How to unninstall apps promoting maxwebsearch.com?

What is maxwebsearch.com?

Maxwebsearch.com is a search engine which is distributed through a potentially unwanted application (PUA), a browser hijacker. Typically, apps of this type promote fake search engines.

They promote them by changing certain browser's settings. It is common that browser hijackers not only modify settings but also collect browsing-related and/or other data. Also, in most cases users download and install such apps unknowingly.

After installation browser hijackers change these browser settings: address of a homepage, default search engine and new tab. In this case installed PUA changes them to maxwebsearch.com. Fake search engines that are promoted through browser hijackers should not be trusted.

It is common that they display results generated by other search engines or generate misleading results. To stop a hijacked browser from opening maxwebsearch.com when users open a new browser window or tab, or enter search queries into URL bar it is necessary to uninstall a browser hijacker which changed the aforementioned settings to this address.

Otherwise that app will reassign its settings after every attempt to undo, modify them. Another reason to uninstall any installed browser hijacker is that apps of this type tend to be designed to collect various data. For example, IP addresses, geolocations, URLs of visited pages, entered search queries and other browsing data.

There are browser hijackers that can record personal details too. Moreover, all gathered information could be sold to third parties who may be cyber criminals and would misuse user's data to generate revenue in other ways. Such actions might cause users online privacy issues, problems related to browsing safety, or even identity theft.

To avoid any of that it is strongly recommended not to have any browser hijacker installed on a browser and/or computer (operating system).

Threat Summary:

Name	maxwebsearch.com browser hijacker
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab
Supposed Functionality	This fake search engine supposed to generate unique, accurate search results
Affected Browser Settings	Homepage, new tab URL, default search engine
Detection Names	CRDF (Malicious), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
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 search engines that are promoted through browser hijackers are mycoolsearch.com, yursd.xyz and club-search.com.

Very often these apps are advertised as useful, they supposed to improve browsing experience, provide quick access to popular pages, etc. However, most of the times they are designed only to collect various data and promote fake search engines. Moreover, their users are exposed at risk of various issues.

How did maxwebsearch.com install on my computer?

Not many users download and/or install potentially unwanted apps intentionally. More often users cause it by clicking deceptive, intrusive advertisements or when they download and/or install some other, usually free software. To trick users into downloading and/or installing PUAs with alongside with software developers use a deceptive marketing method called "bundling".

They include PUAs in setups of other programs as additional offers and hide them in their settings like "Custom", "Advanced". Users who do not check and change those settings when they download and/or install programs allow for included PUAs to be downloaded and/or installed as well.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

The safest way to download software is to use official, trustworthy websites and direct download links for that. Third party downloaders, installers, Peer-to-Peer networks like torrent clients, eMule, unofficial pages, free file hosting sites and other channels of this kind are often used to distribute unwanted apps.

It is common that they are used to distribute malware too. Setups that contain "Advanced", "Custom" and other similar settings should be always checked for offers to download or install unwanted software. It is worthwhile to mention that intrusive ads that are displayed on untrustworthy website tend to open other pages of this kind or even cause unwanted downloads, installations.

One more important thing is not to have any  unwanted extensions, plug-ins or add-ons on that are installed on a web browser and programs of this kind  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.

Another variant of maxwebsearch.com page (extsearch.maxwebsearch.com):

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

maxwebsearch.com 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 maxwebsearch.com website), scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

maxwebsearch.com redirect 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://maxwebsearch.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 "maxwebsearch.com".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the maxwebsearch.com 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.

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.maxwebsearch.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 "maxwebsearch.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 maxwebsearch.com 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://maxwebsearch.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 maxwebsearch.com 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 maxwebsearch.com 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.

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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