Search Awesome is an adware (also known as ‘ad-supported’ software). The adware is a type of unwanted software that modifies your computer’s internet browser settings so that you will be randomly rerouted to an undesired advertisements. All the time, while the Search Awesome is running, your internet browser will be fill with undesired ads. Moreover, the Search Awesome adware will be able to collect a large number of information about you, everything related to what are you doing on the Internet. Complete the instructions below as soon as possible. It’ll clean your computer from the Search Awesome and thereby delete all intrusive advertisements.
It’s not a good idea to have an unwanted program like Search Awesome on your computer. The reason for this is simple, it doing things you do not know about. The adware can also be used to collect a wide variety of personal data which can be later sold to third parties. You do not know if your home address, account names and passwords are safe. And of course you completely do not know what will happen when you click on any Search Awesome advertisements.
Most often, the adware affects the most common web-browsers like the Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. But such the malicious software as well may infect another browsers by changing its shortcuts (adding an argument like ‘http://site.address’ into Target field of a browser’s shortcut). So every time you start the browser, it will reroute to the annoying Ads by Search Awesome. Even if you setup a new homepage, an unwanted web-page will be the first thing you see when you launch the Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer.
We suggest you to get rid of Search Awesome and clean your machine from unwanted pop-up ads ASAP, until the presence of the ad supported software has not led to even worse consequences. You need to follow the step-by-step guidance below that will help you to completely remove the Search Awesome adware, using only the built-in Windows features and a few of specialized free malware removal tools.
Remove Search Awesome
There are a few solutions that can be used to remove Search Awesome adware. But, not all potentially unwanted software like this ad-supported software can be completely removed using only manual solutions. Most commonly you are not able to delete any adware using standard Windows options. In order to delete Search Awesome ad supported software you need complete a few manual steps and run reliable removal tools. Most IT security professionals states that Zemana, MalwareBytes Anti Malware or AdwCleaner tools are a right choice. These free programs are able to scan for and remove Search Awesome adware from your system and return your web browser settings to defaults.
How to manually delete Search Awesome
Most common ad-supported software may be deleted without any antivirus applications. The manual adware removal is guidance that will teach you how to get rid of the Search Awesome ‘ad supported’ software.
Remove adware through the Windows Control Panel
First of all, check the list of installed programs on your computer and remove all unknown and recently installed applications. If you see an unknown application with incorrect spelling or varying capital letters, it have most likely been installed by malware and you should clean it off first with malicious software removal tool such as Zemana Anti-malware.
- If you are using Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 then click Windows button, next press Search. Type “Control panel”and press Enter.
- If you are using Windows XP, Vista, 7, then click “Start” button and press “Control Panel”.
- It will open the Windows Control Panel.
- Further, click “Uninstall a program” under Programs category.
- It will show a list of all applications installed on the system.
- Scroll through the all list, and uninstall suspicious and unknown programs. To quickly find the latest installed software, we recommend sort applications by date.
See more details in the video instructions below.
Remove Search Awesome from IE
The Internet Explorer reset is great if your web-browser is hijacked or you have unwanted addo-ons or toolbars on your internet browser, that installed by an malicious software.
First, launch the Internet Explorer, press 
) button. Next, press “Internet Options” as displayed on the image below.
In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, click Reset button. The Internet Explorer will show the Reset Internet Explorer settings prompt. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and press Reset button.
You will now need to restart your PC system for the changes to take effect. It will remove Search Awesome adware which cause unwanted ads to appear, disable malicious and ad-supported browser’s extensions and restore the Internet Explorer’s settings such as startpage, new tab page and search engine by default to default state.
Remove Search Awesome ads from Mozilla Firefox
If the FF web-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 Firefox settings like homepage, new tab and default search engine to its default state. It will save your personal information like saved passwords, bookmarks, and open tabs.
Press the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and press the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu like below.
A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button as shown in the figure below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to return your Firefox browser settings to its original state.
Remove Ads by Search Awesome from Google Chrome
If your Chrome browser is rerouted to unwanted Ads by Search Awesome, it may be necessary to completely reset your browser application to its default settings.
Open the Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (
). It will open the drop-down menu. Next, click to “Settings” option.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Show advanced settings” link. Now scroll down until the Reset settings section is visible, like below and click the “Reset settings” button.
Confirm your action, click the “Reset” button.
Clean up the web browsers shortcuts which have been hijacked by ad-supported software
Important to know, most anti-malware applications which are able to get rid of ‘ad supported’ software, but unable to detect and recover changed shortcuts. So, you need to fix the desktop shortcuts for your Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Edge browsers manually.
Right click to a desktop shortcut for your web-browser. Choose the “Properties” option. It will open the Properties window. Select the “Shortcut” tab here, after that, look at the “Target” field. The adware can change it. If you are seeing something such as “…exe http://site.address” then you need to remove “http…” and leave only, depending on the web browser you are using:
- Google Chrome: chrome.exe
- Opera: opera.exe
- Firefox: firefox.exe
- Internet Explorer: iexplore.exe
Look at the example as shown below.
Once is complete, press the “OK” button to save the changes. Please repeat this step for web-browser shortcuts which redirects to an undesired pages. When you have completed, go to next step.
Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks
If unwanted Search Awesome ads opens automatically on Windows startup or at equal time intervals, then you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and get rid of all the tasks that have been created by adware.
Press Windows and R keys on the keyboard simultaneously. This displays a dialog box that called Run. In the text field, type “taskschd.msc” (without the quotes) and press OK. Task Scheduler window opens. In the left-hand side, click “Task Scheduler Library”, as displayed in the figure below.
Task scheduler
In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Please select the first task, its properties will be display just below automatically. Next, click the Actions tab. Pay attention to that it launches on your system. Found something like “explorer.exe http://site.address” or “chrome.exe http://site.address”, then remove this harmful task. If you are not sure that executes the task, check it through a search engine. If it’s a component of the adware, then this task also should be removed.
Having defined the task that you want to get rid of, then click on it with the right mouse button and select Delete as displayed in the figure below.
Delete a task
Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks which have been created by adware. Once is done, close the Task Scheduler window.
Search Awesome removal tools
In order to completely remove Search Awesome, you not only need to uninstall ad supported software from your personal computer, but also remove all its components in your computer including Windows registry entries. We suggest to download and run free removal tools to automatically free your personal computer of Search Awesome that causes internet browsers to show unwanted popups.
Get rid of Search Awesome with Zemana Anti-malware
We recommend using the Zemana Anti-malware that are completely clean your PC of the ad-supported software. The utility is an advanced malicious software removal program designed by (c) Zemana lab. It’s able to help you remove potentially unwanted programs, hijacker infections, malware, toolbars, ransomware and Search Awesome adware which redirects your web browser to undesired ad web pages.
- Please download Zemana by clicking on the following link. Save it on your Desktop.
Zemana AntiMalware
164030 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- 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.
- After the downloading process is complete, please close all applications and open windows on your PC. Next, start a file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
- This will run the “Setup wizard” of Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) onto your machine. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
- When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the Zemana AntiMalware will open and display the main window.
- Further, click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the Search Awesome adware that developed to reroute your web browser to various ad sites. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient. While the Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) is checking, you may see number of objects it has identified either as being malicious software.
- After finished, you can check all items found on your computer.
- In order to get rid of all threats, simply click the “Next” button. The tool will get rid of Search Awesome that causes a ton of unwanted pop-up ads and add items to the Quarantine. After the procedure is finished, you may be prompted to restart the system.
- Close the Zemana and continue with the next step.
Automatically remove Search Awesome adware with Malwarebytes
You can remove Search Awesome adware automatically with a help of Malwarebytes Free. We suggest this free malware removal utility because it can easily remove hijacker infections, ad-supported software, potentially unwanted applications and toolbars with all their components such as files, folders and registry entries.
Download MalwareBytes Free on your computer from the link below.
326383 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 procedure is finished, click the “Scan Now” button to begin checking your personal computer for the Search Awesome ad supported software that causes multiple intrusive advertisements and popups. This procedure can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the tool is scanning, you may see number of objects and files has already scanned. Review the report and then click “Quarantine Selected” button.
The MalwareBytes AntiMalware is a free program that you can use to delete 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 few simple steps or the video guide below.
Remove Search Awesome adware and harmful extensions with AdwCleaner
AdwCleaner is a free removal tool which can scan your PC for a wide range of security threats such as malicious software, adwares, PUPs as well as Search Awesome adware which causes annoying pop-up ads. It will perform a deep scan of your machine including hard drives and Windows registry. Once a malware is found, it will allow you to delete all detected threats from your computer with a simple click.
- Download AdwCleaner from the link below. Save it on your Desktop.
AdwCleaner download
225259 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
- Once downloading is done, double click the AdwCleaner icon. Once this tool is opened, click “Scan” button .AdwCleaner application will scan through the whole computer for the Search Awesome ad supported software that cause undesired pop ups to appear. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your PC. While the utility is checking, you can see how many objects and files has already scanned.
- After AdwCleaner has completed scanning, you can check all items detected on your PC system. Review the scan results and then press “Clean” button. It will open a prompt, press “OK”.
These few simple steps are shown in detail in the following video guide.
How to stay safe online
Use adblocker program like AdGuard in order to stop advertisements, malvertisements, pop-ups and online trackers, avoid having to install malicious and adware browser plug-ins and add-ons which affect your computer performance and impact your personal computer security. Browse the Internet anonymously and stay safe online!
- Download AdGuard program by clicking on the following link. Save it on your Windows desktop.
Adguard download
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- Once downloading is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- After the setup is finished, click “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will help you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you run your machine, AdGuard will start automatically and block popups, s well as other malicious or misleading pages. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, that can be found on your desktop.
How can you prevent your PC from the attack of Search Awesome adware
These days certain free programs developers bundle additional applications that could be potentially unwanted software such as the Search Awesome, with a view to making some money. These are not freeware as install an unwanted programs on to your MS Windows PC system. So whenever you install a new free program that downloaded from the Web, be very careful during installation. Carefully read the EULA (a text with I ACCEPT/I DECLINE button), select custom or manual installation mode, uncheck all third-party programs.
Finish words
Now your system should be clean of the Search Awesome software that redirects your web browser to unwanted ad web-sites. Uninstall AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted pop-up advertisements and undesired malicious sites) and Zemana Anti-Malware (to periodically scan your personal computer for new ad supported softwares and other malicious software). Probably you are running an older version of Java or Adobe Flash Player. This can be a security risk, so download and install the latest version right now.
If you are still having problems while trying to delete Search Awesome ad supported software from the Google Chrome, IE, Firefox and Edge, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
