Search-converter.com - How to remove

Search-converter.com is a search-hijacking website. A browser add-on called SearchConverter changes browser settings to make Search-converter.com into your new default search engine, which then opens Yahoo.com. If your browser opens Search-converter.com and Yahoo all the time, then you need to remove SearchConverter from your browser. You probably installed it by accident, anyway.

About Search-converter.com:

Type of threat	Adware, browser hijacker.
Issues and problems	Makes your browser use Yahoo to search the internet, reads your browsing history and search logs.
How Search-converter.com spreads	Advertised dishonestly online, installed by other programs and browser add-ons.
How to remove SearchConverter	Uninstall it from the browser, use anti-malware apps (Spyhunter for Windows, Combo Cleaner for macOS, others) to check your computer for malware.

Problems with Search-converter.com

Search-converter.com is just a website that takes people’s search queries and then sends them off to Yahoo.com. It exists for a simple reason: to make money. Search-converter.com is used to hijack search traffic and to control what advertisements you see.

The way it works is that Search-converter.com controls what site your web browser opens when you type a search query in your address box (the line at the top of the browser). There is a browser setting for default search engines. It governs which site opens when you search for by using the address box. SearchConverter simply takes control of this setting.

Search-converter.com doesn’t really do anything too malicious. It won’t infect your computer with actual malware. But it is very annoying and potentially bad for your privacy. Search-converter.com logs your search queries, which ads you clicked on, and your browsing history. Then it uses this data to show you relevant ads – ads that are the most profitable.

Online advertisement is the cost that we pay in exchange for free websites and free services. SearchConverter, though, is not providing a service of any kind. It just makes money by forcing ads on you.

SearchConverter was released by Webcoapps. Webcoapps has a bunch of other search hijackers, like GalaxySpin, Booster Search, SearchZilla, and others. Many of these add-ons have tens of thousands of users – people whose browsers now insist on opening Yahoo.com to deliver their search results.

How SearchConverter gets installed

I first saw Search-converter.com when I was looking into an ad spammer called Anymorenews.com. That’s a website that abuses notifications to show pop-ups on people’s screens. One of the sites it promotes is Install.search-converter.com.

Search-converter.com uses the “Download Ready” template, the same one used by the Flash SD App pop-ups. It’s basically a fake download button meant to trick people who are trying to download files online. They accidentally open the Search-converter.com ad, see the text that says “Download Ready”, see a big “Download” button, and click it – but instead of their file, they get an adware infection.

SearchConverter may also get installed by other browser extensions or by shady free programs. In that case, you wouldn’t even see Search-converter.com on your screen until after SearchConverter is already installed. In such cases, it is helpful to scan the installers that you download with antivirus programs before you run them.

Either way, nobody installed it on purpose. If you read SearchConverter’s description on the Chome Web Store, it says that all it does is change your browser’s default search to Yahoo. No useful functions or features, nothing that would make it worth installing.

According to Mozilla, there are a few things to pay attention to when installing a browser add-on:

• the reputation and identity of the developer (is it consistent with the add-on’s features?),
• the reviews and ratings of the add-on,
• whether the permissions requested by the add-on fit its features.

SearchConverter fails at these. Webcoapps doesn’t even have a fully functional website. Its add-ons tend to have thousands and thousands of users, but almost no reviews or ratings (which shows that people didn’t install the add-ons intentionally). And SearchConverter’s description doesn’t even explain why the add-on reads your browsing history.

How to remove Search-converter.com

To get rid of the Search-converter.com redirects, you need to remove SearchConverter from your browser. Open the affected browser, look for SearchConverter’s icon in the top right corner (it’s a blue circle with two rings inside it), right-click on it, then click on “Remove”.

I would advise you to check all of your other browser extensions, as well as the recently installed programs. In my experience, adware infections come in groups. You can check your programs manually in the control panel, or by scanning your computer with an anti-malware program (Spyhunter for PC, Combo Cleaner for Mac, and others). They can find and point out malware, as well as SearchConverter and other potentially unwanted browser add-ons.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove browser add-ons

TopRemoving Search-converter.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 Search-converter.com. Click on the trash bin icon next to Search-converter.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 Search-converter.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 Search-converter.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 Search-converter.com. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Search-converter.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.

TopRemoving Search-converter.com from Firefox

• 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 Search-converter.com 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.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Search-converter.com, 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 Reset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

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