Directsearchapp.com Hijacker - How to remove

Directsearchapp.com is a website that takes over web browsers by replacing the home and new tab pages. Directsearchapp.com is spread by a browser add-on.

It is likely that those who started seeing Directsearchapp.com on their screens didn’t intentionally install any extensions to do this. Some unwanted programs and apps find ways into devices without having to ask permission from the user.

Directsearchapp.com is not dangerous, but it can be annoying. Its main goal seems to be data collection and advertising, and it doesn’t offer any features to make it worth using.

Directsearchapp.com is short:

Threat type	Browser hijacker, adware.
Problems with Directsearchapp.com	It replaces the new tab page in the browser, it lacks useful features, it collects data about the user, it may have been installed without the user’s knowledge.
How hijackers get installed	Embedded in the installers of other free programs, offered by other browser add-ons, advertised online.
How to remove Directsearchapp.com	Uninstall unwanted browser extensions, remove malicious software with antivirus tools (Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, others), check your browser settings.

How Directsearchapp.com works

New tab replacer

Directsearchapp.com is a webpage made by Search Dimension. It is similar to Searchpowerapp.com, SmashApps, Seen-on-Screen, Screen Watch, and other new tab replacers.

Directsearchapp.com is meant to serve as your browser’s new tab page. It’s supposed to be there when you’re ready to surf the web – it should serve as your lobby. But there are a few problems with it:

• It hijacks the browser and fails to provide useful features over what default new tab pages in web browsers offer.
• Its search engine choice is extremely limited (Yahoo, Google, and Bing – that’s it).
• It collects data on its users, including their search terms.

Directsearchapp.com doesn’t offer much. You can do what it does with the default new tabs of web browsers with no extensions.

Information collector

Here’s what information Directsearchapp.com might collect on its users, taken from Directsearchapp.com’s privacy policy:

This information may include your IP address, your browser type and language and other browser-related information, a time-stamp, the keyword query, search query text, search results clicked, pages viewed, search history, the content of any of our undeleted cookies, including a unique identifier (see section D on “Cookies” below), software installed upon and/or devices connected to your computer and/or device, and the referring website address.

So, your search terms and browsing activity are collected by Directsearchapp.com. One of the uses for information collected by Directsearchapp.com is to display content and ads tailored to your interests.

This would be fine if Directsearchapp.com provided a service worth paying for, but it kind of doesn’t. It’s just another site that tracks you, though much more intrusively than many other sites.

Installed unintentionally

Directsearchapp.com could just be set as your new tab page in your browser settings. But it’s more likely that a browser extension is responsible for this.

There are a few main ways that browser hijackers get installed:

• They’re advertised online. Often, by misleading calls to action. For instance, ads made to look like Download buttons can confuse people and trick them into downloading or installing things they don’t want.
• They’re bundled with other extensions. For example, the installation flow could include misleading progress indicators that trick people into installing additional extensions.
• They’re bundled with freeware. Some free software installers include optional offers – ads for other programs. Some of them are installed by default unless you explicitly refuse them.

Indeed, some browser hijackers are impossible to find manually. You have to get redirected by a malicious ad in order to see them.

How to remove Directsearchapp.com

Use anti-malware applications, such as Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, and others to check your computer for malicious and unwanted programs. If any programs are flagged, remove them.

You can look at your list of installed programs or apps and sort it by the installation date. Those programs that were installed at around the same time as Directsearchapp.com showed up in your browser are the most suspicious.

Check your browser settings:

• What is the default search engine?
• What is the new tab page?
• What sites are allowed to send notifications?

You can find the instructions for how to this below. Any time your browser starts behaving strangely, check those settings.

If some extensions are in control of any of these settings, your browser should list them. You can remove extensions by opening Settings -> Extensions.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Restore browser settings

How to remove Directsearchapp.com Hijacker using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Directsearchapp.com Hijacker install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to Directsearchapp.com Hijacker . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Directsearchapp.com Hijacker easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

How to remove Directsearchapp.com Hijacker from macOS

Delete Directsearchapp.com Hijacker from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the Directsearchapp.com Hijacker app.
5. Select it and right-click it (or hold the Ctrl and click the left mouse button).
6. In the dropdown, click Move to Bin/Trash. You might be asked to provide your login password.

TopHow To remove Directsearchapp.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 Directsearchapp.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 Directsearchapp.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 Directsearchapp.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 Directsearchapp.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.

How to remove Directsearchapp.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 Directsearchapp.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 Directsearchapp.com Hijacker from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall Directsearchapp.com Hijacker and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

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

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari…
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

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