A browser hijacker named Chrome Search Online is now widely spread on the Net. Many computer users have got affected by this browser hijacker and are struggling to remove it from their computers. You may consider Chrome Search Online as a search provider that provides the search service as what Bing, Yahoo or Google. But in reality, the Chrome Search Online is web browser hijacker that could harm your computer if not deleted as quickly as possible. A mostly harmful actions of the hijacker is to replace users’ web browser settings like the new tab page, search engine and startpage to its own without any permission.
The “Chrome Search Online” replaces homepage and search engine with its own
The Chrome Search Online hijacker takes over your internet browser’s default search provider 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 unwanted ads on the search page. Some of these advertisements designed to mislead you into buying certain questionable products and programs. Moreover, sometimes, those advertisements could redirect you to misleading or malicious web-sites.
Another reason why you need to remove Chrome Search Online is its online data-tracking activity. It can collect user information, including:
- IP addresses;
- URLs visited;
- search queries/terms;
- clicks on links and advertisements;
- internet browser version information.
Most often, the Chrome Search Online hijacker affects most common web-browsers like Internet Explorer, MS Edge, Firefox and Chrome. But such browser hijackers as well may infect other web-browsers by changing its shortcuts (adding ‘http://site.address’ into Target field of web browser’s shortcut). So every time you launch the web browser, it’ll open Chrome Search Online web-page. Even if you setup your home page again, the unwanted Chrome Search Online web-page will be the first thing that you see when you run the internet browser.
We advise you to clean your computer of hijacker infection immediately. Use the instructions below which will assist to remove Chrome Search Online and adware, which can be installed onto your computer along with it.
Remove Chrome Search Online (Virus removal steps)
When a browser hijacker infection like the Chrome Search Online gets installed on your personal computer without your knowledge, it is not easy to uninstall. In many cases, there is no Uninstall application that simply remove the hijacker infection that responsible for web-browser redirect to the intrusive Chrome Search Online web page from your PC. So, we advise using several well-proven free specialized utilities such as Zemana Anti-Malware, MalwareBytes or Hitman Pro. But the best way to delete Chrome Search Online home page will be to perform several manual steps, after that additionally use antimalware tools.
To remove Chrome Search Online, execute the steps below:
- How to get rid of Chrome Search Online without any software
- Uninstall Chrome Search Online associated software by using MS Windows Control Panel
- Remove Chrome Search Online from Google Chrome
- Remove Chrome Search Online homepage from Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Get rid of Chrome Search Online from Firefox
- Disinfect the internet browser’s shortcuts to remove Chrome Search Online
- How to remove Chrome Search Online redirect with free software
- How to stop Chrome Search Online
- Why is my browser redirected to Chrome Search Online?
- Finish words
How to get rid of Chrome Search Online without any software
Steps to get rid of Chrome Search Online hijacker without any applications are presented below. Be sure to carry out the step-by-step steps completely to fully remove this undesired Chrome Search Online .
Uninstall Chrome Search Online associated software by using MS Windows Control Panel
Check out the MS Windows Control Panel (Programs and Features section) to see all installed programs. We suggest to click on the “Date Installed” in order to sort the list of software by the date you installed them. If you see any unknown and suspicious programs, they are the ones you need to remove.
- If you are using Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 then press Windows button, next click Search. Type “Control panel”and press Enter.
- If you are using Windows XP, Vista, 7, then click “Start” button and click “Control Panel”.
- It will show the Windows Control Panel.
- Further, click “Uninstall a program” under Programs category.
- It will show a list of all programs installed on the system.
- Scroll through the all list, and uninstall dubious and unknown applications. To quickly find the latest installed applications, we recommend sort apps by date.
See more details in the video instructions below.
Remove Chrome Search Online from Google Chrome
In order to be sure that there is nothing left behind, we recommend you to reset Chrome browser. It will return Chrome settings including newtab page, default search engine and home page to defaults.
First open the Google Chrome. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal dots (
).
It will open the Google Chrome menu. Choose More Tools, then press Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed extensions. 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, click the option called “Settings”.
The internet browser will show the settings screen. Another way to open the Google Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web browser adress bar and press Enter
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset” section is visible, as displayed on the screen below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
The Chrome will display the confirmation dialog box as shown on the screen below.
You need to confirm your action, press the “Reset” button. The web browser will run the process of cleaning. When it’s done, the internet browser’s settings including start page, newtab page and search engine by default back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your PC system.
Remove Chrome Search Online homepage from Microsoft Internet Explorer
By resetting Internet Explorer web browser you revert back your internet browser settings to its default state. This is good initial when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by hijacker such as Chrome Search Online.
First, start the Internet Explorer, then click ‘gear’ icon 
. It will display the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the web browser, then press the “Internet Options” as displayed below.
In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then click the “Reset” button. The IE will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” prompt. Further, press the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, click the “Reset” button as shown on the image below.
After the task is complete, press “Close” button. Close the Internet Explorer and reboot your personal computer for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your web-browser’s home page, newtab page and search provider by default to default state.
Get rid of Chrome Search Online from Firefox
If your Mozilla Firefox internet browser homepage has replaced to Chrome Search Online without your permission or an unknown search provider displays results for your search, then it may be time to perform the web browser reset.
Run the FF and click the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the browser screen. Next, click 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’re 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 displayed 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 task to fix your problems that caused by the hijacker that created to reroute your internet browser to the Chrome Search Online webpage. When, it is finished, click the “Finish” button.
Disinfect the internet browser’s shortcuts to remove Chrome Search Online
Now you need to clean up the internet browser shortcut files. Check that the shortcut file referring to the right exe-file of the internet browser, and not on any unknown file.
To clear the internet browser shortcut, right-click to it and select Properties. 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 similar to “http://site.address” that has been added here. You need to delete it.
When the text is removed, press the OK button. You need to clean all shortcuts of all your browsers, as they may be hijacked too.
How to remove Chrome Search Online redirect with free software
If you’re unsure how to delete Chrome Search Online browser hijacker infection easily, consider using automatic browser hijacker removal apps which listed below. It will identify the Chrome Search Online browser hijacker infection and other browser’s harmful plugins and remove it from your PC system for free.
Run Zemana Anti Malware to remove Chrome Search Online homepage
Zemana highly recommended, because it can search for security threats such adware and hijackers that most ‘classic’ antivirus applications fail to pick up on. Moreover, if you have any Chrome Search Online browser hijacker removal problems which cannot be fixed by this tool automatically, then Zemana provides 24X7 online assistance from the highly experienced support staff.
Now you can install and use Zemana Free to remove Chrome Search Online home page from your web-browser by following the steps below:
Visit the following page to download Zemana Free install package called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup on your PC. Save it on your MS Windows desktop or in any other place.
164032 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
Start the installation package after it has been downloaded successfully and then follow the prompts to set up this utility on your personal computer.
During setup you can change certain settings, but we suggest you do not make any changes to default settings.
When installation is finished, this malicious software removal utility will automatically start and update itself. You will see its main window as displayed below.
Now click the “Scan” button for scanning your system for the browser hijacker responsible for changing your internet browser settings to Chrome Search Online. Depending on your PC, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the Zemana is scanning, you may see count of objects it has identified either as being malware.
When Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) has completed scanning, Zemana will show a list of found threats. In order to remove all threats, simply click “Next” button.
The Zemana Free will remove hijacker responsible for redirects to Chrome Search Online. After disinfection is done, you may be prompted to restart your system to make the change take effect.
Run Hitman Pro to remove Chrome Search Online
Hitman Pro is a portable program which requires no hard install to identify and delete browser hijacker infection responsible for Chrome Search Online . The application itself is small in size (only a few Mb). Hitman Pro does not need any drivers and special dlls. It is probably easier to use than any alternative malicious software removal utilities you’ve ever tried. Hitman Pro works on 64 and 32-bit versions of Windows 10, 8, 7 and XP. It proves that removal tool can be just as useful as the widely known antivirus applications.
Download Hitman Pro by clicking on the following link.
Once downloading is complete, open the directory in which you saved it. You will see an icon like below.
Double click the Hitman Pro desktop icon. Once the utility is launched, you will see a screen as shown on the screen below.
Further, press “Next” button to perform a system scan for the hijacker infection which redirects your web browser to unwanted Chrome Search Online website. This process can take some time, so please be patient. When finished, Hitman Pro will open a scan report as shown in the figure below.
All detected items will be marked. You can remove them all by simply press “Next” button. It will show a prompt, click the “Activate free license” button.
Run Malwarebytes to get rid of Chrome Search Online redirect
We advise using the Malwarebytes Free. You can download and install Malwarebytes to find out and get rid of Chrome Search Online homepage from your PC system. When installed and updated, the free malware remover will automatically scan and detect all threats present on the system.
- Click the following link to download MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM). Save it on your Desktop.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326385 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- Once the downloading process is done, close all programs and windows on your machine. Open a file location. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once setup is finished, click the “Scan Now” button for scanning your system for the browser hijacker that causes web browsers to display annoying Chrome Search Online webpage. Depending on your personal computer, the scan may take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour.
- After MalwareBytes AntiMalware has completed scanning your PC system, MalwareBytes will create a list of unwanted and ad-supported software. Once you’ve selected what you want to remove from your computer press “Quarantine Selected”. After finished, you can be prompted to restart your machine.
The following video offers a tutorial on how to get rid of hijackers, ‘ad supported’ software and other malware with MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM).
How to stop Chrome Search Online
Run ad blocking program such as AdGuard in order to block ads, malvertisements, pop-ups and online trackers, avoid having to install malicious and adware browser plug-ins and add-ons which affect your PC performance and impact your computer security. Browse the Internet anonymously and stay safe online!
AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
When the downloading process is finished, double-click the downloaded file to launch it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as shown on the screen 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 guide as displayed on the image below.
Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick guidance that will assist you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you start your personal computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and block advertisements, Chrome Search Online redirect, 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, which can be found on your desktop.
Why is my browser redirected to Chrome Search Online?
The majority of browser hijacker infections such as Chrome Search Online gets onto PC by being attached to free programs or even paid applications which Net users can easily download online. The setup packages of such programs, most commonly, clearly display that they will install optional applications. The option is given to users to block the installation of any optional programs. So, in order to avoid the installation of any browser hijackers: read all disclaimers and install screens very carefully, choose only Custom or Advanced installation method and reject all third-party software in which you are unsure.
Finish words
After completing the instructions outlined above, your PC system should be free from hijacker responsible for changing your web browser settings to Chrome Search Online and other malware. The Internet Explorer, Edge, FF and Chrome will no longer show unwanted Chrome Search Online web-page on startup. Unfortunately, if the few simple steps does not help you, then you have caught a new hijacker, and then the best way – ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
