How to uninstall the Smart Searching Tab unwanted app

What is Smart Searching Tab?

As its name suggests, Smart Searching Tab is an app designed to improve the browsing experience, however, it is actually designed to promote hsmartsearching.net (the address of a fake search engine) and collect browsing data. I.e., Smart Searching Tab is a browser hijacker designed to promote a fake search engine.

Typically, apps of this type promote search engines by modifying certain browser settings. Few users download or install apps such as Smart Searching Tab intentionally. Therefore, they are categorized as potentially unwanted applications (PUAs). This app is distributed and installed together with another PUA called Hide My History.

Like most browser hijackers, Smart Searching Tab modifies browser settings such as the address of the default search engine, homepage, and new tab. This app sets them to hsmartsearching.net so that users are forced to visit this site when they open a browser/new window, new tab, or enter search queries into the URL bar.

Usually, apps of this type prevent users from undoing the changes made and remove the fake search engine URL. Therefore, to remove hsmartsearching.net (change it to a preferred address) it is necessary to uninstall Smart Searching Tab from the browser and/or operating system.

Search engines such as hsmartsearching.net are fake, since they do not generate any unique results. Commonly, they provide results generated by other, legitimate search engine. This search engine displays results generated by Yahoo simply by redirecting to search.yahoo.com.

Furthermore, most browser hijackers gather IP addresses, entered search queries, URLs of visited websites, geolocation, and other information relating to users' browsing habits. Some browser hijackers can access personal, sensitive details.

There is a possibility that the people behind the browser hijacker will sell the data to third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who could misuse it to generate revenue in other ways. These actions can lead to problems relating to browsing safety and online privacy, and some users might even become victims of identity theft (or experience other serious issues).

Therefore, browser hijackers should never be downloaded or installed. If Smart Searching Tab, Hide My History, or other PUAs are already installed, eliminate them immediately.

Threat Summary:

Name	Smart Searching Tab
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab.
Browser Extension(s)	Smart Searching Tab
Supposed Functionality	Smart Searching Tab supposedly improves the browsing experience.
Promoted URL	hsmartsearching.net
Serving IP Address (hsmartsearching.net)	52.22.7.195
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	Smart Searching Tab is distributed with another browser hijacker called Hide My History.
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.
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Some examples of other apps that are classified as browser hijackers include Easy Forms, Search Tab and DoctoPDF. Typically, apps of this type promote addresses of fake search engines and collect browsing data. They deliver no useful features and do not improve the browsing experience - they can, however, cause serious problems.

How did Smart Searching Tab install on my computer?

In some cases, users download and install PUAs through deceptive advertisements. They are also downloaded/installed with other (usually free) programs. I.e., when they are included into the download/installation set-ups. This distribution method is called "bundling".

Typically, information regarding offers of additionally-included apps are mentioned in "Custom", "Advanced" and other similar settings.

Many users download and install programs without checking and changing these settings, thereby allowing included PUAs to infiltrate. Unwanted downloads and installations are also caused when people click deceptive advertisements that run certain scripts.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

Programs should not be downloaded or installed through third party downloaders/installers, Peer-to-Peer networks such as eMule, torrent clients, unofficial pages, and so on. The safest way to download files and programs is using official websites and direct download links.

Check all "Custom", "Advanced" and other similar setting and decline offers to download or install unwanted software before completing the process. Do not click advertisements that are shown on dubious websites, since they can open other rogue sites or even download and install unwanted apps.

Remove any unwanted, suspicious extensions, plug-ins and add-ons installed on the browser, and programs of this kind installed on the computer. If your computer is already infected with Smart Searching Tab (and other PUA), we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

Notification stating that Smart Searching Tab can read and change various data:

Website promoting Smart Searching Tab browser hijacker:

IMPORTANT NOTE! This deceptive site asks to enable web browser notifications.

Therefore, before commencing, perform these steps:

Google Chrome (PC):

• Click the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen
• Select "Settings", scroll down to the bottom and click "Advanced"
• Scroll down to the "Privacy and security" section, select "Content settings" and then "Notifications"
• Click three dots on the right hand side of each suspicious URL and click "Block" or "Remove" (if you click "Remove" and visit the malicious site once more, it will ask to enable notifications again)

Google Chrome (Android):

• Click on the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen and click "Settings"
• Scroll down, click on "Site settings" and then "Notifications"
• In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs and click on them one-by-one
• Select "Notifications" in the "Permissions" section and set the toggle button to "OFF"

Mozilla Firefox:

• Click the Menu button (three bars) on the right upper corner of the screen
• Select "Options" and click on "Privacy & Security" in the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen
• Scroll down to the "Permissions" section and click the "Settings" button next to "Notifications"
• In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs, click the drop-down menu and select "Block"

Internet Explorer:

• Click the Gear button on the right upper corner of the IE window
• Select "Internet options"
• Select the "Privacy" tab and click "Settings" under "Pop-up Blocker" section
• Select suspicious URLs under and remove them one by one by clicking the "Remove" button

Microsoft Edge:

• Click the menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the Edge window
• Scroll down, find and click "Settings"
• Scroll down again and click "View advanced settings"
• Click "Manage" under "Website permissions"
• Click the switch under each suspicious website

Safari (Mac):

• Click "Safari" button on the left upper corner of the screen and select "Preferences..."
• Select the "Websites" tab and then select "Notifications" section on the left pane
• Check for suspicious URLs and apply the "Deny" option for each

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Quick menu:

• What is Smart Searching Tab?
• STEP 1. Uninstall Smart Searching Tab application using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove hsmartsearching.net redirect from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove Smart Searching Tab browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove hsmartsearching.net homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove hsmartsearching.net redirect from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

Smart Searching Tab 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, "Smart Searching Tab"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

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

Smart Searching Tab 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://hsmartsearching.net 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 "Smart Searching Tab".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the hsmartsearching.net 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 "Smart Searching Tab" and other recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons (e.g., "Hide My History"), 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 "Smart Searching Tab" or "Hide My History", look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://hsmartsearching.net or hxxps://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 "hxxp://hsmartsearching.net" and "hxxp://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 hsmartsearching.net 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 "Smart Searching Tab", as well as all other recently installed browser plug-ins (e.g., "Hide My History").

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 "Smart Searching Tab" or "Hide My History", remove hxxp://hsmartsearching.net or 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 hsmartsearching.net 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 hsmartsearching.net 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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