Mint Search Hijacker - How to remove

Mint Search is a browser hijacker that gets installed on its own and cannot be removed normally. When installed, Mint Search changes your browser’s new tab page and the search engine to force you to use Mintsearch.net. If you try to remove it, you may notice that you can’t. You may also notice that your browser says it’s “managed by your organization”.

Mint Search in short:

Classification	Browser hijacker.
How Mint Search affects the browser	It hijacks the searches, redirecting them to whatever site it thinks you should use, it logs data about your browsing behavior, such as your search terms.
How it gets installed	Downloaded by other programs, installed without asking your consent, installed as managed add-ons, which means that Mint Search can’t be uninstalled like a normal extension.
How to remove Mint Search	Find and remove malware manually and with an antivirus program (Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, others), uninstall Mint Search by removing unwanted enterprise policies, if needed.

How Mint Search works

Search hijacker

Redirects searches

When Mint Search is installed, it changes your search engine. As a result, your address bar says “Search Mazy”. If you do use your address bar to search for something, Mintsearch.net catches it. It briefly appears in your address bar before it opens another site.

In my case, it would open Google.com’s search results. While Mint Search is in control, it decides what sites to open. If you wanted to use another search engine, such as Ecosia or DuckDuckGo, Mint Search won’t allow that.

Collects data

Mint Search also collects data about users. It captures the users’ search query text, search history, clicked ads and search results, installed programs, and combines this data with a unique identifier. It uses this data to analyze traffic and help advertisers who want to target people based on their interests.

Useless extension

Besides hijacking search queries, Mint Search does nothing. It doesn’t make any changes to your browser. This means that it’s unintrusive, but it also means that it offers no useful features at all. It should not be installed if it does nothing useful.

Here’s how Mint Search’s effects can be summed up:

• It takes away the choice of search engines from the user.
• It changes the default Chrome new tab, removing the background picture, the search field in the middle, and other features.
• It collects data about the browsing habits of its users.

Mint Search is related to Burst Search, Mazy Search, and other hijackers.

Mint Search and managed browsers

There are two types of Mint Search installation.

One is the normal extension that you can get on the Chrome Web Store. It can be easily removed, just like a normal browser add-on.

Another is when Mint Search can’t be uninstalled normally. Mintsearch.net calls it “SetupVersion”. This version of Mint Search appears no different until you try to remove it and notice that the Remove button for it is missing. This is because Mint Search used enterprise configuration tools to make your browser think that it’s being managed by an administrator/organization.

These tools are meant to control the browsers of employees or students to force them to use certain add-ons. Mint Search should not be using such tools.

Antivirus programs recognize the problem and detect the Mint Search installer as malicious: Virustotal.com.

How Mint Search gets installed

People don’t install Mint Search on purpose. At least not the setup version that makes it impossible to remove.

Instead, Mint Search comes bundled with other files. Maybe you downloaded a program from a shady download site, pirated something, or got tricked by a malicious ad. Mint Search’s setup must have been bundled with the installer of another program, downloaded and installed alongside it.

How to remove Mint Search

Use antivirus programs, such as Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, and others to find and remove other malware, such as the bundlers that may have downloaded Mint Search.

If your Mint Search is a normal browser add-on, it can be removed the same way as any add-on can be removed: from the extension settings. On Chrome, just type in “chrome://extensions” in your address bar.

If Mint Search is still installed after an antivirus scan, and if its Remove button is missing, check out our post “Installed by enterprise policy” (fake) or this How-to Geek article.

There is also the uninstaller provided by Mint Search itself, found on find.mintsearch.net/instructions.php.

It’s only detected by a few scanners (Virustotal.com), so it might be safe. But be careful and only use it if other methods don’t help. I have seen someone say that it helped them but I can’t recommend it.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove unwanted extensions

TopRemoving Mint Search Hijacker from Chrome

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Google Chrome window. Select “Settings”.
  
• Click “Extensions” on the left menu bar.
• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Mint Search Hijacker. Click on the trash bin icon next to Mint Search Hijacker or other add-ons you want to remove.
  
• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.
  
• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.
  
• Restart Chrome.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

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

• Click on Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
  
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on the Reset 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 Mint Search Hijacker from Microsoft Edge:Top

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

• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Mint Search Hijacker. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Mint Search Hijacker or other add-ons you want to remove.

• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.

• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.

• Restart Microsoft Edge.