Search.socialdownloadr.com - How to remove

Have you noticed that Search.socialdownloadr.com was set as your homepage? If so, beware that your browser has been hijacked and you will not be able to browse regularly anymore. This article will cover the most important facts about Search.socialdownloadr.com and help you learn how to remove it.

About Search.socialdownloadr.com:

Classification	Browser hijacker, adware.
Search.socialdownloadr.com’s effects	Redirects your search queries to Yahoo, reads what sites you visit, replaces your home page and your new tab page.
How the hijacker spreads	Ads online, wallpaper/new tab extensions, bundled freeware and shareware.
How to remove Search.socialdownloadr.com	Uninstall unwanted browser extensions, check if there’s malware on your computer (Spyhunter for PC, Combo Cleaner for macOS, others), review search and new tab settings.

About Search.socialdownloadr.com virus

Search.socialdownloadr.com is a browser hijacker program. It changes browsing settings: sets the homepage and new tab page to Search.socialdownloadr.com and makes it your default search engine.

This means that Search.socialdownloadr.com shows up on your screen when you open your browser, when you open a new tab (the plus ‘+’ button at the top), whenever you try to search for something on the internet, Search.socialdownloadr.com is there. It can also read your browsing history (each site that you visit). Search.socialdownloadr.com may be called a browser hijacker because of its behavior.

 

Search.socialdownloadr.com virus can also fall under the category of adware since it may display popups, notifications with links to scam giveaways, explicit sites, and fake news articles. In turn, these can lead to malware infections or awkward social situations.

Ordinarily, though, Search.socialdownloadr.com simply opens Yahoo.com when you search for something online. This is very common for browser hijackers and adware viruses.

Distribution methods of the Search.socialdownloadr.com virus

Search.socialdownloadr.com browser hijacker is usually downloaded with other free software off of the Internet. This happens without your knowledge because there are no obvious notifications. Search.socialdownloadr.com can come along with media players, video converters, download managers, PDF creators, etc. It is bundled with them, deliberately easy to miss.

Or, you might have caught Search.socialdownloadr.com on a video streaming site. One of the free (infringing) ones. Such sites always show deceptive ads, so you can catch all sorts of malware on them, some much worse than Search.socialdownloadr.com.

Finally, Search.socialdownloadr.com appears with wallpaper browser extensions. From cute dog pictures to Fortnite screenshots, extensions that offer to pretty up your new tab may cause Search.socialdownloadr.com to hijack your search. In this way, Search.socialdownloadr.com is similar to Mazysearch.com or Find.customsearch.info (there’s no shortage of search hijackers online).

And even when the reinstallation of the software is performed, the browser’s default settings will not be restored and ads will show up.

How to remove Search.socialdownloadr.com

All that’s needed is to:

• find and uninstall the browser extension that is forcing Search.socialdownloadr.com on your browser,
• check your computer for bundlers and other potentially unwanted programs,
• review the settings of your browser to remove references to Search.socialdownloadr.com.

Search.socialdownloadr.com browser hijacker can be removed manually. A guide for how to do it is provided below this article.

To remove the Search.socialdownloadr.com virus automatically, you will need to use an anti-malware program such as Spyhunter (Windows), AdwCleaner, Malwarebytes, Hitman, Combo Cleaner (macOS), etc.

You can avoid Search.socialdownloadr.com and hijackers like it. Whenever performing installation, pay close attention to the process. Look through the custom installation and remove unfamiliar software. Be careful with sites that show aggressive ads and pop-ups.

Below, detailed instructions are given on how to remove the unwanted malicious program Search.socialdownloadr.com.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manual removal of Search.socialdownloadr.com virus

How to remove socialdownloadr using Windows Control Panel

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

Delete Search.socialdownloadr.com from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the socialdownloadr 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.socialdownloadr.com 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.socialdownloadr.com, 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.socialdownloadr.com 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.socialdownloadr.com 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 socialdownloadr, 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.socialdownloadr.com 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.socialdownloadr.com, 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.socialdownloadr.com from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall socialdownloadr 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.socialdownloadr.com, 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