If you’ve noticed that the Search Pulse page is set as your startpage or search provider and you can’t recall making those changes, then it could mean that your computer is affected by a PUP (potentially unwanted program) from the hijacker family and you should fix it as soon as possible. In this post we will inform you about the effective methods of removing Search Pulse from the Internet Explorer, MS Edge, Chrome and Mozilla Firefox for good.
When the Search Pulse browser hijacker infection is installed on a PC, it might:
- set Search Pulse as search provider by default, newtab page, and startpage;
- prevent users from changing search engine or homepage address;
- reroute your queries to sponsored sites;
- provide altered search results;
- record your search queries;
- randomly redirects to questionable web-sites;
- show unwanted advertisements;
- gather Net browsing habits and sell it to third party companies.
Also, adware (sometimes named ‘ad-supported’ software) can be installed on the computer together with Search Pulse browser hijacker. It will insert a large amount of advertisements directly to the websites that you view, creating a sense that ads has been added by the developers of the website. Moreover, legal ads can be replaced on fake advertisements that will offer to download and install various unnecessary and malicious software. Moreover, the Search Pulse hijacker infection has the ability to collect confidential data which can be later transferred third party companies.
We suggest you to remove Search Pulse homepage and clean your personal computer of hijacker without a wait, until the presence of the hijacker has not led to even worse consequences. Use the guidance below that will help you to completely delete Search Pulse search, using only the built-in Windows features and a few of specialized free tools.
How to remove Search Pulse from Google Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
When a hijacker such as the Search Pulse gets installed on your computer without your knowledge, it is not easy to remove. Most often, there is no Uninstall program which simply delete the Search Pulse hijacker infection and other web-browser’s harmful extensions from your PC. So, we suggest using several well-proven free specialized utilities like Zemana, MalwareBytes or HitmanPro. But the best way to remove Search Pulse redirect will be to perform several manual steps, after that additionally run antimalware tools.
To remove Search Pulse, use the following steps:
- How to remove Search Pulse manually
- Run free malware removal utilities to completely delete Search Pulse redirect
- How to stop Search Pulse redirect
- Why is my browser redirected to Search Pulse?
- Finish words
How to remove Search Pulse manually
Steps to get rid of Search Pulse browser hijacker without any apps are presented below. Be sure to carry out the step-by-step guide completely to fully delete this unwanted Search Pulse startpage.
Delete potentially unwanted apps through the Windows Control Panel
Some potentially unwanted programs, browser hijacking software and adware can be uninstalled by uninstalling the free applications they came with. If this way does not succeed, then looking them up in the list of installed software in Microsoft Windows Control Panel. Use the “Uninstall” command in order to get rid of them.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
First, click Windows button , then click Search . Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as shown below.
Once the ‘Control Panel’ opens, press the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category as displayed in the following example.
You will see the ‘Uninstall a program’ panel as on the image below.
Very carefully look around the entire list of programs installed on your personal computer. Most likely, one of them is the browser hijacker that designed to redirect your internet browser to the Search Pulse web-site. If you have many apps installed, you can help simplify the search of harmful software by sort the list by date of installation. Once you’ve found a questionable, unwanted or unused program, right click to it, after that click ‘Uninstall’.
Windows XP, Vista, 7
First, click ‘Start’ button and select ‘Control Panel’ at right panel as displayed on the image below.
Once the Windows ‘Control Panel’ opens, you need to press ‘Uninstall a program’ under ‘Programs’ as displayed in the figure below.
You will see a list of applications installed on your computer. We recommend to sort the list by date of installation to quickly find the apps that were installed last. Most probably, it’s the browser hijacker responsible for redirecting your internet browser to Search Pulse webpage. If you’re in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. After the program which you need to uninstall is found, simply click on its name, and then click ‘Uninstall’ like below.
Delete Search Pulse start page from Internet Explorer
In order to restore all browser search provider, newtab and home page you need to reset the Microsoft Internet Explorer to the state, which was when the Microsoft Windows was installed on your personal computer.
First, open the IE, then click ‘gear’ icon . It will display the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the web-browser, then click the “Internet Options” as displayed in the figure below.
In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then click the “Reset” button. The IE will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” dialog box. Further, press the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, click the “Reset” button like below.
After the procedure is finished, click “Close” button. Close the IE and reboot your PC system for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your web-browser’s search engine by default, newtab page and start page to default state.
Delete Search Pulse redirect from Chrome
Reset Google Chrome settings is a easy way to remove the browser hijacker, malicious and adware extensions, as well as to restore the internet browser’s search provider, startpage and newtab that have been replaced by hijacker.
First launch the Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal dots ().
It will show the Chrome menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed addons. If the list has the extension signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following steps: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Open the Google Chrome menu once again. Further, click the option called “Settings”.
The internet browser will show the settings screen. Another way to display the Google Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the 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 shown on the screen below and press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
The Chrome will display the confirmation prompt as displayed on the screen below.
You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The internet browser will launch the procedure of cleaning. Once it is finished, the browser’s settings including home page, newtab and search provider by default back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your machine.
Remove Search Pulse from Mozilla Firefox by resetting web-browser settings
If the Firefox internet browser new tab, start page and default search provider are changed to Search Pulse and you want to restore the settings back to their default values, then you should follow the guidance below. Essential information like bookmarks, browsing history, passwords, cookies, auto-fill data and personal dictionaries will not be removed.
Launch the Mozilla Firefox and click the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the internet browser screen. Next, press the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will display 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 displayed on the screen 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 hijacker responsible for redirecting your browser to Search Pulse website. When, it’s finished, press the “Finish” button.
Run free malware removal utilities to completely delete Search Pulse redirect
If you’re unsure how to get rid of Search Pulse browser hijacker easily, consider using automatic hijacker removal applications that listed below. It will identify the hijacker infection responsible for Search Pulse search and remove it from your PC for free.
Scan and clean your PC of Search Pulse with Zemana Free
You can delete Search Pulse search automatically with a help of Zemana. We recommend this malicious software removal utility because it can easily get rid of hijacker infections, PUPs, adware and toolbars with all their components such as folders, files and registry entries.
- Download Zemana Free by clicking on the link below.
Zemana AntiMalware
164033 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- Once the downloading process is done, close all software and windows on your computer. Open a folder in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
- Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once setup is done, click the “Scan” button to begin checking your machine for the hijacker responsible for redirecting your web browser to Search Pulse web page. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) utility is scanning, you can see count of objects it has identified as being affected by malicious software.
- When Zemana Anti Malware has finished scanning your computer, Zemana Anti-Malware will open a list of all threats detected by the scan. All found items will be marked. You can remove them all by simply press “Next”. When finished, you may be prompted to restart your PC.
Get rid of Search Pulse browser hijacker and malicious extensions with Hitman Pro
If Zemana Free cannot delete this browser hijacker infection, then we suggests to use the HitmanPro. The HitmanPro is a free powerful, professional removal tool for malicious software, ‘ad supported’ software, potentially unwanted apps, toolbars as well as browser hijacker infection that reroutes your web browser to intrusive Search Pulse web-page. It completely removes all traces and remnants of the infection.
- Visit the following page to download the latest version of HitmanPro for Windows. Save it on your Desktop.
- When the download is done, double click the HitmanPro icon. Once this tool is started, click “Next” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the hijacker which cause Search Pulse website to appear. This task can take some time, so please be patient. When a malicious software, adware or potentially unwanted programs are found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly.
- After HitmanPro completes the scan, you can check all items found on your computer. All detected threats will be marked. You can get rid of them all by simply press “Next” button. Now click the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial to get rid of all malware found.
Use Malwarebytes to delete hijacker
Delete Search Pulse browser hijacker infection manually is difficult and often the hijacker is not completely removed. Therefore, we recommend you to use the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your machine. Moreover, the free application will allow you to remove malware, PUPs, toolbars and ad supported software that your PC system can be infected too.
Please go to the following link to download MalwareBytes Free. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop.
326386 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
After the downloading process is finished, close all windows on your computer. Further, start the file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up like below, click the “Yes” button.
It will show the “Setup wizard” that will assist you install MalwareBytes Anti Malware on the system. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
Once setup is finished successfully, click Finish button. Then MalwareBytes Anti Malware will automatically run and you can see its main window as displayed in the following example.
Next, click the “Scan Now” button to scan for hijacker which cause Search Pulse website to appear. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the MalwareBytes application is scanning, you may see number of objects it has identified as threat.
When the system scan is done, MalwareBytes will create a list of undesired and adware. All found items will be marked. You can get rid of them all by simply press “Quarantine Selected” button.
The MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) will get rid of browser hijacker that causes browsers to display intrusive Search Pulse web-page. When finished, you may be prompted to restart your PC. We suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the MalwareBytes Free to delete browser hijackers, ‘ad supported’ software and other malware.
How to stop Search Pulse redirect
By installing an ad-blocking application like AdGuard, you are able to block Search Pulse, autoplaying video ads and remove a large amount of distracting and unwanted ads on webpages.
Click the following link to download AdGuard. 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 done, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as displayed in the figure below.
Follow the prompts. After the install is done, you will see a window as shown in the figure below.
You can press “Skip” to close the install program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial that will assist 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 launch your computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop pop-up advertisements, web sites like Search Pulse, 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 is located on your desktop.
Why is my browser redirected to Search Pulse?
The Search Pulse hijacker infection come as a part of various free software. This means that you need to be very careful when installing software downloaded from the World Wide Web, even from a large proven hosting. Be sure to read the Terms of Use and the Software license, choose only the Manual, Advanced or Custom setup type, switch off all additional modules and apps are offered to install.
Finish words
Now your computer should be clean of the hijacker responsible for redirecting your internet browser to Search Pulse web-site. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted advertisements and annoying malicious sites) and Zemana (to periodically scan your computer 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 delete Search Pulse home page from the MS Edge, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.