How to remove searches.network from browser settings?

What is searches.network?

Searches.network is the address of a fake search engine. Typically, when users see such address in the settings of a web browser/they end up on that address on certain occasions, then it means that a browser has some browser hijacker installed on it.

In most cases users download and install browser hijackers unknowingly, for this reason they are called potentially uwanted applications (PUAs). It is worthwhile to mention that quite often apps of this type are designed to gather information related to user's web browsing activities.

As a rule, browser hijackers are designed to change browser setting such as the address of a default search engine, homepage and new tab. In this case such app changes those settings to searches.network which is designed to redirect users to webcrawler.com - the address of another shady search engine.

It is advised not to use such search engines, they could be designed to generate results that would include links to untrustworthy websites. Typically, address of a fake search engine (searches.network) cannot be removed from browser settings unless users uninstall a browser hijacker that is designed to promote it.

Although, there is another reason not to have such apps installed on browsers and/or computers. Quite often they are designed to collect information that their developers might misuse to generate revenue (e.g., they may sell it to third parties who may be cyber criminals).

For example, IP addresses, geolocations, entered search queries, addresses of visited pages, or even personal, confidential information. Such actions may cause users problems related to browsing safety, online privacy, it is possible that users become victims of identity theft as well.

Threat Summary:

Name	searches.network browser hijacker
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab
Serving IP Address	172.67.151.247
Supposed Functionality	Accurate search results
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.

Charmsearching.com, directsearchapp.com and customsearch.info are examples of other fake, unreliable search engines. As a rule, in most cases they are designed to provide results generated by some legitimate search engine (like Google, Yahoo).

However, in some cases they generate unique results that may include links to shady pages, or they provide results generated by some search engine that may function like this. In one way or another, fake search engines should bot be used, the same applies to browser hijackers.

How did searches.network install on my computer?

It is common that users download and/or install browser hijackers (and other PUAs) together with other programs. More precisely, when PUAs are included in download and/or installation setups of those programs as additional offers.

In most cases the aforementioned offers can be declined through "Advanced", "Custom" or other settings that are available in setups (or via their checkboxes). When users finish downloads and/or installations without changing any settings, they download and/or install both desired software and PUAs.

This method to distribute PUAs is known as "bundling". Sometimes unwanted apps get downloaded and/or installed through deceptive advertisements that users click. Although, it happens only when those ads are designed to execute certain scripts.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

It is important to check download and installation setups for settings like "Custom", "Advanced" and see if they can be used to decline offers to download and/or install additionally included applications. Also, it is recommended to download files and programs only from official websites and via direct links

. Unofficial websites, Peer-to-Peer networks like torrent clients, eMule, third party downloaders, installers, etc., should not be used neither to download or install software (or files). Furthermore, it is advised not to trust (click) advertisements that appear on dubious websites.

Those ads can be designed to open other untrustworthy websites or even cause unwanted downloads, installations. Any unwanted, unknown or suspicious extensions, plug-ins or add-ons that are installed on a browser should be removed from it. The same applies to software of this kind that is installed on the operating system.

If your computer is already infected with browser hijackers, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate it.

Searches.network redirects to webcrawler.com (GIF):

Fake Flash player installer used to promote searches.network 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 searches.network?
• STEP 1. Uninstall unwanted applications using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove searches.network browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 3. Remove searches.network homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 4. Remove searches.network redirect from Safari.
• STEP 5. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.
• STEP 6. Remove searches.network redirect from Internet Explorer.

searches.network 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 suspicious applications, select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted applications (which cause browser redirects to the searches.network website), scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

searches.network redirect removal from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove browser redirects:

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 all 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, look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://www.searches.network) 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 "searches.network" 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 searches.network 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 plugins from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions" and remove all 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 remove hxxp://searches.network 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 searches.network 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 searches.network 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.

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://searches.network 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 "searches.network".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the searches.network 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.

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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