Searchsnow.com Hijacker - How to remove

Searchsnow.com is a fake search site whose appearance signals that your computer may have been infected. All that Searchsnow.com is known for is hijacking web browsers against people’s wishes. Nobody chooses to use a site as low-quality as Searchsnow.com because they want to – they’re forced by malware infections, just so Searchsnow.com’s operators can make money by plastering ads on people’s screens. Searchsnow.com can be removed from your browser by finding and deleting the malware that brought it.

Searchsnow.com in short:

Type of threat	Adware, browser hijacker.
Effects on the computer	The browser constantly opens Searchsnow.com, there are too many ads in web search results, the people who control Searchsnow.com get to log the victim’s usage data.
How Searchsnow.com spreads	Bad apps and browser extensions get installed without the victim’s knowledge, deceptive ads and bundling with legitimate apps may be used.
How to stop Searchsnow.com redirects	Check browser settings and your system settings, find and remove malicious apps and browser extensions, scan your device for malware (Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, others).

What is Searchsnow.com

Fake search engine

Searchsnow.com (or Search Snow) is a webpage that looks like a search engine – a website that searches the internet for webpages matching your search query. But this one isn’t really a search engine – it’s more like an advertising site disguised as a search engine.

Typing a query into Searchsnow.com’s search box takes me to one site, then another, then another, eventually landing on Mybrowser-search.com or on Searchbaron.com. It’s a little different for people in different locations or on different systems.

And though you get your search results and ads just like Google (in fact, these sites often use Google’s technology), you don’t get any features, such as video results, map results, or the ability to filter results by date or language. No features to make Searchsnow.com worth using.

Collects data and shows ads

In exchange for the privilege of using this terrible search engine, Searchsnow.com collects your data for marketing purposes:

• it gets your technical information, such as what your operating system is, what kind of browser you’re using, what your language is, and your IP and location,
• as Searchsnow.com redirects your search queries to other sites, it’s safe to assume that it collects those, as well,
• it can share the data with other companies to help with research and marketing.

Searchsnow.com doesn’t seem to use encryption (it’s Http instead of Https), which allows other malicious actors to spy on your traffic to this site.

Searchsnow.com is related to Searchitnow.info, Searchmarquis.com, Searchbaron.com – and these sites all have a bad reputation. Look them up online and you find stories of people’s browsers being hijacked by them. And the fact that it’s difficult to even find what the company is controlling these sites speaks for itself.

Searchsnow.com only exists to collect data about you and to open affiliated sites. Its operators make money by forcing people to look at their ads. Basically, it’s adware.

How Searchsnow.com spreads

Browser extensions and apps

But how did Searchsnow.com make it on your Mac? It’s just a website, so why does it keep appearing?

It could be that a bad browser extension is installed on your web browser. You can check your extensions by opening your browser’s main menu, then Settings or Preferences, then Extensions.

Or maybe some kind of an adware app infected your computer. Malicious apps may use configuration profiles and other means to force your browser to open Searchsnow.com.

Malicious ads

Malicious extensions and apps have a few ways of infecting Macs:

• they could use misleading ads to make you think that it’s a software update or a mandatory app that you must download – when it’s actually malware,
• adware could be bundled with the installer of an unrelated app and be installed together, without giving you a warning.

The point is, there must be some app or extension forcing your browser open Searchsnow.com. You probably didn’t mean to download and install it, but scammers and malicious actors know how to trick us.

How to remove Searchsnow.com

Check your settings

To begin with, review the settings in your web browser. Below, I put the instructions for checking these settings.

If Searchsnow.com shows up every time you open a new tab in your browser (with the plus ‘+’ button at the top), then you need to look at your home, start page, and new tab settings.

If Searchsnow.com only pops up when you try to search for something, then look at your default search engine settings.

Remove unfamiliar or unwanted browser extensions from your web browsers.

Open System Preferences and, if you see the Profiles icon, click on it. Remove all unfamiliar profiles. Sometimes, malicious apps use them to change your computer’s settings.

Remove malicious files

Scan your computer with an antivirus app, like Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, and others. If files get detected as Adware, Malware, Bundler, Trojan, or as other names, delete them.

Review your apps and extensions yourself, as well. If that doesn’t help, look into how to remove apps like OperativeFraction. It’s a little complicated but if Searchsnow.com refuses to go away, you might need to look into more in-depth ways of deleting malware off of a Mac.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Check browser settings and extensions

How to remove Searchsnow.com 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 Searchsnow.com 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 Searchsnow.com 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.

TopHow to remove Searchsnow.com Hijacker from Google Chrome on Mac:

• Open Chrome browser.
• Enter in the url field “chrome://extensions” address and hit Enter.
• Find Searchsnow.com Hijacker on the extensions list and click on the recycle bin icon next to it.
• Click on 'Chrome' button at the top left corner. Select 'Preferences' on a drop-down menu box.
• Find 'Search' options on Settings tab. If your search engine is changed, click 'Manage Search Engines' and set your preferred search engine.
• On the same page find 'Show home button' checkbox and change your homepage.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Searchsnow.com Hijacker, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• On the 'Preferences' menu window, scroll down to the bottom and find 'Reset settings' button. Click it.
• Confirm your selection and click 'Reset' on the following window.

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

How To remove Searchsnow.com Hijacker from Firefox on Mac OS:

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press cmd+Shift+A on your keyboard).
• Go through Extensions list, remove everything Searchsnow.com 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.
• Enter “about:preferences” in URL bar and hit enter.
• Open Search settings tab.
• If your search engine is changed, click 'Default Search Engines' and set your preferred search engine.
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Preferences-> General. Enter a preferable URL to the home page field.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Searchsnow.com 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 Refresh Firefox button.
• Click on the Refresh 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.