Private-search.xyz Redirects - How to remove

Private-search.xyz is a website and a browser add-on, a dubious new tab replacer that takes over web browsers and forces them to use Bing as their primary search engine. There’s nothing wrong with Bing or with new tab replacers – unless one was installed without the permission of the user. And Private-search.xyz does looks and act a lot like a browser hijacker. We advise that you are careful with this site/extension.

Private-search.xyz in short:

Threat type	Browser hijacker, adware.
How Private-search.xyz changes browsers	It replaces the default search engine, it logs user data, it shows ads for other extensions.
Problems and issues	Private data might be logged by the extension, the browser loses customizability.
How to stop Private-search.xyz redirects	Uninstall unwanted add-ons, check the settings of your browser, find and remove malware with anti-malware tools (Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, etc.).

What is Private-search.xyz?

Private-search.xyz is a search hijacker

Private-search.xyz is a website and Private Search is the sister browser extension (not related to the PrivateSearch extension, which is also a bit of a hijacker). According to its Chrome Web Store page, it has over thirty thousand users, though not even a single review or rating.

Despite its name, Private-search.xyz does not claim to enhance users’ privacy. In fact, it does not appear to have any features worth talking about. According to its description, it helps users search the web:

lets you browse the web and get easy access to search, images and videos

So, like every search engine on every web browser. Private-search.xyz is even more useless than SearchLock. There’s no way anyone chooses voluntarily to install this extension because they like its features. Here’s what Private-search.xyz actually does once it’s installed:

• it replaces the browser’s default search engine with Private-search.xyz (which currently redirects to Bing),
• it makes an offer for another browser extension,
• it starts logging the user’s browsing history.

You can guess a lot of this just by looking at what permissions Private-search.xyz/Private Search asks (Permissions requested by apps and extensions).

It may also replace the new tab page, though this is not mentioned in the permissions of the extension. (In fact, some extensions hijack new tab pages without asking for relevant permissions.)

Problems and issues

So, Private-search.xyz does not really offer any features. It just replaces the search engine with whatever site it promotes that day. By default, Private-search.xyz redirects to Bing. The problem is that the user can’t choose any search engine that they want. Indeed, with Private-search.xyz installed, the web browser loses features.

There’s also the chance that search results will take a little bit longer to appear as Private-search.xyz redirects the queries rather than sending them directly to the destination site.

In addition, this is not good for privacy. Although Private-search.xyz promises to not collect personally identifiable data, its privacy policy is a little vague about what information it does and does not collect. Private-search.xyz tracks your IP, technical data about your device, and it can read your browsing history and search history, so there is plenty of opportunities for it to log personal information even if it’s not intentional.

How to remove Private-search.xyz

To stop Private-search.xyz from hijacking your internet search and from logging your data, you can remove or disable the Private Search extension. Go into your browser settings, the Extensions page, and remove Private Search there. Or click its icon (or the puzzle piece button) in the upper right corner of your browser, click the menu button, and remove the extension from there.

If Private-search.xyz offered you to install another add-on, you might want to remove that, too.

More detailed instructions can be found at the bottom. There are also instructions for how to check your settings – your new tab page and your default search engine – and how to change them. You can customize these settings however you want, now that Private-search.xyz and other search hijackers have been removed.

You can also use anti-malware apps, such as Combo Cleaner for macOS and Spyhunter for Windows. This is to find and, if needed, remove potentially unwanted items from your device. These programs help you find suspicious and dangerous programs and files and delete them.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Restore browser settings

TopHow To remove Private-search.xyz Redirects 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 Private-search.xyz Redirects, 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 Private-search.xyz Redirects 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 Private-search.xyz Redirects, 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 Private-search.xyz Redirects 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 Private-search.xyz Redirects 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 Private-search.xyz Redirects, 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.