SearchSystem is a potentially unwanted program (PUP) that belongs to the Adware family. SearchSystem adware is not a harmful program such as computer virus or other malicious software, but its presence can bring various pop up windows and/or unwanted adverts. Actually SearchSystem authors are associated with some third-party ad networks and by displaying advertisements to users they make revenue for yourself. These ads not only bother your browsing experience but also redirect you to unsafe web-sites.
Does SearchSystem adware steal your data? It can be used to collect lots of marketing-type data about you to get profit. SearchSystem can analyze your surfing, and gain access to your sensitive info and, later, can transfer it to third parties. Thus, there are more than enough reasons to remove adware from your MAC.
Threat Summary
Name | SearchSystem, Search System 1.0 app |
Type | adware, potentially unwanted application (PUA), pop ups, pop up virus, pop up ads |
Symptoms |
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Removal | SearchSystem removal guide |
How does SearchSystem adware get on your MAC system
Adware usually comes on the MAC system with free software. Most often, it comes without the user’s knowledge. Therefore, many users aren’t even aware that their MAC has been infected by potentially unwanted applications and adware software. Please follow the easy rules in order to protect your MAC OS from adware software and PUPs: don’t install any suspicious apps, read the user agreement and select only the Custom, Manual or Advanced install mode, don’t rush to press the Next button. Also, always try to find a review of the program on the Web. Be careful and attentive!
As evident, SearchSystem adware is quite dangerous. So, we suggest you remove it from your Apple Mac immediately. Follow the tutorial presented below to remove SearchSystem adware from the Safari, Firefox and Google Chrome.
How to remove SearchSystem
In the steps below we will have a look at the adware and how to remove SearchSystem from Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome internet browsers for Mac, natively or by using a few free removal utilities. Certain of the steps will require you to restart your computer or close this website. So, read this guide carefully, then bookmark this page or open it on your smartphone for later reference.
To remove SearchSystem, follow the steps below:
- How to manually get rid of SearchSystem
- Automatic Removal of SearchSystem adware software
- How to stay safe online
- Finish words
How to manually get rid of SearchSystem
In most cases, it is possible to manually delete SearchSystem adware software. This solution does not involve the use of any tricks or removal utilities. You just need to recover the normal settings of the computer and internet browser. This can be done by following a few simple steps below. If you want to quickly get rid of SearchSystem , as well as perform a full scan of your MAC system, we recommend that you use adware software removal utilities, which are listed below.
Uninstall suspicious apps using the Finder
One of the first things to attempt for removal of adware is to check your machine installed programs screen and look for undesired and suspicious software. If there are any programs you do not recognize or are no longer using, you should uninstall them. If that doesn’t work, then you may need to run adware removal utility like MalwareBytes Anti Malware.
Open Finder and click “Applications”.
Carefully browse through the list of installed applications and remove all suspicious and unknown apps.
Once you have found anything questionable that may be SearchSystem or other PUP (potentially unwanted program), then right click this program and select “Move to Trash”. Once complete, Empty Trash.
Delete SearchSystem adware software from Safari
The Safari reset is great if your web browser is hijacked by SearchSystem or you have unwanted add-ons or toolbars on your browser, which installed by an malicious software.
Click Safari menu and select “Preferences”.
It will open the Safari Preferences window. Next, click the “Extensions” tab. Look for unknown and suspicious extensions on left panel, choose it, then click the “Uninstall” button. Most important to remove all unknown extensions from Safari.
Once complete, click “General” tab. Change the “Default Search Engine” to Google.
Find the “Homepage” and type into textfield “https://www.google.com”.
Get rid of SearchSystem from Mozilla Firefox
If the Firefox web-browser program is infected by SearchSystem, 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 like new tab, search provider by default and start page to their original settings. When using the reset feature, your personal information like passwords, bookmarks, browsing history and web form auto-fill data will be saved.
First, start the Mozilla Firefox and press button. It will show the drop-down menu on the right-part of the web browser. Further, press the Help button () as displayed 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 on the image below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, press the “Refresh Firefox” button.
It will open the confirmation dialog box. Further, press the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Mozilla Firefox will begin a task to fix your problems that caused by the SearchSystem adware. Once, it’s complete, press the “Finish” button.
Remove SearchSystem from Google Chrome
If you have adware problem or the Google Chrome is running slow, then reset Chrome settings can help you. In the steps below we will show you a way to reset your Chrome settings to original state without reinstall. This will also help to get rid of SearchSystem ads from your web-browser.
First run the Chrome. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal dots ().
It will display the Chrome menu. Select More Tools, then click 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 instructions: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Open the Google Chrome menu once again. Further, press the option called “Settings”.
The browser will open the settings screen. Another solution to display 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, similar to the one below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
The Chrome will open the confirmation dialog box similar to the one below.
You need to confirm your action, press the “Reset” button. The web-browser will run the task of cleaning. Once it’s complete, the browser’s settings including new tab, start page and search engine by default back to the values which have been when the Chrome was first installed on your MAC system.
Automatic Removal of SearchSystem adware software
In order to completely delete SearchSystem, you not only need to uninstall adware software from your MAC OS, but also delete all its components in your computer including system folders. We suggest to download and use free removal utilities to automatically free your MAC OS of SearchSystem .
How to delete SearchSystem with MalwareBytes Free
Manual SearchSystem adware removal requires some computer skills. Some files that created by the adware can be not fully removed. We suggest that run the MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) that are fully free your MAC OS of adware. Moreover, this free tool will help you to remove browser hijacker infection, malicious software, potentially unwanted applications and toolbars that your Apple Mac can be infected too.
MalwareBytes can be downloaded from the following link.
20842 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: September 10, 2020
Once the downloading process is complete, close all software and windows on your computer. Run the saved file. Follow the prompts.
The MalwareBytes AntiMalware will automatically start and you can see its main screen as on the image below.
Now press the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the SearchSystem adware. Depending on your MAC OS, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. When a threat is detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly.
As the scanning ends, MalwareBytes AntiMalware will open a list of all threats found by the scan. Next, you need to click “Remove Selected Items” button. The MalwareBytes AntiMalware will get rid of SearchSystem and move the selected threats to the program’s quarantine.
How to stay safe online
It is important to run adblocker software such as AdGuard to protect your computer from malicious web sites. Most security experts says that it’s okay to block advertisements. You should do so just to stay safe! And, of course, the AdGuard can block misleading and other intrusive web pages.
Click the following link to download the latest version of AdGuard for Mac OS.
3677 downloads
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: January 17, 2018
When downloading is complete, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen. Follow the prompts.
Each time, when you start your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and stop intrusive pop-up advertisements, block harmful or misleading web-pages.
Finish words
Now your MAC OS should be free of the SearchSystem ads. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted popup ads and undesired harmful web sites) and MalwareBytes (to periodically scan your MAC OS for new malware, hijackers and adware software). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Mac operating system. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new browser hijackers, malicious applications and adware are released.
If you are still having problems while trying to remove SearchSystem from your browser, then ask for help here.