Surfself.com Redirect

What is surfself.com?

surfself.com is a fake Internet search engine that falsely claims to generate the most relevant search results. In addition, the site supposedly allows quick access to various popular websites. These false claims often trick users into believing that this site is legitimate.

In fact, surfself.com is designed to monitor browsing activity by recording various user/system data. Furthermore, developers promote this site using dubious software installation set-ups that stealthily modify Internet browser settings.

Deceptive 'installers' assign browsers the Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox new tab URL, default search engine, and homepage settings to surfself.com. They also append surfself.com to the target of each browser shortcut.

'Helper objects' - third party applications and/or browser plug-ins - are then installed to prevent users from returning browsers to their previous states. Users are unable to roll back these changes, since helper objects reassign aforementioned the settings to surfself.com when attempts are made to change them.

This forces continual unwanted browser redirects to surfself.com, significantly diminishing the web browsing experience.

Furthermore, browsing activity is continually monitored, since surfself.com and helper objects continually record Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (to determine geographic location), search queries entered into search engines, websites visited, pages viewed, and other similar information.

This information might be personally identifiable and shared by developers with third party companies who often misuse personal details to generate revenue.

This behavior can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft. If you continually encounter unwanted browser redirects to surfself.com, uninstall all suspicious applications/browser extensions and never visit surfself.com again.

surfself.com is a regular fake Internet search engine sharing many similarities with hundreds of others including aqovd.com, onesearchbox.com, search.searchlf.com, etc. All fake Internet search engines claim to enhance the Internet browsing experience in certain ways.

In fact, these sites are designed only to generate revenue for the developers - claims to provide so-called 'valuable features' are false. Sites such as surfself.com simply cause unwanted browser redirects, gather personal data, and deliver intrusive online advertisements.

How did surfself.com install on my computer?

As with many fake search engines, surfself.com is distributed using a deceptive marketing method called 'bundling'. Research shows that many users rush the download/installation processes and skip most/all steps.

Aware of this, developers hide browsers' settings modification details within the 'Custom/Advanced' section of these procedures. By skipping this section, users inadvertently grant set-ups permission to modify various settings.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

Many PUPs are distributed using the bundling method. Therefore, it is very important to closely analyze each step of the download/installation processes. Select the 'Custom/Advanced' settings, follow each step, and cancel all third party applications. Furthermore, never allow set-ups to modify options irrelevant to the installation.

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

• What is surfself.com?
• STEP 1. Uninstall potentially unwanted applications using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove surfself.com redirect from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove surfself.com browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove surfself.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove surfself.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

surfself.com redirect removal:

Windows 11 users:

Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.

Windows 10 users:

Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.

Windows 7 users:

Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.

macOS (OSX) users:

Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.

In the uninstall programs window: look for any recently-installed potentially unwanted applications, select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted program that causes browser redirects to the surfself.com website, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

surfself.com homepage and default Internet search engine removal from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove browser hijackers:

Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:

Remove surfself.com-related Internet Explorer add-ons:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently-installed suspicious browser extensions, select such entries and click "Remove".

Fix Internet Explorer shortcut target:

This browser hijacker changes the "Target" field of the Internet Explorer shortcut. To fix this, locate the shortcut on your Desktop and click the right mouse button over it. In the opened menu, choose "Properties". In the opened window, locate the Target field and eliminate text (hxxp://www.surfself.com/...), which is entered after "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe".

Change your homepage:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Internet Options", in the opened window, remove hxxp://www.surfself.com and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you launch Internet Explorer.

Change your default search engine:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". In the opened window, select "Search Providers", set "Google", "Bing" or any other preferred search engine as your default, then remove "surfself".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the surfself.com browser hijacker, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.

Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.

In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.

Click the Reset button.

Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Remove surfself.com-related Google Chrome extensions:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate any recently-installed suspicious add-ons, select these entries and click the trash can icon.

Fix Google Chrome shortcut target:

This browser hijacker modifies the "Target" field of the Google Chrome shortcut. To fix this, locate the shortcut on your Desktop and click the right mouse button over it. In the opened menu, choose "Properties". In the opened window, locate the Target field and eliminate all text (hxxp://www.surfself.com/...), which is entered after "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe"

Change your homepage:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, click "set pages", hover your mouse over hxxp://www.surfself.com and click the x symbol. Now, you can add your preferred website as your homepage.

Change your default search engine:

To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in "Search" section, click "Manage Search Engines...", remove "surfself" and add or select your preferred Internet search engine.

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the surfself.com browser hijacker, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.

After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Remove surfself.com-related Mozilla Firefox add-ons:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click "Extensions", in the opened window, remove any recently-installed suspicious browser plug-ins.

Fix Mozilla Firefox shortcut target:

This browser hijacker changes the "Target" field of the Mozilla Firefox shortcut. To fix this, locate the shortcut on your Desktop and click the right mouse button over it. In the opened menu, choose "Properties". In the opened window, locate the Target field and eliminate all text (hxxp://www.surfself.com/...), which is entered after "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"

Change your homepage:

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window) then select "Options", in the opened window, remove hxxp://www.surfself.com and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.

Change default search engine:

In the URL address bar, type about:config and press Enter.
Click "I'll be careful, I promise!".
In the search filter at the top, type: "surfself"
Right-click on the found preferences and select "Reset" to restore default values.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with surfself.com browser hijacker removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.

Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.

Select Troubleshooting Information.

In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click Safari menu, then select Preferences...

In the preferences window select the Extensions tab. Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions and uninstall them.

In the preferences window select General tab and make sure that your homepage is set to a preferred URL, if its altered by a browser hijacker - change it.

In the preferences window select Search tab and make sure that your preferred Internet search engine is selected.

Optional method:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...

In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.

Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate any recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage and new tab settings:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section look for the name of the browser hijacker and click "Disable".

Change your default Internet search engine:

To change your default search engine in Microsoft Edge: Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Privacy and services", scroll to bottom of the page and select "Address bar". In the "Search engines used in address bar" section look for the name of the unwanted Internet search engine, when located click the "Disable" button near it. Alternatively you can click on "Manage search engines", in the opened menu look for unwanted Internet search engine. Click on the puzzle icon near it and select "Disable".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the surfself.com browser hijacker, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.

In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.

Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

• If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.

Summary:

A browser hijacker is a type of adware infection that modifies Internet browser settings by assigning the homepage and default Internet search engine settings to some other (unwanted) website URL. Commonly, this type of adware infiltrates operating systems through free software downloads. If your download is managed by a download client, ensure that you decline offers to install advertised toolbars or applications that seek to change your homepage and default Internet search engine settings.

Post a comment:
If you have additional information on surfself.com browser hijacker or it's removal please share your knowledge in the comments section below.

▼ Show Discussion