QuickLookSearches Adware - How to remove

Is QuickLookSearches constantly asking you to accept incoming network connections? Did your browser change how it searches the internet? QuickLookSearches is an adware app that changes a few network and search settings to manipulate how you go online and to show you more advertisements. QuickLookSearches should be removed from a Mac as soon as it’s discovered.

In short about QuickLookSearches adware:

Type of threat	Adware, trojan.
Problems with QuickLookSearches	Changes search and network settings, shows unwanted pop-ups, causes more ads to be displayed.
How it gets installed	Downloaded in an app bundler, downloaded as a fake software update.
How to remove QuickLookSearches	Delete the files, app, extension, and profiles related to QuickLookSearches, use anti-malware apps like Combo Cleaner, Malwarebytes, etc. to check for other infections.

What is QuickLookSearches

Hijacker

People may notice that they have QuickLookSearches on their Mac after they get a pop-up like this:

Do you want the application “QuickLookSearches” to accept incoming network connections?

Some may click “Allow” and forget about it. But if you click “Deny”, this warning keeps coming back again and again.

QuickLookSearches is a malicious Mac application that changes network settings to reroute your traffic through a proxy server. Check your settings in System Preferences -> Network -> Advanced -> Proxies. QuickLookSearches may have set a SOCKS proxy – a legitimate protocol that is sometimes abused by malware to steal data or add a computer to a botnet.

QuickLookSearches installs an app and a browser extension. These can be used to steal your browsing history, saved passwords, and other private information. Additionally, QuickLookSearches tries to change your browser settings in a way that changes how you search the internet for information. Web Search results come back in Bing, Yahoo, Anysearchmanager, etc. with a few too many ads. Malicious advertisements for scams, fake virus warnings, other malware become more common thanks to QuickLookSearches, too.

Trojan

QuickLookSearches does not just pop up out of nowhere. It has to be downloaded and installed somehow. In general, there are two possibilities:

• it came bundled with a free program,
• it was downloaded with a fake software update.

QuickLookSearches might have been bundled with a free app that you downloaded from the internet. Bundling is when additional software is included in the installer of a program or an app. It manifests as little offers to “enhance your browser” (and similar) next to a ticked checkbox, which gives your permission to install it by default. Apps that bundle software are called bundlers.

Fake software updates, like the fake Adobe Flash Player and macOS updates, are used to spread malware. They trick people into thinking that this is a real warning and a real update – but nothing about them is real. It’s trivial for developers to steal the look of another website, to get some shady site to show their ads, and thus, to scare people into downloading this malware disguised as an urgent update.

With QuickLookSearches, some other malware or adware may have been installed, too.

How to remove QuickLookSearches

Scan your computer with an anti-malware program, such as Combo Cleaner, Malwarebytes, or others, to find QuickLookSearches and check for other malware that may have been installed together. Of course, you can remove QuickLookSearches manually, but it’s always good to check if any more infections remain.

Even if you quit QuickLookSearches, it will come back the next time you restart your Mac. So, restarting your Mac is important to check if you successfully removed the malware.

First, you need to delete QuickLookSearches’ profiles. Profiles are little instruction sets used to manage your Mac. When created by malware, they can force certain settings on your Mac.

To find proflies, open your System Preferences (down in your Dock or from the Apple menu on the top left). Then, look for an icon called “Profiles”. Open it and look for items called QuickLookSearches. There might be two of them. Select these profiles and then press the delete button on your keyboard or the minus button at the bottom of the window.

If QuickLookSearches doesn’t go away, like if it returns after a reboot, look for its login items. These can be found in your system folders which are usually hidden by default (because they contain items and settings important to some of your apps). To reach hidden folders, you can use the Go to Folder dialog: open Finder, open the Go menu at the top, and look for the Go to Folder option at the bottom of the list. Then type or paste in these items one-by-one:

• /Library/LaunchDaemons
• /Library/LaunchAgents
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents
• ~/Library/Application Support

Look for items whose names contain QuickLookSearches, ProgressSite, SearchSystem, GoWebSearch, ElementaryAdviseSearch, PublicAdviseSearch, SearchForWords, LookUpLauncher, NetFunctionSearch, or similar. Delete them.

Remove QuickLookSearches from your apps (in the Applications folder) and browser extensions (instructions below).

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove unwanted browser extensions

How to remove QuickLookSearches Adware from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall QuickLookSearches Adware 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 QuickLookSearches, 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.

TopHow to remove QuickLookSearches Adware from Google Chrome on Mac:

• Open Chrome browser.
• Enter in the url field “chrome://extensions” address and hit Enter.
• Find QuickLookSearches Adware on the extensions list and click on the recycle bin icon next to it.
• Click on 'Chrome' button at the top left corner. Select 'Preferences' on a drop-down menu box.
• Find 'Search' options on Settings tab. If your search engine is changed, click 'Manage Search Engines' and set your preferred search engine.
• On the same page find 'Show home button' checkbox and change your homepage.

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

• On the 'Preferences' menu window, scroll down to the bottom and find 'Reset settings' button. Click it.
• Confirm your selection and click 'Reset' on the following window.

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

How To remove QuickLookSearches Adware from Firefox on Mac OS:

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press cmd+Shift+A on your keyboard).
• Go through Extensions list, remove everything QuickLookSearches Adware 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.
• Enter “about:preferences” in URL bar and hit enter.
• Open Search settings tab.
• If your search engine is changed, click 'Default Search Engines' and set your preferred search engine.
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Preferences-> General. Enter a preferable URL to the home page field.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to QuickLookSearches Adware, 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.
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
• Click on the Refresh Firefox button.
• Click on the Refresh 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.