Burstsearch.com Hijacker - How to remove

Burst Search is a browser add-on for Chrome, Edge, and other web browsers. Once installed, it replaces the default search engine with Find.burstsearch.com. It doesn’t seem to offer any useful features or improve web browsers in any way, but it does hijack the search engine and change what your internet search results look like. With Burst Search installed, you might notice Burstsearch.com in your address bar briefly, before it opens another site.

Once Burst Search is installed on a browser, it takes control over the internet searches done on that web browser. It can open affiliated pages, which can allow its developers to make money.

For users, it does not seem to be useful in any way, so I recommend removing this extension if you have it installed. Removing it might be a little complicated, though.

About Burst Search in short:

Classification	Browser hijacker.
Symptoms of a hijacking by Burst Search	Burstsearch.com shows up in your address bar when you search the web, you can’t remove the extension normally.
How hijackers get installed	Bundled with other programs, promoted with misleading ads.
How to remove Burst Search	Use the instructions for removing extensions that abuse enterprise policies, find and remove other malware with antivirus tools (Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, others).

How Burst Search hijacks web browsers

It messes with search results

Burst Search is not just a browser extension – it’s a browser hijacker.

Browser extensions are supposed to add features to a web browser and improve its functionality (for instance, by adding dark mode or a spellchecker). Hijackers, on the other hand, make unwanted changes to settings.

Burst Search changes how your browser searches the web by replacing the default search engine. So, when you type a search query into the address bar, Burstsearch.com takes over.

Here’s what you might experience when using a browser that’s been hijacked by Burst Search:

• You can’t control what site delivers your search results. Where your search query is directed – to Bing, Google, or another search engine – is up to Burstsearch.com.
• Web search results take a longer time to show up. That’s because they need to be sent to Burstsearch.com first.
• Burstsearch.com can collect your search data. Usually, your search queries are between you and the search engine that you use. But Burstsearch.com is a third party that, despite not providing any functionality, gets access to this valuable information.

It might look relatively harmless, compared to other malware. But to someone whose browser just got unexpectedly hijacked by Burstsearch.com, it’s a very serious issue. This is why Burst Search installers get labeled Trojan, Malicious, Unsafe, Adware by antivirus scanners: Virustotal.com.

It gets installed without permission

So, how did such a useless extension get thousands of users? It’s unlikely that people would have installed it for its features. Burst Search doesn’t really offer any.

Based on people’s reviews and complaints, it looks like Burst Search gets installed without asking for permission. It seemingly just appears on a computer, unable to be removed.

There are a few ways that browser hijackers infect computers:

• They get promoted online with fake download links, fake update warnings, and other deceptive ads. Thanks to such malicious ads, people install malware without realizing what they’re doing.
• They are included as optional offers in the installers of other programs. Unfortunately, the offers aren’t always clearly marked and are often easy to overlook, resulting in accidental installation.
• Malicious and infected programs may install hijackers without a warning.

According to people’s complaints, Burst Search also abuses the policy features present in web browsers. This means that users might be unable to remove the Burst Search extension because their browser is “controlled by an organization”. From what I know, this does not happen if you go to the Web Store and install Burst Search yourself; this can only happen if the extension is installed with a special installer.

Burst Search is only one in a family of browser hijackers. This family also includes Mint Search, Custom Search, Storm Search, and other hijackers.

How to remove Burst Search

To remove Burst Search, try opening the extension area, opening the menu for Burst Search, and removing it from there. Or go into your browser settings and remove Burst Search there.

Is the Remove button missing? If so, the removal instructions are more complicated. Burst Search does offer a removal program on the page Find.burstsearch.com/instructions.php, but it might be safer to use an antivirus tool or remove Burst Search manually by following the process described in this post.

Finally, use an antivirus tool, such as Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, and others. If Burst Search was downloaded and installed without your knowledge, if it wasn’t caught, then it’s important to check if any other potentially unwanted items. If there are ay, delete them before they can do any more damage.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Restore browser settings

TopHow To remove Burstsearch.com Hijacker from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Burstsearch.com Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How to remove Burstsearch.com Hijacker from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.

• Click on the three-dot menu on the browser toolbar and Select Settings

• Select Privacy and Services and scroll down. Press on Address bar.

• Choose Manage search engines.

• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list: open the three-dot menu and choose Remove.

• Go back to Settings. Open On start-up.
• Delete malicious search websites at Open specific page or pages by opening the three-dot menu and clicking Delete.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Burstsearch.com Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings

• Click on Edge's menu button and select Settings. Click on the Reset Settings button on the left.
• Press the Restore settings to their default values option.

• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How To remove Burstsearch.com Hijacker from Firefox:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything Burstsearch.com Hijacker related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Options → General. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Restore to Default.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Burstsearch.com Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• ChooseTroubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on theReset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.