IT security specialists called the Search Helper a PUP (potentially unwanted program) and a hijacker infection because it is developed to take over the web-browser and control user’s surfing preferences. The Search Helper can sneak into the computer unnoticed due to the fact that it’s actively being promoted in free applications. It mostly aims at Chrome browser, but it is possible that it can hijack other internet browsers too. We advise you to remove Search Helper as soon as it hijacks your startpage or search provider.
In order to force you to use Search Helper as often as possible this browser hijacker infection can modify your browsers’ search engine. You may even find that your computer’s web-browser shortcuts and MS Windows HOSTS file are hijacked without your knowledge and conscious permission. The authors of this hijacker do so in order to generate money via Google AdSense or another third-party ad network. Thus every your click on advertisements that placed on the Search Helper generates money for them.
Often, the system that has been affected by Search Helper hijacker, will be also affected by ‘ad-supported’ software (also known as adware) that opens tons of various advertisements. It can be pop-ups, text links in the web pages, banners where they never had. What is more, the adware can replace the legitimate advertisements with malicious advertisements that will offer to download and install malware and unwanted programs or visit the various dangerous and misleading web-sites.
A malicious software that may make some undesired changes to settings of web browsers on Search Helper commonly affects only Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and MS Edge. However, possible situations, when any other internet browsers will be affected too. The Search Helper hijacker may modify the Target property of browser’s shortcuts, so every time you launch the web-browser, instead of your startpage, you’ll see a completely different web page.
Thus, the hijacker is quite dangerous. So, we recommend you remove it from your computer without a wait. Follow the tutorial presented below to remove Search Helper search from the IE, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Firefox.
Remove Search Helper from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
The following step-by-step tutorial will help you to delete Search Helper from the Chrome, Firefox, IE and Edge. Moreover, the steps below will allow you to remove malicious software like PUPs, ‘ad supported’ software and toolbars that your personal computer may be infected. Please do the guide step by step. If you need assist or have any questions, then ask for our assistance or type a comment below. Some of the steps will require you to reboot your computer or exit this page. So, read this guidance carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.
To remove Search Helper, perform the steps below:
- Manual Search Helper home page removal
- Search Helper redirect automatic removal
- Block Search Helper and other unwanted webpages
- How does your system get infected with Search Helper hijacker
- Finish words
Manual Search Helper home page removal
The steps will help you remove Search Helper homepage. These Search Helper removal steps work for the Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and IE, as well as every version of Microsoft Windows operating system.
Remove potentially unwanted apps through the Windows Control Panel
It is of primary importance to first identify and delete all PUPs, adware software and hijackers through ‘Add/Remove Programs’ (Microsoft Windows XP) or ‘Uninstall a program’ (MS Windows 10, 8, 7) section of your Microsoft Windows Control Panel.
Press Windows button 
, then click Search 
. Type “Control panel”and press Enter. If you using Windows XP or Windows 7, then click “Start” and select “Control Panel”. It will show the Windows Control Panel as displayed in the following example.
Further, click “Uninstall a program” 
It will show a list of all applications installed on your PC. Scroll through the all list, and delete any suspicious and unknown programs.
Fix browser shortcuts, changed by Search Helper browser hijacker
Unfortunately, the hijacker infection that cause Search Helper web site to appear, can also hijack Windows shortcuts (mostly, your browsers shortcut files), so that the Search Helper start page will be opened when you open the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Edge or another web browser.
Right click on the shortcut file of affected browser as shown below.
Select the “Properties” option and it’ll show the shortcut’s properties. Next, press the “Shortcut” tab and then delete the “http://site.address” string from Target field like below.
Then click OK to save changes. Repeat the step for all browsers that are redirected to the Search Helper unwanted web-site.
Delete Search Helper search from Firefox
If the Mozilla Firefox internet browser program is hijacked, then resetting its settings can help. The Reset feature is available on all modern version of Mozilla Firefox. A reset can fix many issues by restoring Mozilla Firefox settings such as start page, search provider and new tab to their original settings. It will keep your personal information like browsing history, bookmarks, passwords and web form auto-fill data.
First, launch the Firefox and click 
button. It will open the drop-down menu on the right-part of the internet browser. Further, press the Help button (
) as on the image 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 display the “Troubleshooting Information” page like below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.
It will show the confirmation prompt. Further, click the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Mozilla Firefox will start a process to fix your problems that caused by the browser hijacker responsible for changing your internet browser settings to Search Helper. After, it is complete, press the “Finish” button.
Get rid of Search Helper redirect from Google Chrome
In order to be sure that there is nothing left behind, we suggest you to reset Chrome internet browser. It will restore Chrome settings including search engine, new tab and start page to defaults.
- First, launch the Chrome and press the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
- It will open the Google Chrome main menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You will see the list of installed extensions. If the list has the extension labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following instructions: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Chrome menu once again, press 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 Google Chrome will show the reset settings prompt as shown on the screen above.
- Confirm the web browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, read the article How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.
Get rid of Search Helper from Internet Explorer
If you find that IE web browser settings like search engine, startpage and new tab page had been hijacked, then you may restore your settings, via the reset browser procedure.
First, run the IE. Next, press the button in the form of gear (
). It will open the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” as displayed on the screen below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The IE will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as displayed on the screen below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.
You will now need to reboot your machine for the changes to take effect.
Search Helper redirect automatic removal
There are not many good free anti malware programs with high detection ratio. The effectiveness of malicious software removal tools depends on various factors, mostly on how often their virus/malware signatures DB are updated in order to effectively detect modern malicious software, adware, hijackers and other PUPs. We recommend to run several programs, not just one. These programs which listed below will help you get rid of all components of the browser hijacker from your disk and Windows registry and thereby delete Search Helper homepage.
Use Zemana to remove browser hijacker
We suggest using the Zemana AntiMalware which are completely clean your system of the browser hijacker infection. The tool is an advanced malware removal program developed by (c) Zemana lab. It is able to help you remove PUPs, browser hijackers, adware, malicious software, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your computer for free.
Visit the page linked below to download Zemana Anti Malware. Save it directly to your MS Windows Desktop.
164032 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
Once downloading is complete, close all applications and windows on your PC. Double-click the setup file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up like below, click the “Yes” button.
It will open the “Setup wizard” which will help you install Zemana AntiMalware on your PC system. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once install is done successfully, Zemana Free will automatically start and you can see its main screen as shown in the figure below.
Now press the “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the hijacker infection responsible for Search Helper redirect. This task can take some time, so please be patient. During the scan Zemana Free will find threats exist on your computer.
When the system scan is complete, you may check all items detected on your computer. When you are ready, press “Next” button. The Zemana Free will delete hijacker related to Search Helper start page and add items to the Quarantine. Once disinfection is complete, you may be prompted to reboot the PC system.
Remove Search Helper redirect from web-browsers with Hitman Pro
The HitmanPro utility is free and easy to use. It may scan and get rid of hijacker which redirects your web browser to unwanted Search Helper page, malicious software, potentially unwanted programs and adware from computer (Windows 10, 8, 7, XP) and thereby restore web-browsers default settings (start page, new tab and search provider). Hitman Pro is powerful enough to detect and get rid of malicious registry entries and files that are hidden on the PC system.
Download HitmanPro by clicking on the following link.
Download and run HitmanPro on your PC. Once started, press “Next” button . HitmanPro application will scan through the whole PC for the hijacker that causes browsers to display annoying Search Helper page. When a malware, ad-supported software or PUPs are found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is finished..
When the scan get finished, Hitman Pro will open a list of detected threats.
Review the report and then click Next button.
It will show a prompt, press the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial to remove all malware found.
Use Malwarebytes to remove Search Helper
Manual Search Helper startpage removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the hijacker may be not completely removed. We recommend that run the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your personal computer of hijacker. Moreover, the free application will help you to remove malware, PUPs, adware and toolbars that your computer may be infected too.
Please go to the following link to download the latest version of MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) for Microsoft Windows. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
326385 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
After downloading is finished, close all software and windows on your computer. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s called mb3-setup as displayed in the following example.
When the installation begins, you’ll see the “Setup wizard” that will help you install Malwarebytes on your personal computer.
Once install is complete, you’ll see window as shown on the image below.
Now press the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the browser hijacker infection responsible for redirections to Search Helper. While the MalwareBytes is scanning, you may see number of objects it has identified either as being malware.
As the scanning ends, a list of all threats found is produced. When you’re ready, click “Quarantine Selected” button.
The Malwarebytes will now get rid of browser hijacker responsible for redirecting user searches to Search Helper and add items to the Quarantine. Once the process is complete, you may be prompted to restart your PC.
The following video explains tutorial on how to get rid of hijacker, ad supported software and other malicious software with MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM).
Block Search Helper and other unwanted webpages
If you browse the Net, you can’t avoid malicious advertising. But you can protect your internet browser against it. Download and use an ad blocking program. AdGuard is an ad blocking which can filter out a lot of of the malvertising, stoping dynamic scripts from loading harmful content.
Download AdGuard from the link below. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop or in any other place.
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
After downloading it, double-click the downloaded file to start it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as shown in the figure 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 like below.
Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick guide that will assist you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you launch your personal computer, AdGuard will run automatically and block pop ups, web pages like Search Helper, as well as other malicious or misleading sites. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, that is located on your desktop.
How does your system get infected with Search Helper hijacker
The hijacker infection responsible for redirecting your web browser to Search Helper web-site, can be classified as potentially unwanted application (PUA) which commonly comes on the machine with other freeware. In most cases, this unwanted program comes without the user’s knowledge. Therefore, many users aren’t even aware that their personal computer has been infected by malware. Please follow the easy rules in order to protect your system from any undesired apps: do not install any suspicious apps, read the user agreement and choose only the Custom, Manual or Advanced installation method, don’t rush to press the Next button. Also, always try to find a review of the application on the Web. Be careful and attentive! If Search Helper startpage has already come into your PC, then you need to scan your computer for browser hijacker infection and other malware. Use our detailed tutorial that are listed above.
Finish words
Once you have finished the steps outlined above, your computer should be free from browser hijacker that redirects your web-browser to unwanted Search Helper website and other malware. The Edge, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Chrome will no longer show annoying Search Helper web-page on startup. Unfortunately, if the guidance 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.
