Protectmysearchapp.com - How to remove

Protect My Search App, or Protectmysearchapp.com, is a supposed secure search engine. In reality, it’s a Yahoo.com redirect virus and a browser hijacker. Protect My Search App’s usefulness is extremely limited and it encroaches upon the user’s private searches. There’s no good reason to use Protectmysearchapp.com and, in fact, it’s better to remove it immediately.

In short about Protect My Search App:

Type of threat	Potentially unwanted program (PUP), browser hijacker.
Problems with Protectmysearchapp.com	Changes default search settings, reads the user’s search data and uses it for targeted ads.
How it gets installed	Advertised online, including in the search results of alternative search engines, bundled with free programs as an optional offer.
Removing Protect My Search App	Uninstall unwanted browser extensions, restore browser settings, check for malware with an anti-malware application (Spyhunter for PC, Combo Cleaner for Mac, etc.).

Is Protect My Search App useful?

Yahoo redirect

Protect My Search App is an extension for Chrome browsers. Extensions are little browser add-ons that somehow change and/or enhance the browser. So, what’s Protect My Search App’s proposal?

Protectmysearchapp.com is apparently a secure search engine. Protect My Search App controls your default search engine (search results provider). According to Protectmysearchapp.com, this extension scans online for threats and reports them to you. In reality, Protect My Search App only works on the internet search results page, and only on Yahoo.com. So, it’s actually extremely limited.

Protect My Search App is made by Webalytics Media, the company behind Smart Package Tracker, Map Directions Pro, Maps Now – a bunch of browser extensions that were not so helpful and ended up hijacking the browser to force users to go to Yahoo.com. Just like what Protect My Search App is doing.

Browser hijacker

Before Protect My Search App gets installed on a Chrome browser, it shows what permissions it needs to work:

• to read your browsing history,
• to change your search settings to Protectmysearchapp.com,
• to read your data on Protectmysearchapp.com and Yahoo.com.

In theory, this allows Protectmysearchapp.com to not only control which site returns your internet search results, but also what the results look like. Protect My Search App can also log your search queries.

According to the privacy policy on Protectmysearchapp.com, the information collected about you can be used ” to communicate with you about promotional offers and advertorial content through push notifications”, among other things. So, Protect My Search App is used as adware, despite being presented as a “secure search engine”.

How to remove Protect My Search App

Protectmysearchapp.com gets advertised on alternative search engines (similar to Kensaq and Zapmeta), where its ads show up at the top of the results. It may also come bundled with some free programs. Often, people install Protect My Search App without quite realizing it.

You can remove any browser extension manually. You can right-click on Protect My Search App’s icon (if it’s not visible, try putting your mouse cursor to the right of your address box and dragging to the left) and then click on the Remove option. Or go to extension settings, where each extensions’ descriptions and permissions are visible by clicking the Details button.

It’s also advisable to scan your computer with an antivirus program, like Spyhunter for Windows, Combo Cleaner for macOS, or another application. It helps if your antivirus app detects PUPs (potentially unwanted programs).

Finally, if Protectmysearchapp.com is sending you notifications (pop-ups in your browser’s lower right corner), that can be stopped by changing some browser settings manually:

• Chrome – type “chrome://settings/content/notifications” in the address box.
• New Edge – type “edge://settings/content/notifications” in the address box.

Find Protectmysearchapp.com in the second list (the one with all the sites that are allowed to send notifications to your browser), click the menu button to its right, and then choose Block.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Uninstall browser extensions manually

TopRemoving Protectmysearchapp.com 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 Protectmysearchapp.com. Click on the trash bin icon next to Protectmysearchapp.com 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 Protectmysearchapp.com, 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 Protectmysearchapp.com 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 Protectmysearchapp.com. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Protectmysearchapp.com 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.