Yoursafesearch.com Redirect (Mac)

How to remove yoursafersearch.com browser hijacker from Mac?

What is yoursafersearch.com?

Developers present yoursafersearch.com as an Internet search engine that significantly enhances the browsing experience by generating improved results. Judging on appearance alone, yoursafersearch.com may seem legitimate and useful, however, this site is promoted via rogue download/installation set-ups that modify browser settings without consent. Furthermore, yoursafersearch.com continually tracks users' Internet browsing activity.

Rogue set-ups hijack Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome, stealthily assigning the new tab URL, homepage, and default search engine options to yoursafersearch.com. Following successful modification, set-ups install a number of "helper objects" (third party applications and/or browser plug-ins) to reassign the aforementioned settings when attempts are made to change them. Therefore, returning browser settings to their previous states becomes impossible and users are forced to visit yoursafersearch.com when they open a new browser tab or search via the URL bar. This significantly diminishes the web browsing experience. Furthermore, Internet browsing activity is continually monitored, since yoursafersearch.com (and helper objects) records various information such as IP addresses, website URLs visited, search queries, etc. This collected data might contain personal details that developers share with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who generate revenue by misusing personal information. Therefore, information tracking can result in serious privacy issues or even identity theft. If you encounter unwanted redirects to yoursafersearch.com, uninstall all suspicious applications and browser plug-ins. Never return to this deceptive website.

Research reveals that yoursafersearch.com is identical to chumsearch.com, my-search-start.com, saferqueries.com, and a number of other sites. It also shares many similarities with hundreds of other fake search engines. By claiming to enhance the web browsing experience, fake search engines attempt to give the impression of legitimacy, however, they are designed only to generate revenue for the developers, whilst regular users receive no value. In fact, fake search engines merely cause unwanted redirects and record various user-system information.

How did yoursafersearch.com install on my computer?

Developers promote yoursafersearch.com by employing a deceptive marketing method called "bundling", since they know that users often rush the download/installation set-ups and skip steps. Therefore, information regarding modification of browser settings is hidden within the "Custom" or "Advanced" options of these procedures. By skipping these sections, users inadvertently grant set-ups permission to modify various browser options.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

To prevent this situation, be very cautious during the download and installation processes. Closely analyze each step using the "Custom" or "Advanced" settings, decline offers to download/install additional application, and never allow set-ups to modify settings irrelevant to the installation.

Privacy policy of yoursafersearch.com browser hijacker:

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Quick menu:

• What is yoursafersearch.com?
• STEP 1. Remove yoursafersearch.com related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove yoursafersearch.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove yoursafersearch.com browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove yoursafersearch.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.

Video showing how to remove adware and browser hijackers from a Mac computer:

yoursafersearch.com redirect removal:

Remove yoursafersearch.com-related potentially unwanted applications from your "Applications" folder:

Click the Finder icon. In the Finder window, select “Applications”. In the applications folder, look for “MPlayerX”,“NicePlayer”, or other suspicious applications and drag them to the Trash. After removing the potentially unwanted application(s) that cause online ads, scan your Mac for any remaining unwanted components.

Remove yoursafesearch.com browser hijacker related files and folders:

Click the Finder icon, from the menu bar, choose Go, and click Go to Folder...

Check for adware-generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: /Library/LaunchAgents

In the “LaunchAgents” folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by adware - “installmac.AppRemoval.plist”, “myppes.download.plist”, “mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist”, “kuklorest.update.plist”, etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the same string.

Check for adware-generated files in the /Library/Application Support folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: /Library/Application Support

In the “Application Support” folder, look for any recently-added suspicious folders. For example, “MplayerX” or “NicePlayer”, and move these folders to the Trash.

Check for adware-generated files in the ~/Library/LaunchAgents folder:

In the Go to Folder bar, type: ~/Library/LaunchAgents

In the “LaunchAgents” folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by adware - “installmac.AppRemoval.plist”, “myppes.download.plist”, “mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist”, “kuklorest.update.plist”, etc. Adware commonly installs several files with the same string.

Check for adware-generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: /Library/LaunchDaemons

In the “LaunchDaemons” folder, look for recently-added suspicious files. For example, “com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist”, “com.myppes.net-preferences.plist”, "com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist”, “com.avickUpd.plist”, etc., and move them to the Trash.

 Scan your Mac with Combo Cleaner:

If you have followed all the steps in the correct order you Mac should be clean of infections. To be sure your system is not infected run a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus. Download it HERE. After downloading the file double click combocleaner.dmg installer, in the opened window drag and drop Combo Cleaner icon on top of the Applications icon. Now open your launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon. Wait until Combo Cleaner updates it's virus definition database and click "Start Combo Scan" button.

Combo Cleaner will scan your Mac for malware infections. If the antivirus scan displays "no threats found" - this means that you can continue with the removal guide, otherwise it's recommended to remove any found infections before continuing.

After removing files and folders generated by the adware, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.

yoursafesearch.com browser hijacker homepage and default Internet search engine removal from Internet browsers:

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Remove yoursafesearch.com browser hijacker related Safari extensions:

Open Safari browser. From the menu bar, select "Safari" and click "Preferences...".

In the preferences window, select "Extensions" and look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions. When located, click the "Uninstall" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Safari browser - none are crucial for normal browser operation.

Change your homepage:

In the "Preferences" window, select the "General" tab. To set your homepage, type the preferred website URL (for example: www.google.com) in the Homepage field. You can also click the “Set to Current Page” button if you wish to set your homepage to the website you are currently visiting.

Change your default search engine:

In the "Preferences" window, select the "Search" tab. Here you will find a drop-down menu labelled "Search engine:" Simply select your preferred search engine from the drop-down list.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Safari.

Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Remove yoursafesearch.com browser hijacker related Mozilla Firefox add-ons:

Open your Mozilla Firefox browser. At the top right corner of the screen, click the "Open Menu" (three horizontal lines) button. From the opened menu, choose "Add-ons".

Choose the "Extensions" tab and look for any recently-installed suspicious add-ons. When located, click the "Remove" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Mozilla Firefox browser - none are crucial for normal browser operation.

Change your homepage:

To change your homepage, click the "Open Menu" (three horizontal lines) button and choose "Preferences" from the drop-down menu. To set your homepage, type the preferred website URL (for example: www.google.com) in the Homepage Page.

Change default search engine:

In the URL address bar, type "about:config" and click the "I'll be careful, I promise!" button.

In the "Search:" field, type the name of the browser hijacker. Right click on each of the found preferences and click "Reset" from the drop-down menu.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Remove yoursafesearch.com browser hijacker related Google Chrome add-ons:

Open Google Chrome and click the "Chrome menu" (three horizontal lines) button located in the top-right corner of the browser window. From the drop-down menu, choose "More Tools" and select "Extensions".

In the "Extensions" window, look for any recently-installed suspicious add-ons. When located, click the "Trash" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Google Chrome browser - none are crucial for normal browser operation.

Change your homepage:

Click the "Chrome menu" (three horizontal lines) button and choose "Settings". In the "On Startup" section, click the "Set pages" link near to the "Open a specific page or set of pages" option. Remove the URL of the browser hijacker (for example trovi.com) and enter your preferred URL (for example, google.com).

Change default search engine:

Click the "Chrome menu" (three horizontal lines) button and choose "Settings". In the "Search" section, click the "Manage search engines..." button. In the opened window, remove the unwanted Internet search engine by clicking the "X" button next to it. Select your preferred Internet search engine from the list and click the "Make default" button next to it.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Google Chrome.

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