How to get rid of Private-search.xyz redirect from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge

What is Private-search.xyz?

According to computer security researchers, Private-search.xyz is a website that is promoted by potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) belonging to the category of Browser hijackers. PUPs affects your personal computer and alters web browser settings. PUPs can take over your browser and force you to use the Private-search.xyz web site as your home page, search provider by default and new tab page. When Private-search.xyz in the PC, it can gather confidential info such as search queries as well as browsing history. So if you find this potentially unwanted program on the computer you need to delete it. The detailed removal guide will assist you remove Private-search.xyz and protect your PC from more dangerous programs.

The browser hijacker can take over your internet browser’s default search engine and control what will be shown to you whenever you do a searching. Other than the search results, it also provides tons of unwanted ads on the search page. Some of these ads developed to mislead you into buying certain questionable products and programs. Moreover, sometimes, those advertisements could redirect you to misleading or malicious web-pages.

In addition to the above, Private-search.xyz can collect a wide variety of your confidential data that can be later transferred third party companies. You don’t know if your home address, account names and passwords are safe. And of course you completely do not know what will happen when you click on any ads on the Private-search.xyz web site.

Therefore, potentially unwanted programs does not really have beneficial features. So, we recommend you delete Private-search.xyz from Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox and Edge as quickly as possible. This will also prevent the browser hijacker from tracking your online activities. A full Private-search.xyz removal can be easily carried out using manual or automatic way listed below.

How can a browser hijacker get on your personal computer

Browser hijackers and potentially unwanted programs usually comes on a computer with other free applications. Most often, this unwanted programs comes without the user’s knowledge. Therefore, many users aren’t even aware that their computer has been hijacked with PUPs. Please follow the easy rules in order to protect your PC from any unwanted programs: don’t install any suspicious software, read the user agreement and choose only the Custom, Manual or Advanced installation option, don’t rush to click the Next button. Also, always try to find a review of the program on the Web. Be careful and attentive!

Threat Summary

Name	Private-search.xyz
Type	browser hijacker, PUP, homepage hijacker, search engine hijacker, redirect virus
Affected Browser Settings	startpage, search engine, newtab URL
Distribution	freeware installation packages, fake updaters, malicious pop up advertisements
Symptoms	Pop ups and newtab pages are loaded without your request. You keep getting redirected to questionable web-pages. Unwanted program installed without your knowledge. New icons in your web browser. Your web-browser startpage or search provider keeps changing or is not set to Google anymor.
Removal	Private-search.xyz removal guide

How to remove Private-search.xyz from Windows 10 (8, 7, XP)

Even if you’ve the up-to-date classic antivirus installed, and you’ve scanned your personal computer for malware and removed anything found, you need to do the guide below. The Private-search.xyz browser hijacker removal is not simple as installing another antivirus. Classic antivirus software are not developed to run together and will conflict with each other, or possibly crash Windows. Instead we suggest complete the manual steps below after that use Zemana, MalwareBytes or HitmanPro, which are free malware removal tools dedicated to look for and remove malware like Private-search.xyz hijacker. Run these utilities to ensure the hijacker is removed.

To remove Private-search.xyz, complete the steps below:

1. How to manually get rid of Private-search.xyz
   • Remove Private-search.xyz related software through the Control Panel of your computer
   • Remove Private-search.xyz from browsers
2. Automatic Removal of Private-search.xyz
   • Remove Private-search.xyz redirect with Zemana Anti Malware
   • Use HitmanPro to remove Private-search.xyz from the computer
   • Use MalwareBytes Free to get rid of Private-search.xyz search
3. How to stop Private-search.xyz redirect

How to manually get rid of Private-search.xyz

The browser hijacker can modify your browser newtab, default search provider and startpage and redirect you to the websites which may contain lots of advertisements. Not every antivirus tool can detect and remove Private-search.xyz easily from the web browser. Follow the few simple steps below and you can remove browser hijacker by yourself.

Remove Private-search.xyz related software through the Control Panel of your computer

The best way to start the device cleanup is to remove unknown and suspicious apps. Using the Microsoft Windows Control Panel you can do this quickly and easily. This step, in spite of its simplicity, should not be ignored, because the removing of unneeded apps can clean up the Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox from advertisements hijackers and so on.

Press Windows button , then press 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 shown in the figure below.

Further, click “Uninstall a program”
It will show a list of all software installed on your PC system. Scroll through the all list, and remove any suspicious and unknown apps.

Remove Private-search.xyz from browsers

If you have ‘Private-search.xyz redirect’ removal problem, then remove unwanted extensions can help you. In the steps below we will show you the method to get rid of malicious add-ons without reinstall. This will also allow to delete Private-search.xyz from your internet browser.

Google Chrome	Mozilla Firefox
Click on ‘three dots menu’ button at the top right corner of the Google Chrome window. When the drop-down menu appears, choose ‘More tools’ and click on ‘Extensions’. Click ‘Remove’ to uninstall an extension. Click ‘Remove’ in the dialog box. You can also try to remove Private-search.xyz redirect 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 issues with Private-search.xyz home page removal, you need to reset Firefox browser.
Internet Explorer	Safari
Click ‘Tools’ button in the top-right corner. Select ‘Manage add-ons’. In the drop-down menu under ‘Show’, select ‘All add-ons’. To delete an add-on, double-click it; in the new window click ‘Remove’. Another solution to remove Private-search.xyz from IE is reset Internet Explorer settings.	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.

Automatic Removal of Private-search.xyz

If you are unsure how to delete Private-search.xyz browser hijacker easily, consider using automatic hijacker removal software that listed below. It will identify the hijacker that changes browser settings to replace your search provider, new tab and homepage with Private-search.xyz webpage and get rid of it from your personal computer for free.

Remove Private-search.xyz redirect with Zemana Anti Malware

Download Zemana to remove Private-search.xyz automatically from all of your browsers. This is a freeware utility specially designed for malicious software removal. This utility can get rid of adware software, hijacker from Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge and Firefox and Windows registry automatically.

1. Please go to the following link to download the latest version of Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) for MS Windows. Save it directly to your Microsoft Windows Desktop.
   
   

   Zemana AntiMalware
   164028 downloads
   Author: Zemana Ltd
   Category: Security tools
   Update: July 16, 2019
   
2. Once you have downloaded the installation file, make sure to double click on the Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. This would start the Zemana installation on your computer.
3. Select installation language and press ‘OK’ button.
4. On the next screen ‘Setup Wizard’ simply click the ‘Next’ button and follow the prompts.
   
5. Finally, once the installation is complete, Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) will run automatically. Else, if does not then double-click on the Zemana AntiMalware icon on your desktop.
6. Now that you have successfully install Zemana Free, let’s see How to use Zemana Free to remove Private-search.xyz from your computer.
7. After you have opened the Zemana Free, you will see a window as displayed below, just press ‘Scan’ button to perform a system scan with this tool for the browser hijacker.
   
8. Now pay attention to the screen while Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) scans your computer.
   
9. Once Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) has completed scanning, it will show the Scan Results. All found threats will be marked. You can remove them all by simply click ‘Next’ button.
   
10. Zemana Free may require a reboot personal computer in order to complete the Private-search.xyz home page removal process.
11. If you want to completely delete hijacker from your computer, then click ‘Quarantine’ icon, select all malware, adware software, potentially unwanted software and other threats and click Delete.
12. Reboot your PC to complete the browser hijacker removal process.

Use HitmanPro to remove Private-search.xyz from the computer

Hitman Pro is a free removal utility that can be downloaded and run to remove browser hijackers, adware, malware, potentially unwanted programs, toolbars and other threats from your computer. You can use this tool to scan for threats even if you have an antivirus or any other security program.

1. Please go to the link below to download the latest version of HitmanPro for Windows. Save it to your Desktop.
   
   

   HitmanPro
   12065 downloads
   Author: Sophos
   Category: Security tools
   Update: June 28, 2018
   
2. After the download is complete, launch the HitmanPro, double-click the HitmanPro.exe file.
3. If the “User Account Control” prompts, click Yes to continue.
4. In the HitmanPro window, click the “Next” for checking your computer for the browser hijacker that modifies web-browser settings to replace your homepage, newtab page and search provider with Private-search.xyz web-page. Depending on your computer, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the Hitman Pro is checking, you may see number of objects it has identified either as being malicious software.
5. After finished, HitmanPro will show a list of all items detected by the scan. Review the results once the tool has finished the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply click “Next”. Now, click the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial to get rid of all malicious software found.

Use MalwareBytes Free to get rid of Private-search.xyz search

Manual Private-search.xyz home page removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the browser hijacker may be not completely removed. We suggest that use the MalwareBytes that are fully clean your PC of hijacker. Moreover, this free program will help you to get rid of malicious software, PUPs, adware and toolbars that your computer can be infected too.

MalwareBytes can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your Windows desktop.

Once the downloading process is complete, close all applications and windows on your PC system. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s called MBSetup as on the image below.

When the installation starts, you’ll see the Setup wizard that will help you install Malwarebytes on your PC system.

Once installation is complete, you’ll see window as shown below.

Now click the “Scan” button to find hijacker responsible for redirects to Private-search.xyz. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your PC system. While the MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) utility is scanning, you can see how many objects it has identified as being infected by malware.

After that process is finished, MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will open you the results. When you are ready, click “Quarantine” button.

The Malwarebytes will now delete hijacker that changes web browser settings to replace your startpage, default search provider and new tab page with Private-search.xyz web page. After finished, you may be prompted to restart your PC system.

The following video explains few simple steps on how to get rid of hijacker, adware and other malware with MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM).

How to stop Private-search.xyz redirect

Run an ad-blocking utility like AdGuard will protect you from harmful advertisements and content. Moreover, you can find that the AdGuard have an option to protect your privacy and block phishing and spam webpages. Additionally, ad-blocker applications will allow you to avoid annoying popups and unverified links that also a good way to stay safe online.

AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link. Save it directly to your MS Windows Desktop.

After downloading it, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as shown below.

Follow the prompts. After the install is done, you will see a window as shown in the figure below.

You can click “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial which 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 start your personal computer, AdGuard will start automatically and stop unwanted ads, block Private-search.xyz, as well as other malicious or misleading websites. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, which can be found on your desktop.

Finish words

Once you have finished the few simple steps above, your computer should be clean from this browser hijacker and other malware. The Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Chrome will no longer open the Private-search.xyz web page on startup. Unfortunately, if the few simple steps 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 Private-search.xyz redirects.