Do you get Search Grab on your web-browsers instead of your home page or search engine? If yes, then you should known that it is a sign a browser hijacker infection (sometimes called hijackware) is active on your PC system causing the unwanted Search Grab web-site to appear. You should remove this browser hijacker sooner. Here, in this article below, you can found the helpful instructions on How to remove Search Grab from your PC system for free.
The Search Grab hijacker can also change the default search provider that will virtually block the possibility of finding information on the Web. The reason for this is that the Search Grab search results can display a large amount of ads, links to undesired and ad pages. Only the remaining part is the result of your search request, loaded from the major search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing.
Some hijackers also contain adware (sometimes named ‘ad-supported’ software) that can display intrusive ads or collect lots of personal information which can be used for marketing purposes. These undesired ads can be opened in the form of pop-unders, pop-ups, in-text ads, video advertisements, text links or banners or even massive full page advertisements. Most of the adware is made to show advertisements, but certain ad-supported software is form of spyware that often used to track users to gather your privacy data.
A malicious software that can introduce changes to web-browsers settings on Search Grab mostly affects only IE, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome and Firefox. However, possible situations, when any other web browsers will be affected too. The Search Grab hijacker may alter the Target property of internet browser’s shortcuts, so every time you run the web-browser, instead of your homepage, you will see a completely different site.
It’s important, don’t use Search Grab web-site and do not click on advertisements placed on it, as they can lead you to a more harmful or misleading web-sites. The best option is to use the step-by-step instructions posted below to free your computer of hijacker infection, remove the Search Grab , and thereby revert back your favorite startpage and search provider.
How to remove Search Grab from PC system
In the step by step tutorial below we will have a look at the browser hijacker and how to delete Search Grab from Microsoft Internet Explorer, Chrome, FF and Edge internet browsers for Windows OS, natively or by using a few free removal tools. Read this manual carefully, bookmark or print it, because you may need to shut down your web browser or reboot your personal computer.
To remove Search Grab, use the steps below:
- Delete Search Grab without any utilities
- How to remove Search Grab search with free programs
- Stop Search Grab redirect and other intrusive web-sites
- Where the Search Grab hijacker comes from
- Finish words
Delete Search Grab without any utilities
Most common hijacker infections may be removed without any antivirus applications. The manual browser hijacker removal is tutorial that will teach you how to delete the Search Grab start page.
Delete Search Grab associated software by using MS Windows Control Panel
First of all, check the list of installed software on your machine and uninstall all unknown and recently installed apps. If you see an unknown application with incorrect spelling or varying capital letters, it have most likely been installed by malicious software and you should clean it off first with malware 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 open a list of all software installed on the PC.
- Scroll through the all list, and delete dubious and unknown programs. To quickly find the latest installed software, we recommend sort software by date.
See more details in the video tutorial below.
Delete Search Grab from Firefox
If the FF settings such as start page, newtab page and search provider have been modified by the browser hijacker, then resetting it to the default state can help.
First, launch the FF and click 
button. It will show the drop-down menu on the right-part of the browser. Further, click the Help button (
) as shown in the figure below.
In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the web-browser adress bar and press Enter. It will open the “Troubleshooting Information” page as displayed on the screen below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.
It will open the confirmation dialog box. Further, click the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Mozilla Firefox will begin a procedure to fix your problems that caused by the hijacker responsible for modifying your web browser settings to Search Grab. When, it is finished, press the “Finish” button.
Remove Search Grab search from Google Chrome
Reset Google Chrome settings is a easy way to remove the hijacker, malicious and ‘ad-supported’ extensions, as well as to restore the web-browser’s start page, new tab page and search provider by default that have been modified by Search Grab hijacker.
First start the Google Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal dots (
).
It will show the Chrome menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed plugins. If the list has the extension signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guidance: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Open the Chrome menu once again. Further, press the option called “Settings”.
The browser will show the settings screen. Another method to open the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web-browser adress bar and press Enter
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and press the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset” section is visible, like below and press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
The Chrome will show the confirmation dialog box as shown below.
You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The web browser will run the task of cleaning. After it is done, the browser’s settings including start page, search provider and new tab back to the values which have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your machine.
Remove Search Grab redirect from IE
The IE reset is great if your internet browser is hijacked or you have unwanted plugins or toolbars on your web browser, which installed by a malware.
First, launch the IE, click 
) button. Next, click “Internet Options” as 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 click Reset button.
You will now need to reboot your machine for the changes to take effect. It will remove hijacker responsible for redirecting your browser to Search Grab web site, disable malicious and ad-supported web browser’s extensions and restore the Internet Explorer’s settings such as new tab, home page and search provider to default state.
Clean up the internet browsers shortcuts which have been infected by Search Grab
Important to know, most antimalware apps which are able to remove browser hijacker that causes internet browsers to open annoying Search Grab site, but unable to find out and recover changed shortcut files. So, you need to fix the desktop shortcut files for your Edge, Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer web-browsers manually.
Right click on the web browser’s shortcut file, click Properties option. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target field. Click inside, you will see a vertical line – arrow pointer, move it (using -> arrow key on your keyboard) to the right as possible. You will see a text “http://site.address” that has been added here. Remove everything after .exe. An example, for Google Chrome you should remove everything after chrome.exe.
To save changes, press OK . You need to clean all internet browser’s shortcut files. So, repeat this step for the Internet Explorer, Chrome, Edge and FF.
How to remove Search Grab search with free programs
If you’re unsure how to delete Search Grab browser hijacker infection easily, consider using automatic browser hijacker infection removal applications that listed below. It will identify the browser hijacker that responsible for internet browser redirect to the undesired Search Grab web site and remove it from your personal computer for free.
Scan and free your machine of Search Grab with Zemana
Zemana is a free program for Windows operating system to scan for and remove potentially unwanted software, ad-supported software, malicious web browser add-ons, browser toolbars, and other unwanted apps such as hijacker that alters internet browser settings to replace your start page, search provider and newtab page with Search Grab web-page, installed on your computer.
Installing the Zemana Anti-Malware is simple. First you will need to download Zemana AntiMalware from the following link. Save it directly to your MS Windows Desktop.
164037 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
When the downloading process is finished, run it and follow the prompts. Once installed, the Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) will try to update itself and when this task is complete, click the “Scan” button . Zemana program will scan through the whole computer for the Search Grab hijacker and other internet browser’s harmful add-ons.
This task can take quite a while, so please be patient. Next, you need to click “Next” button.
The Zemana Anti Malware will start to remove hijacker infection that responsible for web browser redirect to the annoying Search Grab page.
How to automatically delete Search Grab with Malwarebytes
You can get rid of Search Grab automatically with a help of Malwarebytes Free. We advise this free malware removal tool because it can easily remove hijacker infections, ‘ad supported’ software, potentially unwanted software and toolbars with all their components such as files, folders and registry entries.
- Installing the MalwareBytes Anti Malware is simple. First you will need to download MalwareBytes Free on your MS Windows Desktop by clicking on the following link.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326389 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- Once downloading is finished, close all apps and windows on your system. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once installation is complete, click the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan for the browser hijacker infection that responsible for internet browser reroute to the intrusive Search Grab web-page. During the scan MalwareBytes will detect threats present on your PC system.
- When that process is done, you may check all threats detected on your PC. You may move items to Quarantine (all selected by default) by simply press “Quarantine Selected”. After that process is finished, you may be prompted to restart your PC system.
The following video offers a tutorial on how to remove hijacker infections, ad supported software and other malicious software with MalwareBytes Anti Malware.
Double-check for potentially unwanted programs with AdwCleaner
AdwCleaner is a free removal tool which can scan your machine for a wide range of security threats such as ad-supported software, malware, potentially unwanted applications as well as browser hijacker that cause a redirect to Search Grab page. It will perform a deep scan of your computer including hard drives and Microsoft Windows registry. After a malware is found, it will help you to remove all found threats from your machine with a simple click.
- Visit the page linked below to download AdwCleaner. Save it to your Desktop.
AdwCleaner download
225264 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
- Select the folder in which you saved it as Desktop, and then click Save.
- Once the downloading process is finished, launch the AdwCleaner, double-click the adwcleaner_xxx.exe file.
- If the “User Account Control” prompts, press Yes to continue.
- Read the “Terms of use”, and click Accept.
- In the AdwCleaner window, press the “Scan” to start scanning your machine for the hijacker infection that causes web-browsers to display unwanted Search Grab page. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient. During the scan AdwCleaner will look for threats present on your system.
- When AdwCleaner completes the scan, AdwCleaner will create a list of undesired and adware apps. Review the scan results and then click “Clean”. If the AdwCleaner will ask you to reboot your computer, click “OK”.
The step-by-step guide shown in detail in the following video.
Stop Search Grab redirect and other intrusive web-sites
Run an ad-blocking utility like AdGuard will protect you from malicious ads and content. Moreover, you can find that the AdGuard have an option to protect your privacy and stop phishing and spam pages. Additionally, ad blocker software will allow you to avoid intrusive pop-up advertisements and unverified links that also a good way to stay safe online.
Download AdGuard on your Microsoft Windows Desktop by clicking on the following link.
26628 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
When downloading is complete, double-click the downloaded file to run it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as shown 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 tutorial as shown below.
Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick guidance that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you run your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and block ads, Search Grab redirect, as well as other harmful 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.
Where the Search Grab hijacker comes from
The Search Grab hijacker and other web-browser’s malicious extensions, can be categorized as potentially unwanted application (PUA) which usually comes on the machine with other free applications. Most often, this unwanted program comes without the user’s knowledge. Therefore, many users aren’t even aware that their system has been infected by malicious software. Please follow the easy rules in order to protect your system from any unwanted software: do not install any suspicious applications, read the user agreement and select only the Custom, Manual or Advanced installation type, don’t rush to press the Next button. Also, always try to find a review of the application on the World Wide Web. Be careful and attentive! If Search Grab redirect has already come into your computer, then you need to scan your machine for hijacker and other malware. Use our detailed instructions that are listed above.
Finish words
After completing the guidance above, your PC system should be clean from this hijacker infection and other malicious software. The Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome will no longer open undesired Search Grab web page on startup. Unfortunately, if the step by step guide does not help you, then you have caught a new browser hijacker, and then the best way – ask for help.
Please start a new thread by using the “New Topic” button in the Spyware Removal forum. When posting your HJT log, 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 intrusive Search Grab .
