scanning, you can see how many objects it has identified either as being malware.
- After the scanning is complete, MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) will show you the results.
- You may remove items (move to Quarantine) by simply press the “Quarantine Selected” button. After the process is finished, you may be prompted to restart the system.
- Close the Anti Malware and continue with the next step.
Video instruction, which reveals in detail the steps above.
How to stop Search Smart redirect
We suggest to install an adblocker program which can block Search Smart and other intrusive web-pages. The ad blocking tool such as AdGuard is a application that basically removes advertising from the World Wide Web and blocks access to malicious web-sites. Moreover, security experts says that using ad-blocker programs is necessary to stay safe when surfing the Internet.
First, click the following link, then click the ‘Download’ button in order to download the latest version of AdGuard.
25675 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 below.
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 displayed below.
Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick guidance that will assist you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you run your PC, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop undesired advertisements, block Search Smart, as well as other harmful or misleading web-sites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, which can be found on your desktop.
How did you get infected with Search Smart hijacker
The Search Smart most likely to occur during the installation of free software due the fact that potentially unwanted apps like this are usually hidden in the installation package. Thus, if you’ve installed some free programs using Quick(Standard) mode, you may have let a hijacker infection get inside the personal computer. Keep in mind that the Quick mode is unreliable because it do not warn about additional programs. Thus, additional applications will be installed automatically unless you choose Advanced/Custom method and disable its installation.
To sum up
Now your computer should be free of the hijacker infection responsible for redirecting user searches to Search Smart. We suggest that you keep Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) (to periodically scan your personal computer for new hijacker infections and other malicious software) and AdGuard (to help you block intrusive ads and harmful web pages). Moreover, to prevent any browser hijacker, please stay clear of unknown and third party programs, make sure that your antivirus application, turn on the option to search for potentially unwanted programs.
If you need more help with Search Smart search related issues, go to here.
