How to uninstall Secured Search from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge

What is Secured Search?

The cyber threat analysts have determined that Secured Search is a PUP (potentially unwanted program) that falls under the family of Browser hijackers. Typically, browser hijackers make changes to the default homepage and search engine of user web browsers, making it difficult to change them back. Browser hijackers can also include unwanted ads and pop ups to show up in the infected internet browsers. Browser hijackers are usually installed with freeware or shareware download off from third-party web-pages; they can also be found inside legitimate webpages and software.

The Secured Search hijacker takes over your browser’s default search engine and controls what will be displayed to you whenever you do a searching. Other than the search results, it also provides a large amount of annoying advertisements on the search page. Some of these ads created to force you into buying some questionable products and software. Moreover, sometimes, those ads could redirect you to misleading or malicious web-sites.

And finally, the Secured Search browser hijacker can be used to collect lots of sensitive info about you like what websites you’re opening, what you’re looking for the Net and so on. This information, in the future, can be sold to third party companies.

How can a browser hijacker get on your PC system

Usually, potentially unwanted programs and browser hijackers gets into computers as part of a bundle with freeware, sharing files and other unsafe software which users downloaded from the Net. PUPs authors pays software creators for distributing broser hijackers within their software. So, additional software is often included as part of the setup file. In order to avoid the installation of any hijackers like Secured Search: select only Manual, Custom or Advanced install method and uncheck all third-party programs in which you are unsure.

Threat Summary

Name	Secured Search
Type	browser hijacker, start page hijacker, PUP, search provider hijacker, redirect virus
Affected Browser Settings	startpage, search provider, new tab page URL
Distribution	fake update tools, freeware installers, malicious pop up advertisements
Symptoms	Pop ups and newtabs are loaded without your request. Web site links redirect to websites different from what you expected. Your computer starts automatically installing unwanted apps. An unwanted internet browser toolbar appears in your web browser. Your web browser startpage or search provider keeps changing or is not set to Google anymor.
Removal	Secured Search removal guide

How to remove Secured Search hijacker

We are presenting a few ways to delete Secured Search from Edge, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome using only standart Microsoft Windows functions. Most of browser hijackers and PUPs can be removed through these processes. If these steps does not help to get rid of Secured Search, then it’s better to run free malware removal tools linked below.

To remove Secured Search, execute the steps below:

1. How to manually get rid of Secured Search
   • Uninstall Secured Search related apps through the Control Panel of your PC system
   • Remove Secured Search browser hijacker from web-browsers
2. Automatic Removal of Secured Search
3. How to stop Secured Search redirect

How to manually get rid of Secured Search

Secured Search is a hijacker that can change your web browser settings and redirect you to the webpages which may contain lots of advertisements. Not every antivirus program can identify and remove Secured Search easily from your internet browser. Follow the instructions below and you can remove browser hijacker by yourself.

Uninstall Secured Search related apps through the Control Panel of your PC system

In order to delete PUPs such as this hijacker, open the Windows Control Panel and click on “Uninstall a program”. Check the list of installed software. For the ones you do not know, run an Internet search to see if they are adware software, hijacker or potentially unwanted programs. If yes, remove them off. Even if they are just a applications that you do not use, then removing them off will increase your computer start up time and speed dramatically.

Make sure you have closed all internet browsers and other programs. Next, delete any unwanted and suspicious software from your Control panel.

Windows 10, 8.1, 8

Now, click the Windows button, type “Control panel” in search and press Enter. Choose “Programs and Features”, then “Uninstall a program”.

Look around the entire list of programs installed on your computer. Most probably, one of them is the Secured Search browser hijacker. Choose the suspicious program or the program that name is not familiar to you and delete it.

Windows Vista, 7

From the “Start” menu in MS Windows, choose “Control Panel”. Under the “Programs” icon, choose “Uninstall a program”.

Select the questionable or any unknown software, then click “Uninstall/Change” button to uninstall this undesired program from your PC system.

Windows XP

Click the “Start” button, select “Control Panel” option. Click on “Add/Remove Programs”.

Select an unwanted program, then click “Change/Remove” button. Follow the prompts.

Remove Secured Search browser hijacker from web-browsers

This step will show you how to remove malicious addons. This can remove Secured Search browser hijacker and fix some surfing problems, especially after hijacker infection.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
Click on ‘three dots menu’ button at the top right corner of the Google Chrome window. In the menu go to ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to remove Secured Search browser hijacker by reset 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 issues with Secured Search removal, you need to reset Firefox browser.
Internet Explorer	Safari
Click ‘Tools’ button in the top-right corner. Select ‘Manage add-ons’. In the drop-down menu under ‘Show’, select ‘All add-ons’. To delete an add-on, double-click it; in the new window click ‘Remove’. Another way to delete Secured Search browser hijacker from Internet Explorer is reset Internet Explorer settings.	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.

Automatic Removal of Secured Search

Computer security researchers have built efficient malware removal tools to aid users in removing browser hijackers , adware and potentially unwanted programs. Below we will share with you the best malicious software removal utilities with the ability to detect and remove Secured Search and other potentially unwanted software.

Use Zemana Free to delete Secured Search browser hijacker

Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) is an ultra light weight tool to delete Secured Search hijacker from your web browser. It also removes malware and adware from your device. It improves your system’s performance by removing PUPs.

Now you can install and use Zemana to remove Secured Search browser hijacker from your internet browser by following the steps below:

Visit the following page to download Zemana installer called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup on your computer. Save it on your Desktop.

Launch the installer after it has been downloaded successfully and then follow the prompts to set up this tool on your device.

During installation you can change certain settings, but we advise you do not make any changes to default settings.

When installation is finished, this malware removal tool will automatically start and update itself. You will see its main window as displayed in the following example.

Now click the “Scan” button to look for Secured Search browser hijacker. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient. When a malware, adware or potentially unwanted apps are found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is done.

Once the scan get completed, Zemana will display a list of all threats found by the scan. In order to delete all threats, simply click “Next” button.

The Zemana Anti Malware will get rid of Secured Search browser hijacker and move the selected threats to the program’s quarantine. When the task is finished, you may be prompted to reboot your PC system to make the change take effect.

Use HitmanPro to get rid of Secured Search from the PC

HitmanPro is a malware removal utility that is developed to detect and terminate hijackers, PUPs, adware and questionable processes from the PC system that has been affected with malicious software. It’s a portable program that can be run instantly from USB stick. Hitman Pro have an advanced system monitoring utility which uses a whitelist database to isolate dubious processes and programs.

Visit the following page to download Hitman Pro. Save it directly to your MS Windows Desktop.

Once the download is complete, open the folder in which you saved it and double-click the HitmanPro icon. It will start the HitmanPro tool. If the User Account Control prompt will ask you want to start the application, click Yes button to continue.

Next, click “Next” to search for Secured Search hijacker. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your computer. While the utility is checking, you may see how many objects and files has already scanned.

After HitmanPro has completed scanning, Hitman Pro will show a scan report as displayed in the figure below.

In order to remove all items, simply click “Next” button. It will display a prompt, click the “Activate free license” button. The HitmanPro will remove Secured Search browser hijacker and move the selected items to the Quarantine. After disinfection is done, the tool may ask you to restart your device.

Get rid of Secured Search hijacker with MalwareBytes Anti Malware

Manual Secured Search removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the hijacker may be not fully removed. We suggest that run the MalwareBytes that are completely clean your PC system of browser hijacker. Moreover, this free program will help you to remove malware, potentially unwanted applications, adware and toolbars that your personal computer can be infected too.

1. Installing the MalwareBytes is simple. First you’ll need to download MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) by clicking on the link below.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware
   326460 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: April 15, 2020
   
2. At the download page, click on the Download button. Your web-browser will display the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
3. After downloading is finished, please close all programs and open windows on your computer. Double-click on the icon that’s named MBSetup.
4. This will run the Setup wizard of MalwareBytes Free onto your computer. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
5. When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will start and display the main window.
6. Further, click the “Scan” button for scanning your computer for the Secured Search hijacker. Depending on your personal computer, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. During the scan MalwareBytes will detect threats present on your computer.
7. When MalwareBytes AntiMalware has finished scanning your computer, MalwareBytes will open a list of all items found by the scan.
8. All detected items will be marked. You can delete them all by simply click the “Quarantine” button. After the process is complete, you may be prompted to reboot the computer.
9. Close the AntiMalware and continue with the next step.

Video instruction, which reveals in detail the steps above.

How to stop Secured Search redirect

Use an ad-blocker tool such as AdGuard will protect you from harmful ads and content. Moreover, you can find that the AdGuard have an option to protect your privacy and block phishing and spam websites. Additionally, ad-blocking apps will allow you to avoid unwanted popups and unverified links that also a good way to stay safe online.

Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you’ll need to download AdGuard by clicking on the following link. Save it directly to your Windows Desktop.

After downloading it, double-click the downloaded file to start it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as shown in the figure 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 on the image below.

Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick instructions that will assist you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you start your computer, AdGuard will run automatically and stop unwanted ads, block Secured Search redirects, as well as other harmful or misleading web pages. 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 is located on your desktop.

To sum up

Once you have removed the browser hijacker using this tutorial, MS Edge, Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer will no longer display the Secured Search page on startup. Unfortunately, if the instructions does not help you, then you have caught a new hijacker, 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 Secured Search browser hijacker.