How to remove Privacy-search.com [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

Besides the fact that Privacy-search.com browser hijacker modifies your home page, this unwanted web page can set yourself as your search provider. But, obviously, it does not give you a good search results, as they will consist of a huge count of ads, links to unwanted and ad web sites and only the remaining part is search results for your query from the major search providers. Of course, the very fact that you encounter with the inability to properly search the World Wide Web, is an unpleasant moment. Moreover, the Privacy-search.com browser hijacker can gather your data, and in the future to transfer it to third parties. What creates the risk of theft of your personal data.

Also, ‘ad-supported’ software (also known as adware) can be installed on the PC system together with Privacy-search.com hijacker. It will insert a large number of ads directly to the web sites that you view, creating a sense that ads has been added by the authors of the web page. Moreover, legal ads can be replaced on fake ads that will offer to download and install various unnecessary and harmful programs. Moreover, the Privacy-search.com browser hijacker has the ability to collect a wide variety of personal information about you which may be later used for marketing purposes.

Therefore it is very important to clean your PC system of browser hijacker infection ASAP. Follow the instructions below to get rid of Privacy-search.com redirect, as well as other malware and ad-supported software, which can be installed onto your personal computer along with it.

How to remove Privacy-search.com

In the guide below, we’ll try to cover the Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, IE and MS Edge and provide general help to get rid of Privacy-search.com home page. You may find some minor differences in your Microsoft Windows install. No matter, you should be okay if you follow the steps outlined below: delete all suspicious and unknown applications, reset web-browsers settings, fix browsers shortcuts, run free malware removal tools. Some of the steps will require you to restart your PC system or close this page. So, read this guidance carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.

Get rid of Privacy-search.com without any tools

The following instructions is a step-by-step guide, which will help you manually delete Privacy-search.com homepage from the Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Edge.

Uninstall suspicious programs using Windows Control Panel

The best way to start the computer cleanup is to delete unknown and suspicious programs. 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 software can clean up the Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge and Internet Explorer from pop-ups hijackers and so on.

It will open the Windows Control Panel as shown on the image below.

Next, click “Uninstall a program”
It will open a list of all programs installed on your PC. Scroll through the all list, and delete any suspicious and unknown applications. To quickly find the latest installed software, we recommend sort applications by date in the Control panel.

Remove Privacy-search.com from Internet Explorer

First, launch the IE, click ) button. Next, press “Internet Options” as on the image below.

In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, click Reset button. The Internet Explorer will open the Reset Internet Explorer settings dialog box. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and click Reset button.

You will now need to reboot your system for the changes to take effect. It will get rid of Privacy-search.com browser hijacker infection and other internet browser’s harmful plugins, disable malicious and ad-supported internet browser’s extensions and restore the IE’s settings such as homepage, newtab page and default search engine to default state.

Delete Privacy-search.com from Chrome

If your Google Chrome browser is rerouted to unwanted Privacy-search.com web page, it may be necessary to completely reset your web browser application to its default settings.

First run the Google Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will display the main menu. Further, press the option named “Settings”. Another way to display the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web-browser adress bar and press Enter.

The browser will open the settings screen. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Show advanced settings” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset settings” section is visible, as shown on the image below and click the “Reset settings” button.

The Google Chrome will show the confirmation dialog box. You need to confirm your action, press the “Reset” button. The internet browser will start the task of cleaning. Once it’s finished, the web-browser’s settings including startpage, new tab page and search engine by default back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your system.

Delete Privacy-search.com from Firefox by resetting web browser settings

If the Mozilla Firefox settings like homepage, new tab and search provider by default have been changed by the browser hijacker infection, then resetting it to the default state can help.

Launch the FF and click the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the web browser screen. Next, press the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will show the slide-out menu.

Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you are unable to access the Help menu, then type “about:support” in your address bar and press Enter. It bring up the “Troubleshooting Information” page as shown below.

Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation prompt. The Firefox will start a procedure to fix your problems that caused by the Privacy-search.com browser hijacker and other web-browser’s harmful plugins. Once, it’s finished, click the “Finish” button.

Scan your computer and remove Privacy-search.com with free tools

Manual removal is not always as effective as you might think. Often, even the most experienced users can not completely remove hijacker from the infected computer. So, we recommend to check your PC system for any remaining malicious components with free hijacker infection removal software below.

Run Zemana AntiMalware to delete Privacy-search.com

We advise you to run the Zemana Anti-Malware which are completely clean your computer. Moreover, the tool will allow you to delete potentially unwanted software, malicious software, toolbars and adware that your machine can be infected too.

Download Zemana by clicking on the following link and save it to your Desktop.

When downloading is finished, close all windows on your computer. Further, start the set up file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as displayed in the figure below, click the “Yes” button.

It will show the “Setup wizard” that will assist you install Zemana on the personal computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once setup is complete successfully, Zemana Free will automatically start and you can see its main window as displayed below.

Next, click the “Scan” button . Zemana utility will start scanning the whole PC system to find out browser hijacker that causes internet browsers to show unwanted Privacy-search.com web-site. Depending on your computer, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the utility is checking, you may see number of objects and files has already scanned.

Once the system scan is finished, a list of all threats detected is produced. Review the report and then click “Next” button.

The Zemana will get rid of hijacker that designed to redirect your web browser to the Privacy-search.com web-page and add items to the Quarantine. After finished, you can be prompted to reboot your system.

How to get rid of Privacy-search.com with Malwarebytes

Manual Privacy-search.com home page removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the browser hijacker can be not completely removed. We suggest that run the Malwarebytes Free that are completely free your PC of browser hijacker. Moreover, the free program will allow you to remove malware, potentially unwanted applications, ‘ad supported’ software and toolbars that your computer may be infected too.

1. Download MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) on your system by clicking on the link below.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware
   326387 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: April 15, 2020
   
2. After downloading is finished, close all software and windows on your personal computer. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
3. Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
4. Once installation is complete, click the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the hijacker which cause a redirect to Privacy-search.com web page. This process can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) tool is scanning, you can see number of objects it has identified as being infected by malware.
5. Once the scan is finished, you may check all threats detected on your computer. In order to remove all items, simply press “Quarantine Selected”. When the clean up is complete, you can be prompted to reboot your computer.

The following video offers a tutorial on how to get rid of hijacker infections, adware and other malware with MalwareBytes Free.

Double-check for potentially unwanted applications with AdwCleaner

The AdwCleaner utility is free and easy to use. It can scan and delete Privacy-search.com hijacker and other browser’s malicious add-ons, malware, potentially unwanted applications and ad-supported software from PC (Microsoft Windows 10, 8, 7, XP) and thereby revert back browsers default settings (newtab, homepage and search engine by default). AdwCleaner is powerful enough to find and delete malicious registry entries and files that are hidden on the machine.

Download AdwCleaner from the link below. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop or in any other place.

After downloading is complete, open the file location. You will see an icon like below.

Double click the AdwCleaner desktop icon. After the utility is launched, you will see a screen as displayed on the image below.

Further, click “Scan” button . AdwCleaner utility will start scanning the whole personal computer to find out browser hijacker that cause Privacy-search.com web-site to appear. Depending on your machine, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. When the scan is complete, AdwCleaner will open you the results as shown below.

Review the results once the utility has complete the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply press “Clean” button. It will open a dialog box as on the image below.

You need to click “OK”. After that process is finished, the AdwCleaner may ask you to reboot your system. When your machine is started, you will see an AdwCleaner log.

These steps are shown in detail in the following video guide.

Block Privacy-search.com and other annoying web-sites

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

Installing the AdGuard ad-blocking application is simple. First you’ll need to download AdGuard from the following link.

When downloading is done, double-click the downloaded file to launch it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as shown in the following example.

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 guide as shown in the following example.

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

Each time, when you run your PC system, AdGuard will start automatically and block ads, web-pages such Privacy-search.com, as well as other malicious or misleading web sites. 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.

How does your personal computer get infected with Privacy-search.com browser hijacker infection

The Privacy-search.com hijacker infection usually is bundled with certain free software that you download off of the World Wide Web. Once started, it will infect your machine and alter web browser’s settings such as homepage, newtab and default search engine without your permission. To avoid infection, in the Setup wizard, you should be be proactive and carefully read the ‘Terms of use’, the ‘license agreement’ and other setup screens, as well as to always choose the ‘Manual’ or ‘Advanced’ setup mode, when installing anything downloaded from the Internet.

Finish words

Now your system should be free of the browser hijacker infection that created to redirect your web-browser to the Privacy-search.com web-page. Remove AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted pop-ups and unwanted harmful pages) and Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) (to periodically scan your PC system for new hijackers and other malware). 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 get rid of Privacy-search.com from the Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, FF and MS Edge, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.