What is PDFSearchTip?
According to experienced security professionals, PDFSearchTip is classified as a PUP (potentially unwanted program) from the group of Browser hijackers. The aim of a browser hijacker is to make advertising profit. For example, a browser hijacker redirects the user’s homepage to the browser hijacker’s page that contains ads or sponsored links; a browser hijacker redirects the user web searches to a link the browser hijacker wants the user to see, rather than to legitimate search engine results. When the user clicks on ads in the search results, browser hijackers developers gets paid. The browser hijackers makers can collect privacy information such as user browsing habits as well as browsing history and sell this information to third parties for marketing purposes.
The PDFSearchTip browser hijacker will change your browser’s search provider so that all searches are sent through feed.pdfsearchtip.com that redirects to Bing, Yahoo or Google Custom Search engine which displays the search results for your query. The developers of this browser hijacker are using legitimate search engine as they may generate money from the advertisements which are displayed in the search results.
As well as unwanted web browser redirects to pdfsearchtip.com, PDFSearchTip can gather your World Wide Web surfing activity by recording browser version and type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), URLs visited, web-pages visited, cookie information and IP addresses. Such kind of behavior can lead to serious security problems or confidential information theft. This is another reason why the hijacker that redirects the internet browser to pdfsearchtip.com should be uninstalled immediately.
How can a browser hijacker get on your computer
PUPs and browser hijackers like PDFSearchTip can get added to your web-browser or PC system when you visit a web-site and click an Install button, or when you download and run a dubious program, or when you install freeware that includes a PUP (potentially unwanted program). Be very attentive when installing any apps and make sure you deselect any options for optional software that you do not want.
Threat Summary
| Name | PDFSearchTip |
| Type | browser hijacker, redirect virus, PUP, startpage hijacker, search engine hijacker |
| Associated domains | feed.pdfsearchtip.com, get.pdfsearchtip.com, portal.pdfsearchtip.com, install.pdfsearchtip.com |
| Affected Browser Settings | newtab page URL, search provider, home page |
| Distribution | fake update tools, free programs setup packages, dubious pop up ads |
| Symptoms | Popups and newtabs are loaded without your request. When you go to a webpage, you’re periodically re-directed to another web-site that you do not intend to visit. Unexpected program installed without your say-so. New icons on your desktop. Unexpected changes in your internet browser such as displaying new tabs you did not open. |
| Removal | PDFSearchTip removal guide |
How to remove PDFSearchTip from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
In order to delete PDFSearchTip from the Google Chrome, Firefox, IE and MS Edge and set your favorite start page and search provider, you need to reset the web browser settings. Additionally, you should look up for other suspicious entries, such as files, programs, web-browser extensions and shortcut files. However, if you want to delete PDFSearchTip easily, you should run reputable anti-malware tool and let it do the job for you.
To remove PDFSearchTip, perform the following steps:
- How to manually remove PDFSearchTip
- Automatic Removal of PDFSearchTip
- How to stop PDFSearchTip redirect
How to manually remove PDFSearchTip
To delete PDFSearchTip, adware software and other unwanted apps you can try to do so manually. Unfortunately some of the hijackers won’t show up in your program list, but some browser hijackers may. In this case, you may be able to remove it via the uninstall function of your device. You can do this by following the steps below.
Remove PDFSearchTip associated software by using Windows Control Panel
We advise that you start the computer cleaning process by checking the list of installed programs and remove all unknown or questionable apps. This is a very important step, as mentioned above, very often the harmful applications such as adware software and hijackers may be bundled with free applications. Delete the unwanted programs can delete the intrusive advertisements or browser redirect.
Press Windows button 
, then click Search 
. Type “Control panel”and press Enter. If you using Windows XP or Windows 7, then press “Start” and select “Control Panel”. It will show the Windows Control Panel as shown below.
Further, press “Uninstall a program” 
It will open a list of all programs installed on your personal computer. Scroll through the all list, and remove any questionable and unknown applications.
Remove PDFSearchTip from Google Chrome
Reset Chrome will reset your startpage, new tab page, search provider, and other browser settings hijacked by PDFSearchTip hijacker. All undesired and harmful extensions will also be deleted from the web browser. Your saved bookmarks, form auto-fill information and passwords won’t be cleared or changed.
- First, launch the Chrome and click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
- It will show the Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You will see the list of installed add-ons. If the list has the add-on labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guide: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Google Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
- Next, click “Advanced” link, that located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
- The Google Chrome will open the reset settings prompt as on the image above.
- Confirm the web browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, read the blog post How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.
Remove PDFSearchTip from Firefox by resetting internet browser settings
If the Firefox internet browser application is hijacked, then resetting its settings can help. The Reset feature is available on all modern version of Mozilla Firefox. A reset can fix many issues by restoring Mozilla Firefox settings like startpage, newtab and search engine to their default values. However, your themes, bookmarks, history, passwords, and web form auto-fill information will not be deleted.
Click 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, press the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button similar to the one below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to restore your Firefox web-browser settings to their default values.
Get rid of PDFSearchTip hijacker from Internet Explorer
If you find that IE web browser settings such as search provider by default, new tab and startpage had been hijacked, then you may restore your settings, via the reset internet browser process.
First, launch the Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (
). It will open the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” as on the image below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The Internet Explorer will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as displayed in the following example. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.
You will now need to restart your PC system for the changes to take effect.
Automatic Removal of PDFSearchTip
Is your Windows PC system hijacked by hijacker? Then don’t worry, in the instructions below, we’re sharing best malware removal tools which can be used to remove PDFSearchTip from the Firefox, MS Edge, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome and your computer.
Remove PDFSearchTip browser hijacker with Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM)
Download Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) to delete PDFSearchTip automatically from all of your internet browsers. This is a freeware utility specially created for malicious software removal. This tool can delete adware, hijacker from Google Chrome, MS Edge, Internet Explorer and Firefox and Microsoft Windows registry automatically.
Zemana can be downloaded from the following link. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
164113 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
Once the downloading process is finished, close all applications and windows on your computer. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup like below.
When the installation starts, you will see the “Setup wizard” that will allow you setup Zemana Anti-Malware on your device.
Once install is done, you will see window like below.
Now click the “Scan” button to scan for PDFSearchTip browser hijacker. This task may take some time, so please be patient. During the scan Zemana Free will look for threats exist on your computer.
When that process is finished, you can check all items detected on your PC system. Make sure all items have ‘checkmark’ and click “Next” button.
The Zemana Anti Malware will delete PDFSearchTip hijacker and move the selected threats to the program’s quarantine.
Use HitmanPro to remove PDFSearchTip from the device
All-in-all, HitmanPro is a fantastic utility to clean your PC from any undesired applications such as PDFSearchTip hijacker. The Hitman Pro is portable application that meaning, you do not need to install it to run it. Hitman Pro is compatible with all versions of MS Windows operating system from Windows XP to Windows 10. Both 64-bit and 32-bit systems are supported.
Download Hitman Pro on your MS Windows Desktop by clicking on the link below.
After downloading is finished, open the file location and double-click the Hitman Pro icon. It will start the Hitman Pro utility. If the User Account Control dialog box will ask you want to launch the application, click Yes button to continue.
Next, click “Next” to begin scanning your device for the PDFSearchTip hijacker. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your PC system. While the Hitman Pro program is checking, you can see how many objects it has identified as threat.
When HitmanPro has finished scanning your PC system, you will be shown the list of all detected items on your personal computer as shown in the figure below.
When you’re ready, press “Next” button. It will open a prompt, click the “Activate free license” button. The HitmanPro will remove PDFSearchTip browser hijacker. Once that process is done, the tool may ask you to reboot your device.
Run MalwareBytes to delete PDFSearchTip hijacker
Delete PDFSearchTip browser hijacker manually is difficult and often the browser hijacker is not fully removed. Therefore, we recommend you to run the MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) that are completely clean your PC system. Moreover, this free program will help you to remove malicious software, PUPs, toolbars and adware software that your computer may be infected too.
MalwareBytes Free can be downloaded from the following link. Save it to your Desktop.
326464 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
After the download is finished, run it and follow the prompts. Once installed, the MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will try to update itself and when this process is finished, click the “Scan” button for scanning your computer for the PDFSearchTip browser hijacker. This process can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the utility is scanning, you can see how many objects and files has already scanned. Make sure to check mark the threats that are unsafe and then click “Quarantine” button.
The MalwareBytes Anti Malware is a free application that you can use to remove all detected folders, files, services, registry entries and so on. To learn more about this malware removal tool, we recommend you to read and follow the steps or the video guide below.
How to stop PDFSearchTip redirect
To put it simply, you need to use an ad blocker tool (AdGuard, for example). It will stop browser redirects and protect you from malicious webpages, unwanted ads and pop-ups. To be able to do that, the ad blocking application uses a list of filters. Each filter is a rule that describes a malicious web page, an advertising content, a banner and others. The adblocker application automatically uses these filters, depending on the web sites you are visiting.
Download AdGuard from the following link.
26659 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
Once the downloading process is complete, double-click the downloaded file to start 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 instructions as shown on the image below.
Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick instructions that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you run your device, AdGuard will start automatically and stop unwanted ads, block PDFSearchTip redirects, as well as other malicious or misleading web-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, that can be found on your desktop.
To sum up
Once you have complete the guidance above, your computer should be clean from the PDFSearchTip browser hijacker and other malware. The Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome will no longer show the unwanted pdfsearchtip.com website 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.
