How to uninstall Hide My History and Your Search Tool

What is Hide My History?

Hide My History is the name of a browser hijacker, a potentially unwanted application (PUA) that promotes hidemyhistory.co, the address of a fake search engine.

Generally, browser hijackers promote these addresses by changing certain browser settings. Furthermore, most apps of this type operate as information tracking tools and collect browsing data. Generally, people download and install browser hijackers (and other PUAs) inadvertently. Note that Hide My History is installed together with another PUA called Your Search Tool.

Typically, browser hijackers promote fake search engines by assigning their addresses as the homepage, new tab and default search engine URLs. Hide My History sets them to hidemyhistory.co.

In summary, apps such as Hide My History ensure that users visit fake search engines such as hidemyhistory.co when they open a browser, new tab or enter search queries into the URL bar. To remove fake search engine addresses from browser settings it is necessary to uninstall the browser hijacker that initially made the changes.

Otherwise, it will prevent any changes to the settings. In this particular case, uninstalling Hide My History can prevent hidemyhistory.co from being opened. Most browser hijackers gather information.

For example, addresses of visited websites, entered search queries, geolocations, IP addresses, and other browsing data, however, some can access and record personal, sensitive information. Furthermore, the developers sell the information to third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who misuse it in other ways.

Browser hijackers (including Hide My History and Your Search Tool) should not be downloaded or installed. Users of these apps are exposed to risk of problems relating to privacy and browsing safety. Some browser hijackers also record details that could be misused to steal users' identities.

Threat Summary:

Name	Hide My History
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab.
Browser Extension(s)	Hide My History
Supposed Functionality	This app supposedly keep users' searches (browsing data) private.
Promoted URL	hidemyhistory.co
Serving IP Address (hidemyhistory.co)	52.22.128.194
Affected Browser Settings	Homepage, new tab URL, default search engine.
Symptoms	Manipulated internet browser settings (homepage, default internet search engine, new tab settings). Users are forced to visit the hijacker's website and search the internet using their search engines.
Additional Information	Hide My History is distributed with another PUA called Your Search Tool.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers.
Damage	Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner 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.

There are many browser hijackers on the internet. Some examples are Cranchit, Online Templates and Private Tab. Most promote fake search engines and track information.

Developers advertise them as useful apps, which supposedly deliver various features, improve the browsing experience, etc., however, few operate as promised. Generally, apps of this type are useless and simply cause problems.

How did Hide My History install on my computer?

Browser hijackers and other PUAs are distributed by including them into the set-ups of other programs as "additional offers". This distribution method is known as "bundling" and is used to trick people into downloading and installing PUAs together with other software that they wish to acquire.

In most cases, offers to download and install additionally-included apps are listed in settings such as "Advanced", "Custom", and "Manual", however, many people fail to check and change these settings before completing the process. Leaving the settings unchanged allows download and installation of additional PUAs by default.

PUAs are sometimes downloaded and installed through deceptive advertisements that execute certain scripts, however, this can happen only if the ads are clicked.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

Third party downloaders, installers, Peer-to-Peer networks (eMule, torrent clients), unofficial pages and other such tools and channels are used to distribute unwanted software. Therefore, they should not be used to download or install your software. All programs and files should be downloaded from official pages and via direct links.

Note that download/installation set-ups often contain settings such as "Advanced" and "Custom". Check these settings and dismiss any offers to download or install additional, unwanted software before finishing the process. Never click ads that are displayed on dubious web pages, since they can open various untrusted, potentially malicious websites.

In some cases, they cause download/installation of unwanted software. Remove all unwanted, suspicious extensions, add-ons and/plug-ins that are installed on the browser.

Also remove any programs of this kind installed on the operating system. If your computer is already infected with Hide My History, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

Website promoting Hide My History browser hijacker:

Hide My History asks permission to be added to the browser (and to read and change various data):

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▼ 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 Hide My History?
• STEP 1. Uninstall Hide My History application using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove hidemyhistory.co redirect from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove Hide My History browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove hidemyhistory.co homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove hidemyhistory.co redirect from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

Hide My History browser hijacker 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 suspicious applications (for example, "Hide My History", "Your Search Tool"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted applications that cause browser redirects to the hidemyhistory.co website, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

Hide My History browser hijacker removal from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove browser redirects:

Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:

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

Change your homepage:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Internet Options", in the opened window remove hxxp://hidemyhistory.co and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you launch Internet Explorer. You can also enter about: blank to open a blank page when you start 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 and then remove "Hide My History" (and "Your Search Tool").

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the hidemyhistory.co redirect, 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:

Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate "Hide My History", "Your Search Tool", and other recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage:

Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable "Hide My History" (and/or "Your Search Tool"), look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://www.hidemyhistory.co) below the “Open a specific or set of pages” option. If present, click on the three vertical dots icon and select “Remove”.

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 the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list look for "hidemyhistory.co", when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Remove from list".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the hidemyhistory.co redirect, 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:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions" and remove "Hide My History" (and/or "Your Search Tool"), as well as all other recently installed browser plug-ins.

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 disable "Hide My History" (and/or "Your Search Tool"), remove hxxp://hidemyhistory.co and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.

Change your 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: "extensionControlled"
Set both results to "false" by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the button.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with hidemyhistory.co redirect 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 hidemyhistory.co redirect, 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.

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