SearchBy.net browser hijacker - How to remove

SearchBy.net is a browser hijacker and if this add-on is installed on your web browser, it will make some unwanted changes on your web browsers. If you are a victim of this infection seeking for help – you came to the right place. In this article we will provide you with detailed instructions how to eliminate this infection from your computer and make sure that this won’t happen again.

First of all, you need to understand that the website itself is not a virus – it’s all about the add-on that secretly gets added to your web browsers and then make changes without even asking you about that. There are several most likely ways to get infected with virus like this – it can be delivered as an attachment to the email. For this particular reason we do not recommend to open emails from spam category and files attached to them. Another way how this infection can sneak into your computer – it can be distributed bundled with various freeware that can be downloaded from the Internet. I.e when you download some free PDF generator or media player from unreliable website, during the installation you might get asked to add some useful and efficient tool to your web browser. However, we suggest to pay close attention to those add-ons because it can happen to be malware like this.

All about searchby.net virus

SearchBy.net tries to look like a regular search engine, so users would think that it is safe to use. On the homepage you will find search box, as well as a few links to “shop, weather and news” websites. All those links lead to websites that are legitimate, such as Amazon or CNN, so you should not worry about that.

Speaking of the search itself, you will be presented with customised startpage.com website. It is also listed as a browser hijacker and we reviewed it back in 2014. It is safe to say that this website is somehow associated with Startpage.com virus and that is a clear indicator not to use it.

This malicious add-on was developed by cyber criminals in order to make money, thus you can expect unwanted results out of it. First of all, it will automatically set both homepage and default search engine on your web browser to www.searchby.net. It can be really frustrating to see it come out of the blue, having no power to change this attribute.

We do not recommend to search for something using this website (even though it is your homepage), because if you do so, all search queries will be recorded. That means if you fill some of your private information in there, it can be leaked to third parties. That’s very dangerous and you should avoid it at all costs.

Finally, due to this infection, you are likely to experience various additional advertisements that will make your web browsing experience worse. There are more than enough reasons to get rid of infection like this.

Removing SearchBy.net virus

It is not that difficult to remove browser hijackers, if you have right equipment for the job. You should use anti-malware tools, such as Spyhunter. Either one of them should be able to detect and remove the threat – simply run a scan with one of those programs. If you need more detailed guidance, take a look at our step-by-step SearchBy.net  manual removal guide below this article.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Easily remove SearchBy.net browser hijacker

How to remove SearchBy.net browser hijacker using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like SearchBy.net browser hijacker 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 SearchBy.net browser hijacker . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make SearchBy.net browser hijacker 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 SearchBy.net browser hijacker from macOS

Delete SearchBy.net browser hijacker from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the SearchBy.net browser hijacker 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 SearchBy.net browser hijacker 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 SearchBy.net browser hijacker, 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 SearchBy.net browser hijacker 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 SearchBy.net browser 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.
  
• 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 SearchBy.net browser 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.
  
• 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 SearchBy.net browser hijacker 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 SearchBy.net browser hijacker, 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 SearchBy.net browser hijacker from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall SearchBy.net browser hijacker 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 SearchBy.net browser hijacker, 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.

Manual removal