How to remove the PDFSearchio browser hijacker

What is PDFSearchio?

PDFSearchio is dubious software categorized as a browser hijacker. It operates by making alterations to browser settings to promote pdfsearchio.com (a bogus search engine). This browser hijacker also has data tracking capabilities, which are used to collect browsing-related information.

Since most users install PDFSearchio unintentionally, it is also classified as a Potentially Unwanted Application (PUA).

Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and other popular browsers are typical targets of browser hijackers. They reassign the homepage, default search engine and new tab/window URLs to the addresses of fake search engines (e.g. pdfsearchio.com).

These seemingly minor modifications significantly affect the browsing experience. To elaborate, with PDFSearchio installed, each new browser tab/window opened and web search made via the URL bar redirects to pdfsearchio.com.

Fake search engines are typically unable to provide unique results, and so they redirect to (or cause redirection chains ending with) Yahoo, Google, Bing and other legitimate sites. This is the case of with the pdfsearchio.com web searcher, which redirects to the Yahoo (search.yahoo.com) search engine. 

Browser hijackers can reset any changes users attempt to make to their browsers, if they allow access to the browser settings in the first place. PDFSearchio can track data. It monitors browsing activity (URLs visited, web pages viewed, search queries typed, etc.) and gathers sensitive information extracted from it (IP addresses, geolocations and other details).

The collected data usually contains personally identifiable information. Furthermore, the developers monetize this information by sharing it with and/or selling it to third parties (potentially, cyber criminals), likewise seeking to misuse it for profit.

In summary, the presence of data-tracking content on browsers/systems can lead to financial loss, serious privacy issues and even identity theft. To ensure device and user safety, you are strongly advised to eliminate all suspect applications and browser extensions/plug-ins without delay.

Threat Summary:

Name	PDFSearchio
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab.
Browser Extension(s)	PDFSearchio, pdfsearchio.
Promoted URL	pdfsearchio.com
Serving IP Address (pdfsearchio.com)	104.24.97.218
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.

SearchTheConverter, StreamSaloon and WinkiSearch are some examples of other browser hijackers. They may seem legitimate and harmless, and users are enticed into download/installation with offers of "useful" functionality. These features seldom work as promised and, in most cases, do not work at all.

This is true of most PUAs. The sole purpose of this unwanted software is to generate revenue for the developers. Regular users receive no real value and can experience serious problems. PUAs hijack browsers, force-open untrusted and malicious websites, run intrusive advertisement campaigns and collect private information.

How did PDFSearchio install on my computer?

Some PUAs (including PDFSearchio) have "official" promotional pages, from which they can be downloaded. They can also be downloaded/installed together with other software. This deceptive marketing method of pre-packing regular programs with unwanted or malicious additions is called "bundling".

Rushing download/installation processes (e.g. ignoring terms, skipping steps and sections, etc.) increases the risk of unintentionally allowing bundled content into the system, thereby endangering it with potential infections. Intrusive ads proliferate these applications as well. When clicked, they can execute scripts to stealthily download/install PUAs.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

You are advised to research all software before download/installation and/or purchase. All downloads must be done from official and verified sources. Dubious download channels such as unofficial and free-file hosting websites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks and other third party downloaders commonly offer deceptive and/or bundled content.

When downloading/installing, it is important to read the terms, study all possible options, use the "Custom" or "Advanced" settings and opt-out of supplementary apps, tools, features, and so on. Intrusive ads typically seem legitimate, however, they can redirect to dubious web pages (e.g. gambling, pornography, adult-dating, etc.).

If you encounter these advertisements and/or redirects, remove all suspicious applications and browser extensions/plug-ins immediately. If your computer is already infected with PDFSearchio, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

PDFSearchio browser hijacker asking for various permissions:

Appearance of PDFSearchio browser hijacker (GIF):

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

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

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

PDFSearchio 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://pdfsearchio.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 "PDFSearchio".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the pdfsearchio.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 "PDFSearchio" 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 "PDFSearchio" (or simply "pdfsearchio"), look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://www.pdfsearchio.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 "pdfsearchio.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 pdfsearchio.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 "PDFSearchio", 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 "PDFSearchio", remove hxxp://pdfsearchio.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 pdfsearchio.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 pdfsearchio.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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