Searchletter Redirects - How to remove

Searchletter.com is a domain that shows up in some search bars and redirects their search queries, often to the Bing or Yahoo site. This is not the browser working as it’s supposed to — the Searchletter.com URL is a symptom of some malicious browser extension interfering with how you use the search function.

Searchletter.com is targeted at the USA, though other English-speaking countries are among the most affected. It’s a fake search engine that looks like many other fake search engines — Search-Starter, Incredibar, SearchesPro, and others.

The benefit for these search engines in hijacking your search bar is this: they can take your traffic to the websites they want you to go and, when they display ads on those websites, they get a cut of the revenue. As long as Searchletter.com stays under the radar of those whose browsers it’s affecting, it can continue redirecting them to the most lucrative sites.

When Searchletter.com redirects your search, that does somewhat affect your browsing experience. But there is a slightly more dangerous side to this — the way that this hijacker is promoted could mean that your computer has a few other not-completely-safe applications installed. Malware attracts more malware, so more attacks is something to be careful of.

If you recognize the Searchletter.com redirecter in your browser, it’s best to remove it without delay:

Type of threat	Adware Browser hijacker
Searchletter.com hijacking symptoms	searchletter.com is visible in the address bar when searching The search landing page is different Web search takes longer than before Unexpected redirects from some websites
Sources	Accidental installation through freeware bundles Accidental installation through misleading ads Links in email and social media messages
Remove Searchletter redirects	Make sure no adware is on your computer (Combo-Cleaner (Mac), Spyhunter (PC)) Uninstall suspicious browser extensions

Where do Searchletter.com redirects come from?

This website seems to be connected to various browser extensions that were created by Mindspark: EasyPhotoEdit, WeatherBlink, PackageTracer, and others. These extensions work like browser hijackers, though they offer some function that’s supposed to enhance the browser (the features are often poorly executed, though). Another thing that these browser extensions do is offer the user to install other browser add-ons which often take over the search bar, such as forcing search queries to go to Searchletter.com.

Other browser hijacker symptoms include:

• Excessive ads on various websites, but only on one browser.
• Inability to change browser settings.
• The home and new tab pages being set to a new page.

Another possible explanation for how Searchletter.com appeared in your browser settings is adware. Adware programs, if they’re installed on a computer, are capable of hijacking all the web browsers, as well as installing browser extensions in the background. If the Searchletter.com redirects were caused by an adware infection, the symptoms would be the same as with a malicious extension, just more persistent.

Malicious ads could also be at fault, they often look like unexpected redirects. If you go to any “free” streaming sites, you’re probably well aware of this type of advertisement.

Initially, people get their computers infected with adware and browser hijackers thanks to either freeware bundling or misleading online ads. Both these methods can manipulate people into installing programs that they don’t want without realizing what they’re doing. Bundling is when an unwanted program is downloaded alongside the desired application and installed together with it. Searchletter.com would then show up without the user knowing what they did to cause it.

There are ways to prevent some of this, for example, real-time protection or a blocklist of known malicious websites (even though Searchletter.com is not considered a malicious website, some of the sites that redirect people to it are) could help stop some malware and unwanted programs from getting on your computer. Another thing that’s helpful is using reputable first-party sources for downloading programs. Software redistributors like to bundle free programs with various offers — they could install browser add-ons and change your search engine to Searchletter.com, or something. The internet is full of dangers and every bit of automatic protection and common sense can help.

How to stop the Searchletter.com redirects

First, the computer should be scanned for malware and potentially unwanted programs. If a malicious application is the cause of the Searchletter redirects, it should be removed (uninstalled, deleted). You can use an anti-malware program like SpyHunter for this, just remember to turn on the search for PUPs (potentially unwanted programs) and not just malware. A lot of browser hijackers, as annoying as they are, are not considered malware but PUPs.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Then, open your web browser (Chrome, Safari, or whichever one you use regularly) and disable or completely remove those browser extensions that you don’t completely trust. They probably don’t have the Searchletter title in their names so you might need to experiment some. Then see if your browser behaves normally again.

How to remove Searchletter Redirects using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Searchletter Redirects 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 Searchletter Redirects . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Searchletter Redirects 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 Searchletter Redirects from macOS

Delete Searchletter Redirects from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the Searchletter Redirects 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.

TopRemove malicious extensions from Internet Explorer

• Press on the Gear icon→Manage Add-ons.
  
• Go through Toolbars and extensions. Remove everything related to Searchletter Redirects and items you do not know that are made not by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle or Adobe.
  
• Close the Options.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Searchletter Redirects, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Press on the Gear icon->Internet Options.
  
• Choose the Advanced tab and click on the Reset button.
  
• Select a “Delete personal settings” checkbox and click on the Reset button.
  
• Click on the Close button on the confirmation box, then close your browser.
  

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

TopRemoving Searchletter Redirects 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 Searchletter Redirects. Click on the trash bin icon next to Searchletter Redirects 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 Searchletter Redirects, 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.

TopRemoving Searchletter Redirects 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 Searchletter Redirects 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 Searchletter Redirects, 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.

How to remove Searchletter Redirects 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 Searchletter Redirects. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Searchletter Redirects 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 Searchletter Redirects from Safari (Mac OS X)

• Click on the Safari menu.
• Choose Preferences.
  
• Click on the Extensions Tab.
• Click on the Uninstall button near the Searchletter Redirects. Remove all other unknown or suspicious entries too. If you are not sure whether you need the extension or not, you can simply uncheck the Enable check-box to disable the extension temporarily.
  
• Restart Safari.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Searchletter Redirects, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the 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.