How to eliminate the History Hide browser hijacker

What is History Hide?

History Hide is advertised as a privacy-focused app that keeps users' searches private. In fact, it changes browser settings to promote its associated search engine (historyhide.com) and might also gather browsing-related and other data. Apps of this type are classified as browser hijackers.

People often download and install browser hijackers accidentally and, therefore, they are also categorized as potentially unwanted applications (PUAs).

Most browser hijackers promote their (usually fake) search engines by changing settings such as the address of the homepage, default search engine and new tab. History Hide sets them to historyhide.com. In this way, users are forced to visit historyhide.com when they open a browser/new window, new tab, and enter search queries into the URL bar.

Note that search engines promoted by browser hijackers can generate misleading results. Although, they generally display results generated by other search engines. Never trust these search engines. To remove historyhide.com from browser settings, uninstall History Hide, otherwise this PUA will reassign the settings after each attempt to modify them.

This is not the only reason to uninstall History Hide. These apps often collect browsing data such as IP addresses, entered search queries, addresses of visited pages, geolocations, and other data of this kind. Browser hijackers can also record personal, sensitive details.

Developers sell gathered information to third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who misuse it to generate revenue in other ways. The data can also be misused to steal identities and people may become victims of identity theft, experience problems relating to browsing safety, online privacy, etc.

Threat Summary:

Name	History Hide
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab.
Browser Extension(s)	History Hide, History Hide - A Hidden Searches Engine
Supposed Functionality	This app supposedly keeps users' browsing data private.
Promoted URL	historyhide.com
Serving IP Address (historyhide.com)	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.
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.

More examples of apps classified as browser hijackers are Translations Instant, Search Sherpa and GameSearch. Frequently, these apps promote a fake search engine URL and collect data. They are often advertised as useful, legitimate apps, which supposedly deliver various features, improve the browsing experience, etc.

In fact, browser hijackers are useless and can cause serious problems. Therefore, remove History Hide and other apps of this type from your browser and computer immediately.

How did History Hide install on my computer?

In some cases, users download and install browser hijackers when clicking dubious ads that run certain scripts, however, PUAs are also downloaded and installed together with other (usually free) software. PUAs are distributed by including them into the set-ups of other programs as 'additional offers'.

These additionally-included apps are often mentioned in "Custom" and "Advanced" settings, and they receive permission to be downloaded and installed by default when people leave these settings unchecked and unchanged. This PUA distribution method is called "bundling".

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

Software and files should not be downloaded from unofficial websites, through Peer-to-Peer networks (torrent clients, eMule), third party downloaders, installed through third party installers, or other channels/sources of this kind. You are advised to download software only from official websites.

Furthermore, it is important to check download and installation set-ups for settings such as "Custom", "Advanced" while downloading and installing software. Decline offers to download or install additional, unwanted apps. Additionally, you are advised against clicking intrusive ads that are displayed on dubious web pages.

They often lead to other websites of this kind or even cause unwanted downloads/installations.

Remove any unwanted, unknown, suspicious extensions, plug-ins and add-ons that are installed on the browser, and programs of this kind are installed on the operating system. If your computer is already infected with History Hide, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

Hijacked browser provides search results by historyhide.com:

Website promoting History Hide browser hijacker::

Another site promoting History Hide browser hijacker:

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

History Hide 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, "History Hide"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

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

History Hide 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://historyhide.com 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 "History Hide".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the historyhide.com 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 "History Hide" (or "History Hide - A Hidden Searches Engine") 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 "History Hide" (or "History Hide - A Hidden Searches Engine"), look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://www.historyhide.com) 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 "historyhide.com", 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 historyhide.com 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 "History Hide" (or "History Hide - A Hidden Searches Engine"), 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 "History Hide" (or "History Hide - A Hidden Searches Engine"), remove hxxp://historyhide.com 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 historyhide.com 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 historyhide.com 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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