SpecialReply.com hijacker - How to remove

SpecialReply.com might be set as a homepage on your web browser if the computer you are using is infected with malware. This particular virus is categorised to be browser hijacker because when installed on a computer, it will make some changes that will ‘hijack’ web browsers. It’s a pretty common type of malware nowadays, as we have already encountered SearchBy.net and Chromesearch.today viruses earlier this week.

If you can relate to the main symptoms of this malware (hijacked homepage, default search engine is www.specialreply.com instead of your previous search provider), then your computer is probably infected and you should take actions to solve this problem. In this article we will provide you with detailed instructions how to do that so just proceed reading.

SpecialReply.com virus as an add-on

We have already mentioned that this virus is operating as a browser add-on. As far as we know, it is compatible with all most popular web browsers out there, including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. That means it can attack and install itself on any of those web browsers. Luckily, we have prepared manual removal guide for all those internet browsers, so if you are keen to solve this problem right now – scroll down below the article and follow removal steps.

Usually malicious add-ons like this are traveling as a bundle to some kind of free software. Therefore when you download free application from the Internet, always pay close attention to the installation process. Additional tools like this can be featured as a default option, so if you just cruise through the installation without making any changes, the add-on will be added automatically.

When added to any of your web browsers, SpecialReply.com will be automatically set as a homepage and default search engine. From now on, you will have to encounter this website in order to start browsing the Internet.

From a first look, this website looks legitimate – clean minimalistic and the focus to the main function, which is web searches. Unfortunately, if you try to search for something using this website, you will soon notice that there are tons of sponsored results that might be not even relevant to your search query. That’s because they are trying to make money this way – by promoting affiliated websites. In addition to that, those sponsored links might lead you to unreliable websites, therefore we do not recommend to click on any of them.

Next concern regarding this service – users privacy and safety. This is an extract from their privacy policy document:

As a general rule, we do not share the information we collect from end-users with third- parties. However, IP addresses, unique software IDs, and search terms or phrases inputted in the browser address bar as queries by our end-users are transmitted to certain Partners with whom Specialreply has subcontracted to obtain Internet search results or other services in response to such search queries

So your IP address and information you expose to that search engine can be easily leaked to various third parties. That is extremely dangerous and thus we recommend not to use this tool. However, it can be a difficult thing to do since it appears as your homepage. To fix this, you should remove SpecialReply browser hijacker immediately. The best way to do that is to download reliable anti-malware application and scan your computer with it. We recommend to use either Spyhunter for this task.

For any following questions please contact us via comments section below.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Get rid of SpecialReply.com hijacker

How to remove SpecialReply using Windows Control Panel

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

Delete SpecialReply.com hijacker from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the SpecialReply 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 SpecialReply.com 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 SpecialReply.com 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 SpecialReply.com 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 SpecialReply.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.
  
• 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 SpecialReply, 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 SpecialReply.com 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 SpecialReply.com 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 SpecialReply.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 SpecialReply 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 SpecialReply.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.

Manual removal