How to get rid of Search.oz4zufv.com redirect from Chrome, Firefox, Safari

What is Search.oz4zufv.com?

According to IT security professionals, Search.oz4zufv.com is a website that promoted by potentially unwanted applications (PUAs) from the category of Browser hijackers. The aim of browser hijackers is to generate advertising revenue. For example, a browser hijacker redirects the user’s homepage to the browser hijacker’s page that contains ads or sponsored links; a browser hijacker redirects the user web searches to a link the browser hijacker wants the user to see, rather than to legitimate search provider results. When the user clicks on ads in the search results, authors of browser hijackers gets paid. The the developers behind browser hijackers can collect sensitive information such as user browsing habits as well as browsing history and sell this information to third parties for marketing purposes.

The browser hijacker will modify your browser’s search engine so that all searches are sent via Search.oz4zufv.com which redirects to Bing, Yahoo or Google Custom Search engine which displays the search results for your query. The devs behind this hijacker are using legitimate search engine as they may generate revenue from the advertisements that are displayed in the search results.

And finally, the Search.oz4zufv.com hijacker can be used to gather lots of user info about you like what web sites you are opening, what you are looking for the Net and so on. This information, in the future, may be transferred third party companies.

If you are unfortunate have browser hijacker, adware or malware running on your computer, you can follow the suggestions here to remove Search.oz4zufv.com from your web browser.

How can a browser hijacker get on your MAC system

Browser hijackers can be spread with the help of trojan horses and other forms of malicious software, but most often, browser hijackers and PUAs come bundled with freeware. Many creators of free software include additional apps in their setup file. Sometimes it is possible to avoid the setup of any browser hijackers: carefully read the Terms of Use and the Software license, choose only Manual, Custom or Advanced setup type, unset all checkboxes before clicking Install or Next button while installing new free apps.

Threat Summary

Name	Search.oz4zufv.com
Type	redirect virus, PUP, search provider hijacker, browser hijacker, homepage hijacker
Affected Browser Settings	start page, newtab URL, search provider
Distribution	suspicious pop-up advertisements, free software installers, fake software updaters
Symptoms	Advertising banners appear in places they shouldn’t be. Web site links redirect to web-pages different from what you expected. There is an unexpected application in the ‘Uninstall a program’ section of your Control Panel. Unwanted web browser toolbar(s) Your MAC settings are being modified without your request.
Removal	Search.oz4zufv.com removal guide

How to remove Search.oz4zufv.com redirect

If you have unwanted startpage or search provider, constant pop-ups or advertisements, slow computer, freezing MAC system issues, you are in need of browser hijacker removal assistance. The step-by-step guide below will guide you forward to get Search.oz4zufv.com redirect removed and will assist you get your MAC system operating at peak capacity again.

To remove Search.oz4zufv.com, follow the steps below:

1. Remove profiles created by browser hijackers
2. Delete Search.oz4zufv.com related programs through the Finder
3. Remove Search.oz4zufv.com related files and folders
4. Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes
5. Remove Search.oz4zufv.com from Safari, Chrome, Firefox
6. Run AdBlocker to block Search.oz4zufv.com and stay safe online
7. Finish words

Remove profiles created by Search.oz4zufv.com

Browser hijackers can make changes to the Mac system such as malicious changes to browser settings, and the addition of malicious system profiles. You need to check the system preferences, find and remove malicious profiles and ensure your settings are as you expect.

Click Apple menu ( ) > System Preferences.

In System Preferences, select Profiles. if there is no Profiles in the list of preferences, that means there are no profiles installed on the Mac computer. If there is Profiles in the list, then click on it, then select a profile associated with Search.oz4zufv.com.

To delete a malicious profile, click on the minus button ( – ) located at the bottom-left of the Profiles screen.

Delete Search.oz4zufv.com related programs through the Finder

In the next step, you need to check the list of installed applications on your Mac computer and remove all unused, unknown and dubious applications.

Make sure you have closed all browsers and other apps. Next, delete any undesired and suspicious software from MAC using the Finder.

Open Finder and click “Applications”.

Look around the entire list of software installed on your Apple Mac. Most likely, one of them is a browser hijacker that redirects your internet browser to the Search.oz4zufv.com web site. Select the questionable program or the program that name is not familiar to you and delete it.

Drag the suspicious program from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Most important, don’t forget, select Finder -> Empty Trash.

Remove Search.oz4zufv.com related files and folders

Now you need to try to find Search.oz4zufv.com related files and folders, and then delete them manually. You need to look for these files in certain directories. To quickly open them, we recommend using the “Go to Folder…” command.

Some files created by browser hijackers are hidden from the user. To find and delete them, you need to enable “show hidden files”. To do this, use the shortcut CMD + SHIFT + . Press once to show hidden files and again to hide them. There is another way. Click Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal. In Terminal, paste the following text: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

Press Enter. Hold the ‘Option/alt’ key, then right click on the Finder icon in the dock and click Relaunch.

Click on the Finder icon. From the menu bar, select Go and click “Go to Folder…”. As a result, a small window opens that allows you to quickly open a specific directory.

Check for Search.oz4zufv.com generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchAgents

This will open the contents of the “/Library/LaunchAgents” folder. Look carefully at it and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files: com.google.defaultsearch.plist, , installapp.plist, com.machelper.plist, com.oz4zufv.service.plist, com.net-preferences.plist, search.plist and macsearch.plist. Most often, browser hijackers, PUPs and adware create several files with similar names.

Check for Search.oz4zufv.com generated files in the /Library/Application Support folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/Application Support

This will open the contents of the “Application Support” folder. Look carefully at its contents, pay special attention to recently added/changed folders and files. Check the contents of suspicious folders, if there is a file with a name similar to com.oz4zufv.system, then this folder must be deleted. Move all suspicious folders and files to the Trash.

Check for Search.oz4zufv.com generated files in the “~/Library/LaunchAgents” folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
~/Library/LaunchAgents

Proceed in the same way as with the “/Library/LaunchAgents” and “/Library/Application Support” folders. Look for suspicious and recently added files. Move all suspicious files to the Trash.

Check for Search.oz4zufv.com generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons folder

In the “Go to Folder…” window, type the following text and press Go:
/Library/LaunchDaemons

Carefully browse the entire list of files and pay special attention to recently created files, as well as files that have a suspicious name. Move all suspicious files to the Trash. A few examples of files to be deleted: com.machelper.system.plist, com.installapp.system.plist, com.macsearch.system.plist, com.search.system.plist and com.oz4zufv.system.plist. In most cases, browser hijackers, adware and potentially unwanted programs create several files with similar names.

Scan your Mac with MalwareBytes

We recommend using MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM). You may download and install MalwareBytes to search for and delete Search.oz4zufv.com associated apps from your Mac. When installed and updated, the malicious software remover automatically detects and removes all security threats present on the Apple Mac.

1. MalwareBytes Anti Malware can be downloaded from the following link.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
   20841 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: September 10, 2020
   
2. When the download is done, please close all applications and open windows on your MAC. Run the downloaded file. Follow the prompts.
3. The MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) will launch and display the main window.
4. Further, click the “Scan” button to begin scanning your MAC OS for the hijacker which causes a redirect to the Search.oz4zufv.com web page. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your machine. When a threat is found, the count of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is finished.
5. Once the system scan is complete, you can check all threats detected on your MAC OS.
6. Make sure all threats have ‘checkmark’ and click the “Remove Selected Items” button.
7. Close the AntiMalware and continue with the next step.

Remove Search.oz4zufv.com from Safari, Chrome, Firefox

This step will show you how to remove harmful extensions. This can delete Search.oz4zufv.com redirect and fix some surfing issues, especially after hijacker infection.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
Click on ‘three dots menu’ button at the top right corner of the Google Chrome window. In the menu go to ‘More tools’, then ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to remove Search.oz4zufv.com by reset Chrome settings.	Click on ‘menu’ button and select ‘Add-ons’. Go to ‘Extensions’ tab. To uninstall an add-on, click on ‘Remove’ button next to it. If you are still experiencing problems with Search.oz4zufv.com removal, you need to reset Firefox browser.
Safari
On the top menu select ‘Safari’, then ‘Preferences’. Select ‘Extensions’ tab. Select an extension you want to delete and click ‘Uninstall’ button next to it.

Run AdBlocker to block Search.oz4zufv.com and stay safe online

We advise to install an ad blocking application which can stop Search.oz4zufv.com redirects and block malicious web-pages. The ad blocker utility like AdGuard is a program which basically removes advertising from the World Wide Web and stops access to malicious web pages. Moreover, security experts says that using adblocker applications is necessary to stay safe when surfing the Internet.

Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you will need to download AdGuard on your MS Windows Desktop by clicking on the following link.

Once the downloading process is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen. Follow the prompts.

Each time, when you launch your MAC system, AdGuard will start automatically and stop Search.oz4zufv.com redirects, as well as block harmful and misleading web pages.

Finish words

After completing the steps outlined above, your computer should be clean from this hijacker and other malware. The Safari, Firefox and Chrome will no longer open the Search.oz4zufv.com website on search. Unfortunately, if the step-by-step tutorial does not help you, then you have caught a new hijacker, and then the best way – ask for help.

Please create a new question by using the “Ask Question” button in the Questions and Answers. Try to give us some details about your problems, so we can try to help you more accurately. Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with the Search.oz4zufv.com redirects.