How to get rid of Search Symphony from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

What is Search Symphony?

The security specialists have determined that Search Symphony is a Browser hijacker. Browser hijacker is a kind of software that is designed to change the browser settings without the knowledge or permission of the computer user, and it usually redirects the affected system’s web-browser to some advertisement-related web sites. A browser hijacker initiates numerous popups, generates multiple pop-up ads, redirects user web searches to its own web site, installs multiple toolbars on the web browser and changes the default web-browser search provider or home page. If your web-browser has been hijacked by a browser hijacker you may need to follow manual steps or use a malware removal tool to revert changes made to your web-browsers.

Search Symphony virus takes over your web browser’s default search provider and controls what will be displayed to you whenever you do a searching. Other than the search results, it also provides lots of annoying advertisements on the search page. Some of these ads developed to trick you into buying some questionable products and software. Moreover, sometimes, those advertisements could redirect you to scam or harmful webpages.

As well as unwanted web browser redirects to malicious sites, Search Symphony can gather your Internet surfing activity by recording web-sites visited, Internet Service Provider (ISP), cookie information, IP addresses, browser version and type and URLs visited. Such kind of behavior can lead to serious security problems or confidential information theft. This is another reason why the hijacker should be removed as quickly as possible.

How can a browser hijacker get on your MAC

Browser hijackers like Search Symphony come from web-browser toolbars, web-browser extensions, BHOs (browser helper objects) and optional software. In many cases, these items claim itself as software that improve your experience on the Internet 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 applications which download from reputable sources. NEVER install unknown apps and suspicious browser extensions.

Threat Summary

Name	Search Symphony, “Search Symphony Mac Virus”
Type	browser hijacker, PUP, search engine hijacker, startpage hijacker, redirect virus
Affected Browser Settings	search engine, homepage, newtab page URL
Distribution	fake software updaters, free software setup files, shady popup advertisements
Symptoms	Popup ads won’t go away. Your internet browser is re-directed to web pages you did not want. There is an unwanted application in the ‘App & Features’ section of Windows settings. An unwanted internet browser add-on appears in your internet browser. Your internet browser home page has changed and you cannot modify it back.
Removal	Search Symphony removal guide

How to remove Search Symphony from Chrome, Firefox, Safari

In the step-by-step guidance below we will have a look at the browser hijacker and how to get rid of Search Symphony from Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox internet browsers for Mac, natively or by using a few free removal utilities. Certain of the steps will require you to reboot your computer or exit this webpage. So, read this guide carefully, then bookmark this page or open it on your smartphone for later reference.

To remove Search Symphony, execute the steps below:

1. Remove profiles created by Search Symphony
2. Check the list of installed applications
3. Remove Search Symphony related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove Search Symphony from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. Use AdBlocker to stay safe online

Remove profiles created by Search Symphony

SearchSymphony virus can make changes to the Mac system such as malicious changes to browser settings, and the addition of malicious system profiles. You need to check the system preferences, find and remove malicious profiles and ensure your settings are as you expect.

Click Apple menu ( ) > System Preferences.

In System Preferences, select Profiles. if there is no Profiles in the list of preferences, that means there are no profiles installed on the Mac device. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile related to Search Symphony.

To delete a malicious profile, click on the minus button ( – ) located at the bottom-left of the Profiles screen.

Check the list of installed applications

The next step to remove PUPs, browser hijackers and adware is to remove unknown and questionable software. Using the Finder you can do this quickly and easily. We suggest you not to skip this step, as it often helps to get rid of unwanted advertisements and web-browser redirects.

Open Finder and click “Applications” as on the image below.

You will see a list of apps installed on your Apple Mac. We recommend to pay maximum attention to the application you installed last. Most probably, it’s the Search Symphony browser hijacker. If you’re in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing.

Once the program which you need to remove is found, simply right press on its name, and choose “Move to Trash”.

Don’t forget, choose Finder, then “Empty Trash”.

Remove Search Symphony related files and folders

Now you need to try to find Search Symphony related files and folders, and then delete them manually. You need to look for these files in certain directories. To quickly open them, we recommend using the “Go to Folder…” command.

Search Symphony creates several files, these files must be found and removed. Some files created by browser hijackers are hidden from users. To find and delete them, you need to enable “show hidden files”. To do this, use the shortcut CMD + SHIFT + . Press once to show hidden files and again to hide them. There is another way. Click Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal. In Terminal, paste the following text: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

Press Enter. Hold the ‘Option/alt’ key, then right click on the Finder icon in the dock and click Relaunch.

Click on the Finder icon. From the menu bar, select Go and click “Go to Folder…”. As a result, a small window opens that allows you to quickly open a specific directory.

Check for Search Symphony generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchAgents

This will open the contents of the “/Library/LaunchAgents” folder. Look carefully at it and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files: search.plist, macsearch.plist, com.google.defaultsearch.plist, , com.SearchSymphony.service.plist, com.net-preferences.plist, installapp.plist and com.machelper.plist. Most often, potentially unwanted programs, adware software and browser hijackers create several files with similar names.

Check for Search Symphony generated files in the /Library/Application Support folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/Application Support

This will open the contents of the “Application Support” folder. Look carefully at its contents, pay special attention to recently added/changed folders and files. Check the contents of suspicious folders, if there is a file with a name similar to com.SearchSymphony.system, then this folder must be deleted. Move all suspicious folders and files to the Trash.

Check for Search Symphony generated files in the “~/Library/LaunchAgents” folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
~/Library/LaunchAgents

Proceed in the same way as with the “/Library/LaunchAgents” and “/Library/Application Support” folders. Look for suspicious and recently added files. Move all suspicious files to the Trash.

Check for Search Symphony generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchDaemons

Carefully browse the entire list of files and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files to be deleted: com.SearchSymphony.system.plist, com.search.system.plist, com.macsearch.system.plist, com.installapp.system.plist and com.machelper.system.plist. In most cases, adware, browser hijackers and PUPs create several files with similar names.

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

If you carefully followed the previous steps, then you should be able to remove Search Symphony. Of course, very often adware, PUPs and browser hijackers hides on a Mac computer, disguising itself as legitimate apps and files. Therefore, in some cases, it is difficult for an inexperienced user to decide whether a particular file is part of potentially unwanted programs, adware software and browser hijackers. Therefore, we suggest you to run MalwareBytes to scan the Mac computer.

Click the following link to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Anti-Malware for Mac OS.

When the download is complete, close all apps and windows on your machine. Open a directory in which you saved it. Run the saved file and follow the prompts.

Once installation is finished, you’ll see window as displayed on the screen below.

Now click the “Scan” button to scan for Search Symphony related files. This procedure can take quite a while, so please be patient. When a threat is detected, the count of the security threats will change accordingly.

When MalwareBytes AntiMalware is complete scanning your MAC OS, it will open the Scan Results. Next, you need to click “Quarantine” button.

The Malwarebytes will now remove Search Symphony browser hijacker and move the selected items to the Quarantine.

Remove Search Symphony from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

Remove unwanted add-ons is a easy way to get rid of Search Symphony hijacker and revert back browser’s settings which have been modified by hijacker.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
In the top-right corner, expand the Chrome menu. Select ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to remove Search Symphony hijacker by reset Google Chrome settings.	Click on ‘menu’ button and select ‘Add-ons’. Go to ‘Extensions’ tab. To uninstall an add-on, click on ‘Remove’ button next to it. If you are still experiencing problems with Search Symphony browser hijacker removal, you need to reset Mozilla Firefox browser.
Safari
On the top menu select ‘Safari’, then ‘Preferences’. Select ‘Extensions’ tab. Select an extension you want to delete and click ‘Uninstall’ button next to it.

Use AdBlocker to stay safe online

In order to increase your security and protect your Apple Mac against new intrusive ads and harmful web-pages, you need to use ad blocker program that blocks an access to harmful advertisements and websites. Moreover, the program may block the show of intrusive advertising, that also leads to faster loading of web sites and reduce the consumption of web traffic.

Download AdGuard by clicking on the link below.

After the download is done, run the downloaded file. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen.

Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick guide. Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick guidance which will assist you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you start your Apple Mac, AdGuard will start automatically and stop unwanted pop up advertisements, block harmful and misleading web-pages.

Finish words

Now your machine should be clean of the Search Symphony hijacker. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted pop-up advertisements and annoying malicious webpages) and MalwareBytes (to periodically scan your Apple Mac for new hijackers and other malware).

If you are still having problems while trying to remove Search Symphony from the Safari, Google Chrome and Firefox, then ask for help here here.