If you’ve ever found your web browser start page inexplicably changing to LookSmart.ME website, or notice that the default search provider in your browser has changed, then you could say that your computer has been a victim of the hijacker. The makers of hijacker infection do so in order to make money via Google, Yahoo or Bing search provider. Thus, in order to force you to use LookSmart.ME search services as often as possible the hijacker infection can modify your browsers settings like default search engine, new tab page and startpage.
LookSmart.ME Search
When the LookSmart.ME browser hijacker infection is installed on a internet browser, it might:
- set LookSmart.ME as default search engine, new tab page, and homepage;
- prevent users from changing search provider or home page address;
- redirect your queries to sponsored pages;
- provide altered search results;
- record your search queries;
- periodically redirects to questionable web-sites;
- display unwanted ads;
- collect Internet surfing habits and use it for marketing purposes.
- use your computer to mine digital money;
Also, adware (sometimes named ‘ad-supported’ software) can be installed on the computer together with LookSmart.ME browser hijacker. It will insert a large count of ads directly to the pages 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 advertisements which will offer to download and install various unnecessary and harmful applications. Moreover, the LookSmart.ME browser hijacker infection can be used to collect user data that may be later sold to third party companies.
The browser hijacker like LookSmart.ME often change all web-browser shortcuts that located on your Desktop to force you visit various undesired web-sites and display annoying advertisements. As a result, your internet browser can still redirect you to an unwanted webpage despite your browser is actually free of browser hijacker infection.
Therefore it is very important to free your PC of hijacker infection without a wait. Follow the steps below to get rid of LookSmart.ME , as well as other malicious software and adware, which may be installed onto your machine along with it.
Remove LookSmart.ME from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
There are present several free hijacker removal tools. Also it is possible to remove LookSmart.ME redirect manually. But we suggest to combine all these methods below into the one removal algorithm. Follow the steps of the instructions. Read it once, after doing so, please print this page as you may need to exit your browser or reboot your PC.
To remove LookSmart.ME Search redirect, follow the steps below:
- How to delete LookSmart.ME without any software
- How to automatically get rid of LookSmart.ME browser hijacker infection
- How to block LookSmart.ME
- Do not know how your internet browser has been hijacked by LookSmart.ME browser hijacker?
- To sum up
How to delete LookSmart.ME without any software
Read this section to know how to manually remove the LookSmart.ME browser hijacker. Even if the steps does not work for you, there are several free malware removers below which can easily handle such hijackers.
Remove potentially unwanted software using Microsoft Windows Control Panel
We suggest that you begin the personal computer cleaning process by checking the list of installed applications and delete all unknown or dubious applications. This is a very important step, as mentioned above, very often the malicious programs such as ad-supported software and browser hijackers may be bundled with freeware. Remove the unwanted applications can remove the intrusive ads or internet browser redirect.
- 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 display a list of all programs installed on the PC system.
- Scroll through the all list, and remove questionable and unknown applications. To quickly find the latest installed programs, we recommend sort programs by date.
See more details in the video instructions below.
Remove LookSmart.ME Search from Google Chrome
If your Chrome internet browser is re-directed to undesired LookSmart.ME page, it may be necessary to completely reset your browser program to its default settings.
- First, start the Google Chrome and click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
- It will open the Google Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You’ll see the list of installed add-ons. If the list has the extension labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following steps: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
- Next, click “Advanced” link, which located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
- The Chrome will open the reset settings dialog box as on the image above.
- Confirm the browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, read the post How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.
Delete LookSmart.ME from Internet Explorer
In order to recover all web browser newtab, search engine by default and start page you need to reset the Internet Explorer to the state, that was when the Microsoft Windows was installed on your PC.
First, open the Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (
). It will show the Tools drop-down menu, press the “Internet Options” like below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The Microsoft Internet Explorer will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as shown in the following example. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.
You will now need to restart your PC system for the changes to take effect.
Remove LookSmart.ME search from Mozilla Firefox
Resetting Firefox internet browser will reset all the settings to their original state and will remove LookSmart.ME, malicious add-ons and extensions. When using the reset feature, your personal information such as passwords, bookmarks, browsing history and web form auto-fill data will be saved.
Press the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and click the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as on the image below.
A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button as shown below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to return your Firefox web browser settings to their default values.
Fix infected web browsers shortcuts to remove LookSmart.ME home page
After installed, the browser hijacker responsible for redirections to LookSmart.ME, may add an argument like “http://site.address” into the Target property of the desktop shortcut for the Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Due to this, every time you launch the browser, it will show an undesired web page.
Right click to a desktop shortcut file for your hijacked web browser. Choose the “Properties” option. It’ll open the Properties window. Select the “Shortcut” tab here, after that, look at the “Target” field. The browser hijacker infection responsible for redirecting user searches to LookSmart.ME 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 browser you are using:
- Google Chrome: chrome.exe
- Opera: opera.exe
- Firefox: firefox.exe
- Internet Explorer: iexplore.exe
Look at the example as shown on the screen below.
Once is finished, click the “OK” button to save the changes. Please repeat this step for web-browser shortcuts which redirects to an unwanted webpages. When you have completed, go to next step.
How to automatically get rid of LookSmart.ME browser hijacker infection
The browser hijacker can hide its components which are difficult for you to find out and get rid of completely. This can lead to the fact that after some time, the browser hijacker infection once again infect your machine and alter certain settings of web-browsers to LookSmart.ME. Moreover, I want to note that it is not always safe to remove browser hijacker manually, if you don’t have much experience in setting up and configuring the Microsoft Windows operating system. The best method to scan for and get rid of hijackers is to run free malware removal applications.
How to automatically get rid of LookSmart.ME with Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM)
Zemana is a free application for Windows operating system to detect and remove PUPs, ‘ad supported’ software, malicious browser add-ons, browser toolbars, and other undesired applications like hijacker responsible for LookSmart.ME startpage, installed on your PC system.
Please go to the following link to download Zemana Free. Save it directly to your MS Windows Desktop.
164031 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
When the download is done, close all windows on your computer. Further, open the setup file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as displayed on the image below, click the “Yes” button.
It will show the “Setup wizard” which will assist you install Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) on the computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once setup is complete successfully, Zemana Free will automatically launch and you can see its main window as displayed on the image below.
Next, press the “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the browser hijacker infection that causes web-browsers to display unwanted LookSmart.ME web-site. Depending on your PC system, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. When a malware, adware or PUPs are found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is finished.
When the scan is done, the results are displayed in the scan report. When you’re ready, click “Next” button.
The Zemana Free will delete browser hijacker infection which reroutes your web-browser to unwanted LookSmart.ME page and add items to the Quarantine. After disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to reboot your machine.
Scan your computer and delete LookSmart.ME home page with HitmanPro
Hitman Pro is a free removal utility which can check your PC for a wide range of security threats such as adware, malicious software, PUPs as well as hijacker responsible for LookSmart.ME redirect. It will perform a deep scan of your PC system including hard drives and MS Windows registry. After a malicious software is detected, it will help you to delete all detected threats from your computer with a simple click.
- Please go to the link below to download the latest version of HitmanPro for MS Windows. Save it on your Windows desktop.
- When the download is done, launch the Hitman Pro, double-click the HitmanPro.exe file.
- If the “User Account Control” prompts, press Yes to continue.
- In the HitmanPro window, click the “Next” to find out browser hijacker which cause LookSmart.ME website to appear. During the scan HitmanPro will scan for threats present on your computer.
- As the scanning ends, HitmanPro will show a list of found items. Make sure all threats have ‘checkmark’ and click “Next”. Now, click the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial to remove all malicious software found.
Remove LookSmart.ME start page with Malwarebytes
We recommend using the Malwarebytes Free which are completely clean your system of the browser hijacker. The free tool is an advanced malicious software removal program designed by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular anti malware technology. It’s able to help you remove browser hijacker infections, PUPs, malware, adware, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your computer for free.
MalwareBytes Anti Malware can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your Windows desktop.
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 will try to update itself and when this procedure is done, click the “Scan Now” button . MalwareBytes utility will begin scanning the whole computer to find out hijacker which cause a redirect to LookSmart.ME web-site. When a threat is detected, the count of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is finished. Next, you need to click “Quarantine Selected” button.
The MalwareBytes is a free application 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 advise you to read and follow the guidance or the video guide below.
How to block LookSmart.ME
We recommend to install an adblocker program which can stop LookSmart.ME and other annoying web-pages. The ad blocking utility like AdGuard is a program which basically removes advertising from the Internet and stops access to malicious websites. Moreover, security experts says that using adblocker applications is necessary to stay safe when surfing the Web.
- Download AdGuard from the link below. Save it to your Desktop.
Adguard download
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After downloading it, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- When the installation is finished, click “Skip” to close the setup program and use the default settings, or click “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 start your PC, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop advertisements, LookSmart.ME redirect, as well as other malicious or misleading web-pages. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon called AdGuard, that is located on your desktop.
Do not know how your internet browser has been hijacked by LookSmart.ME browser hijacker?
The LookSmart.ME browser hijacker spreads with a simple but quite effective way. It’s integrated into the installer of various free applications. Thus on the process of installation, it will infect your web-browser and change it’s settings on the LookSmart.ME. To avoid browser hijacker infection, you just need to follow a few simple rules: carefully read the Terms of Use and the license, choose only a Manual, Custom or Advanced installation type, which enables you to make sure that the program you want to install, thereby protect your personal computer from the browser hijacker like the LookSmart.ME.
To sum up
Now your PC should be clean of the browser hijacker responsible for LookSmart.ME search. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted advertisements and unwanted malicious pages) and Zemana AntiMalware (to periodically scan your PC system for new hijacker infections 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 LookSmart.ME redirect from the Firefox, MS Edge, Chrome and IE, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
