SearchYA - How to remove

SearchYA is a browser extension that gets installed without permission and changes your browser settings. It takes over the browser’s omnibox (the address bar) and redirects searches to Yahoo. Many users complain that SearchYA appeared out of nowhere and they don’t know how to remove it. Luckily, it’s simple – you just need to find which of your browser extensions is responsible.

SearchYA hijacker in short:

SearchYA hijacking symptoms	Searches go to Yahoo.com, changing browser settings doesn’t work, SearchYA is mentioned in the address box of the browser.
How hijackers get installed	Advertised as necessary extensions, falsely promoted as software updates, installed by free programs downloaded from unreliable sites.
Issues with the hijacker	Hijacks browser settings, reads your browsing history, can change your search engine on a whim.
How to remove SearchYA	Uninstall suspicious programs and applications, find and remove malicious browser extensions, check your computer with an antivirus program (Spyhunter for PC, Combo Cleaner for Mac, etc.).

Irrelevant search results provided by SearchYA is one reason to get rid of the associated extension. Another is that the hijacker tracks the user’s browsing habits online, which is a direct violation of online privacy principles. Finally, its installation mainly occurs by means of bundling with other applications, so it gets into browsers unintentionally.

How does SearchYA hijack your browser?

The primary attack of SearchYA is directed at the default search engine. Instead of Google Search (or whatever other site you were using) as your primary search provider, the results will now be delivered by feed.search-ya.com. This particular redirection occurs because of the SearchYA extension of standalone software currently installed on your workstation.

Whenever you submit any specific search queries, SearchYA redirects these queries to feed.search-ya.com, which will then forward you to the result pages by search.yahoo.com. It is possible that this is done for the purpose of generating advertising revenue by applying Yahoo Search for its search results. In addition to the search results delivered by Yahoo, SearchYA may provide a lot of sponsored content (links, ads, discounts, coupon codes, etc.).

Therefore, once SearchYA is successfully activated by means of its extension (add-on), the following symptoms may be in effect:

• amending the default search engine to SearchYA Search;
• redirecting your search queries via feed.search-ya.com;
• presence of other unwanted software related to SearchYA.

Why is SearchYA your default search engine now?

It is clear from the previous information that SearchYA acts by means of its extension or other related application on your computer. SearchYA and its installers are most commonly promoted by means of misleading advertisements or pop-ups mentioning faulty information about the need to perform dubious software updates. When people mistakenly agree with the above-said proposals, SearchYA gets full control over the browser parameters.

SearchYA’s siblings, like Vista Search, TinyChill, and Logic Search also spread the same way: pop-up ads are designed to look like warnings and to tell people to install this “recommended extension”. It’s a template used by other malware, too.

Bundling SearchYA with other free programs is another popular channel through which the hijacker injects itself into the browser. Often people do not realize that, apart from the main free application, the setup additionally suggests the installation of other unwanted software.

To prevent this from happening in the future, always make sure to pay attention to important details. Select the advanced (custom) installation mode. If you notice offers for some additional applications you don’t need, make sure to deselect (uncheck) them.

The last but not least, your current anti-virus software matters a lot for protecting your device. If SearchYA still found some leaks and penetrated into your PC or Mac, it’s quite obvious that your security program basically failed to perform the protecting function. Good antivirus programs and ad-blockers can help you protect your computer from annoying hijackers like SearchYA.

How to remove the SearchYA redirect

To free your browser from SearchYA, you need to find and remove the malicious browser extension. However, if you don’t find SearchYA in your list of installed extensions, don’t panic: Search-ya.com is shared by other browser hijackers, like Fast Dial. Try disabling every single extension that you have one-by-one until SearchYA goes away.

These are the manual steps you first need to implement to get rid of SearchYA manually:

1. uninstalling suspicious software from the Control Panel in Windows computers or from the Applications section in Mac devices;
2. deactivating and deleting unwanted browser add-ons (extensions) that could be related to SearchYA;
3. deleting browser profiles that could be added by the hijacker in Mac computers.

The steps referred to above are effective and should help you fix the majority of browser-related issues. Once you perform those recommendations and restart your browser, SearchYA should no longer control your browser settings. However, we believe that there’s one more important milestone. The fact that SearchYA got into your computer without your participation may be the evidence of some other hidden applications to be the part of your system. Often they cannot be visually discovered, so we recommend scanning with reliable anti-virus software (Spyhunter for Windows, Combo Cleaner for macOS, etc.) that will effectively identify them.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove unwanted browser extensions

How to remove SearchYA using Windows Control Panel

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

TopRemoving SearchYA 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 SearchYA. Click on the trash bin icon next to SearchYA 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 SearchYA, 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 SearchYA 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 SearchYA. Click on the "Remove" icon next to SearchYA 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 SearchYA 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 SearchYA 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 SearchYA, 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.