What is SearchTab Default Search?
According to IT security experts, SearchTab Default Search is a potentially unwanted program (PUP) from the category of Browser hijackers. The aim of a browser hijacker is to earn 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. The “browser hijackers” authors can collect user info such as user browsing habits as well as browsing history and sell this information to third parties for marketing purposes.
SearchTab Default Search redirects user seaches to Bing
Most often, browser hijackers promote fake search providers by setting their address as the default search engine. In this case, the hijacker installs searchtab.xyz as a search engine. This means that users whose web-browser is infected with the browser hijacker are forced to visit Ssearchtab.xyz each time they search in the Internet, open a new window or tab. And since searchtab.xyz is not a real search provider and does not have the ability to find the information users need, this web-site redirects the user’s internet browser to the Bing search engine.
Another reason why you need to remove SearchTab Default Search is its online data-tracking activity. It can gather personal info, including:
- IP addresses;
- URLs visited;
- search queries/terms;
- clicks on links and ads;
- browser version information.
Therefore, PUPs and browser hijackers are quite dangerous. So, we recommend you remove it from your computer as soon as possible. Follow the steps presented below to remove SearchTab Default Search from the computer.
How can a browser hijacker get on your PC
Potentially unwanted programs and browser hijackers usually come as a part of free programs that downloaded from the World Wide Web. Which means that you need to be proactive and carefully read the Terms of use and the License agreement properly. For the most part, a browser hijacker will be clearly described, so take the time to carefully read all the information about the software that you downloaded and want to install on your device. In the Setup wizard, you should choose the Advanced, Custom or Manual setup mode to control what components and additional apps to be installed, otherwise you run the risk of infecting your PC with an unwanted program like the SearchTab Default Search hijacker.
Threat Summary
| Name | SearchTab Default Search |
| Type | PUP, startpage hijacker, redirect virus, search engine hijacker, browser hijacker |
| Associated domains | searchtab.xyz |
| Affected Browser Settings | start page, newtab page URL, search engine |
| Distribution | dubious pop up ads, freeware setup files, fake updaters |
| Symptoms | You experience lots of of unwanted pop up ads. Webpage links redirect to web sites different from what you expected. New entries appear in your Programs folder. New web browser toolbars in your browser. Your PC settings are being changed without your request. |
| Removal | SearchTab Default Search removal guide |
How to remove SearchTab Default Search from Windows 10 (8, 7, XP)
There are present several free malware removal tools. Also it is possible to remove SearchTab Default Search hijacker manually. But we recommend to combine all these solutions below into the one removal algorithm. Follow the steps of the tutorial. Certain of the steps will require you to reboot your PC or close this web-page. So, read this instructions carefully, then bookmark this page or open it on your smartphone for later reference.
To remove SearchTab Default Search, perform the following steps:
- How to manually remove SearchTab Default Search
- Automatic Removal of SearchTab Default Search
- How to stop SearchTab Default Search redirect
How to manually remove SearchTab Default Search
To delete browser hijacker, adware and other unwanted software you can try to do so manually. Unfortunately some of the browser hijackers won’t show up in your application list, but some browser hijackers may. In this case, you can be able to get rid of it via the uninstall function of your computer. You can do this by following the steps below.
Remove PUPs through the MS Windows Control Panel
The best way to start the personal computer cleanup is to uninstall unknown and suspicious apps. Using the Microsoft Windows Control Panel you can do this quickly and easily. This step, in spite of its simplicity, should not be ignored, because the removing of unneeded apps can clean up the Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Chrome and Mozilla Firefox from pop-up advertisements hijackers and so on.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
First, click the Windows button
, then click Search 
. Type “Control panel”and press Enter.Windows XP, Vista, 7
First, click “Start” and select “Control Panel”.
It will display the Windows Control Panel like below.
Next, click “Uninstall a program” 
It will show a list of all software installed on your device. Scroll through the all list, and delete any dubious and unknown apps. To quickly find the latest installed applications, we recommend sort programs by date in the Control panel.
Remove SearchTab Default Search from Chrome
If you are getting SearchTab Default Search instead of your homepage or search provider, then you can try to remove it by resetting Google Chrome to its original settings. It will also clear cookies, content and site data, temporary and cached data. Keep in mind that resetting your web browser will not remove your history, bookmarks, passwords, and other saved data.
Open the Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal dotes (
). It will display the drop-down menu. Select More Tools, then press Extensions.
Carefully browse through the list of installed extensions. If the list has the add-on labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following steps: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy otherwise, just go to the step below.
Open the Google Chrome main menu again, click 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 image below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
Confirm your action, click the “Reset” button.
Delete SearchTab Default Search browser hijacker from IE
The Internet Explorer reset is great if your web-browser is hijacked or you have unwanted extensions or toolbars on your browser, which installed by a malware.
First, launch the Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (
). It will display the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” as shown below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then press the Reset button. The IE will open the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as displayed in the figure below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.
You will now need to reboot your device for the changes to take effect.
Remove SearchTab Default Search from Mozilla Firefox by resetting browser settings
This step will help you get rid of SearchTab Default Search, third-party toolbars, disable harmful addons and return your default start page, newtab and search engine settings.
Press the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and press the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as displayed on the screen below.
A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button as displayed in the following example.
Follow the onscreen procedure to return your Mozilla Firefox web browser settings to their original settings.
Automatic Removal of SearchTab Default Search
Is your MS Windows computer affected by hijacker? Then don’t worry, in the guide listed below, we’re sharing best malware removal tools that can remove SearchTab Default Search from Mozilla Firefox, IE, MS Edge and Google Chrome and your PC.
Use Zemana Anti-Malware to remove SearchTab Default Search hijacker
Zemana is an extremely fast utility to remove browser hijacker from your web-browser. It also deletes malware and adware from your personal computer. It improves your system’s performance by uninstalling PUPs.
- Click the following link to download the latest version of Zemana Anti-Malware for MS Windows. Save it on your MS Windows desktop.
Zemana AntiMalware
164103 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- Once you have downloaded the installation file, make sure to double click on the Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. This would start the Zemana AntiMalware setup on your computer.
- Select installation language and click ‘OK’ button.
- On the next screen ‘Setup Wizard’ simply press the ‘Next’ button and follow the prompts.
- Finally, once the installation is done, Zemana Anti-Malware will start automatically. Else, if does not then double-click on the Zemana icon on your desktop.
- Now that you have successfully install Zemana, let’s see How to use Zemana Anti-Malware to delete SearchTab Default Search hijacker from your computer.
- After you have started the Zemana AntiMalware, you will see a window as displayed below, just click ‘Scan’ button to begin scanning your PC for the hijacker.
- Now pay attention to the screen while Zemana scans your personal computer.
- When the scan is complete, you’ll be shown the list of all found items on your computer. All found items will be marked. You can delete them all by simply press ‘Next’ button.
- Zemana Anti-Malware may require a restart computer in order to complete the SearchTab Default Search browser hijacker removal procedure.
- If you want to permanently remove hijacker from your PC, then click ‘Quarantine’ icon, select all malicious software, adware, PUPs and other threats and press Delete.
- Restart your device to complete the browser hijacker removal process.
Get rid of SearchTab Default Search hijacker and malicious extensions with Hitman Pro
HitmanPro is a free tool which can identify SearchTab Default Search browser hijacker. It’s not always easy to locate all the undesired applications that your computer might have picked up on the Internet. Hitman Pro will detect the adware software, hijackers and other malware you need to delete.
- First, click the link below, then press the ‘Download’ button in order to download the latest version of HitmanPro.
- When downloading is finished, double click the HitmanPro icon. Once this utility is started, press “Next” button to scan for SearchTab Default Search browser hijacker. This task may take some time, so please be patient. During the scan HitmanPro will find threats present on your computer.
- Once finished, you can check all items detected on your personal computer. Once you have selected what you want to delete from your computer click “Next” button. Now click the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial to remove all malware found.
Remove SearchTab Default Search browser hijacker with MalwareBytes
Remove SearchTab Default Search hijacker manually is difficult and often the hijacker is not completely removed. Therefore, we suggest you to run the MalwareBytes that are completely clean your PC. Moreover, this free program will allow you to delete malware, potentially unwanted software, toolbars and adware software that your computer can be infected too.
MalwareBytes can be downloaded from the following link. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
326457 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
Once the downloading process is complete, close all applications and windows on your computer. Double-click the install file called MBSetup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as displayed in the following example, click the “Yes” button.
It will open the Setup wizard which will help you setup MalwareBytes on your computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once setup is finished successfully, click “Get Started” button. MalwareBytes AntiMalware will automatically start and you can see its main screen like below.
Now press the “Scan” button for checking your personal computer for the SearchTab Default Search hijacker. This process can take quite a while, so please be patient.
Once MalwareBytes AntiMalware has completed scanning your PC, the results are displayed in the scan report. Review the results once the tool has finished the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply click “Quarantine” button. The MalwareBytes Anti-Malware will remove SearchTab Default Search browser hijacker. Once the cleaning procedure is finished, you may be prompted to reboot the device.
We suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware to get rid of adware, hijacker and other malicious software.
How to stop SearchTab Default Search redirect
One of the worst things is the fact that you cannot stop any malicious and scam sites using only built-in Microsoft Windows capabilities. However, there is a program out that you can use to block unwanted browser redirects, ads and pop-ups in any modern browsers including Internet Explorer, Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Chrome. It is called Adguard and it works very well.
Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you will need to download AdGuard on your personal computer by clicking on the link below.
26655 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
When the downloading process is finished, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as displayed below.
Follow the prompts. After the setup is finished, you will see a window as shown on the image below.
You can press “Skip” to close the install application and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you start your PC system, AdGuard will start automatically and stop undesired advertisements, block SearchTab Default Search redirects, as well as other malicious 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, that can be found on your desktop.
To sum up
Once you have removed the browser hijacker using the instructions, MS Edge, Chrome, IE and Mozilla Firefox will no longer display the SearchTab Default Search page on startup. Unfortunately, if the step-by-step guidance does not help you, then you have caught a new browser 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 browser hijacker.
