Search-startpage.com Virus - How to remove

Search-startpage.com is a website that is paired with the Search Start Page extension. Unfortunately, this is another malicious tool that only brings problems. This add-on can suddenly and unexpectedly replace your homepage with Search-startpage.com, changing how your browser works. And it can be difficult to remove it. In this article, we are going to explain why Search-startpage.com browser hijacker is advised not to be used and how you can remove it from your computer.

Search-startpage.com in short:

Classification	Browser hijacker.
How Search-startpage.com affects your browser	Search Start Page can log your browsing activity, Search-startpage.com replaces your home page.
How hijackers get installed	They’re bundled with free programs, they’re advertised online.
How to remove Search-startpage.com	Remove it manually from your browser, delete malware with antivirus programs (Spyhunter for PC, Combo Cleaner for Mac], Malwarebytes).

How Search-startpage.com works

Search-startpage.com is advertised as an add-on that improves your internet search experience.

With Search Start Page you get search results from trusted search providers, ensuring you reliably find the information you’re looking for in an instant.

This statement suggests that Search-startpage.com is not a search provider itself, but rather a kind of mediator between search providers and the users. So what is its role?

It is quite clear that the users can easily access any trusted search providers they want without the mediation of the Search Start Page extension. By default, most web browsers allow Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and Ecosia. Plus, you can manually set up any search engine you want to be used by your browser.

Seems like Search-startpage.com takes away browser features, rather than adding any functionality. At the same time, Search-startpage.com doesn’t appear to be harmful. The user might not see a problem with the search redirects.

Indeed, what is left unnoticed is the real, quiet functionality of Search-startpage.com. It’s the information tracking and the changing of the original search results rendered by Google Search by corrupting them with additional ads. Advertising and user tracking are the true functionalities of the Search Start Page application, even though it looks like just another home page.

At least Search Start Page allows you to choose your home page’s background picture – that’s better than most browser hijackers.

Some people think that just because Search-startpage.com uses encryption (the little lock icon next to its address), that it’s safe to use. This is not true (What is HTTPS?). The lock means that your and the site’s traffic can’t be spied on, but that doesn’t mean that the site will keep your information private.

If you read Search-startpage.com’s privacy policy, you find yourself on Bontiomedia.com, which reveals that Search-startpage.com is connected to Webstart-page.com, Startwebsearch.com, Webhome-page.com, and other browser hijackers.

How to remove Search-startpage.com browser hijacker

You can remove Search-startpage.com by uninstalling Search Start Page. You can do that manually or with an antivirus program.

Anti-malware software can accomplish this task and we recommend Spyhunter for Windows, Combo Cleaner for macOS, or Malwarebytes security tool because these are the best antivirus utilities you can get at the moment.

As for the manual removal instructions, they’re below this article. The instructions are a little different for each web browser.

Search-startpage.com malicious program can be distributed by free apps, compromised websites, suspicious ads, questionable spam e-mail attachments, etc. In the case of downloading any kind of free software, make sure to clean the installers of any prepended apps by choosing the Advanced settings. Anti-malware tools can help you stay safe against all of these threats. And besides, it helps to stay vigilant and very careful. If you notice that your browser is behaving strangely, just review your browser extensions as described below.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manual removal of Search-startpage.com Virus

How to remove Search Start Page Virus using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Search-startpage.com Virus install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to Search Start Page Virus . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Search-startpage.com Virus easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

How to remove Search Start Page Virus from macOS

Delete Search-startpage.com Virus from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the Search Start Page Virus app.
5. Select it and right-click it (or hold the Ctrl and click the left mouse button).
6. In the dropdown, click Move to Bin/Trash. You might be asked to provide your login password.

TopHow To remove Search-startpage.com Virus 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 Search-startpage.com Virus, 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 Search-startpage.com Virus 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 Search-startpage.com Virus 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 Search Start Page Virus, 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.

How to remove Search-startpage.com Virus 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 Search-startpage.com Virus, 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 Search-startpage.com Virus from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall Search Start Page Virus 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 Search-startpage.com Virus, 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.