Search Recipes Hijacker - How to remove

Search Recipes is a browser add-on that helps you search for recipes online and that replaces your search engine with Yahoo. It’s possible that it got installed in your browser without your informed consent. Though Search Recipes is not all bad, it does exhibit some browser hijacker features. That’s important to know before you continue using this browser add-on.

Details on Search Recipes:

Classification	PUP (potentially unwanted program), browser hijacker.
Issues with Search Recipes	Changes default search settings, offers limited functionality that doesn’t justify the extension existing, might get installed accidentally.
Symptoms and effects	Search queries are sent to Yahoo.com, the new tab page may look different.
Removing Search Recipes	Uninstall unwanted extensions manually, use security programs (Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, etc.) to check for unwanted software.

Is Search Recipes – a hijacker?

Search Recipes has a page on Google Chrome’s Web Store. Like most browser hijackers, it has no ratings or reviews despite being installed by over seven thousand users. Also like most browser hijackers, Search Recipes reads your browsing history and changes your search settings to a site controlled by Search Recipes’s makers – search.searchandprint-api.recipes.

The result is a browser that opens Yahoo.com when you search for something on the internet. Yahoo hijackers are very common, with Search Recipes being only one of many.

Important to note is that Search Recipes does let you choose Bing or Google if you check the extension’s settings. It’s far from perfect, as some people want other search engines than these three, but it is something. It’s just unfortunate that the search still goes through searchandprint-api.recipes, a site that you have no control over.

Search Recipes is nothing special when it comes to helping you find recipes. When you type in a query, a new tab opens with recipe metasearch functions. It works as a standalone website, so from a user’s perspective, there’s no reason for the Search Recipes add-on to exist. The only reason that Search Recipes messes with your search settings is to monetize the extension so that they can get some profit.

Tightrope Interactive, the company that made Search Recipes, also made Easy Recipes Search, FileConvertor, PDFtoDOC, and other add-ons that use the same method – hijack browser search settings. In theory, whatever Search Recipes’s makers decide to do with searchandprint-api.recipes, you have no control over.

In conclusion, I think that Search Recipes can be seen as a browser hijacker, maybe. It seems to have been made with its monetization already in mind. And it’s not good for the user. However, Search Recipes is not malware, just a potentially unwanted program. It’s still not advised to use, but it probably won’t cause you any big problems.

How the extension gets installed

Search Recipes can be found on Searchandprint.recipes. This site links to either direct Search Recipes installation (on Firefox) or links to the Chrome Web Store (on Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and other Chromium-based browsers). Is that how you found it?

If so, you might not be surprised that most traffic to Searchandprint.recipes comes from ads on social media sites and recipe websites. What’s interesting is the other commonly visited sites, which included some more serious browser hijackers, like DailyRecipeGuide. I recommend you to check your browser extensions to make sure you didn’t accidentally install more hijackers.

Another common way that potentially unwanted programs like Search Recipes are distributed is bundling. Bundlers are free programs that are packaged with a few additional, optional offers. When installing a bundler, you are offered to install additional programs, and if you do, the distributor of the free application gets paid by the makers of the offered app.

The problem is that some freeware makers are incentivized to get as many users to install the optional offers, to the point where the offers are:

• installed by default and you need to explicitly refuse them if you don’t want them,
• warnings and refusal forms are hidden in optional screens and printed in small font to make you miss them,
• sometimes the offers are installed with no warning or despite your refusal.

Be careful when installing free commercial apps. Scan them with antivirus programs before running them to check for potentially unwanted software.

How to remove Search Recipes

Uninstalling unwanted browser extensions is simple enough: just open browser settings, choose which of your extensions you want gone, and click the Remove button. Or, better yet, click on Search Recipes’ (or whatever add-on you want to remove) icon and, from the drop-down menu, choose Remove.

Of course, you can keep using Search Recipes if you like, but it’s still good to periodically check your browser extensions. With all the deceptive tactics used by malicious actors to spread their malware, it’s possible to invite an add-on without even realizing it. You can also employ an anti-malware tool (like Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, etc.) to check for adware, potentially unwanted apps, and suspicious files.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove browser extensions

TopRemoving Search Recipes 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 Search Recipes Hijacker. Click on the trash bin icon next to Search Recipes 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 Search Recipes 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 Search Recipes 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 Search Recipes Hijacker. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Search Recipes 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.

TopRemoving Search Recipes Hijacker 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 Recipes Hijacker 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 Recipes Hijacker, 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.