How to uninstall apps that promote prudensearch.com?
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
(updated)
How to remove prudensearch.com browser hijacker from Mac?
What is prudensearch.com?
Prudensearch.com is an address of a fake search engine which supposed to improve browsing experience (generate accurate results, provide a quick access to various popular pages, etc.). As a rule, such search engines are promoted through potentially unwanted applications (PUAs) classified as browser hijackers. Prudensearch.com is promoted through a PUA called PrudenSearch. Typically, apps of this type promote fake search engines by changing certain browser's settings. It is common that apps of this type not only change settings but also gather various data. PrudenSearch is distributed through some deceptive Adobe Flash Player installer which is used to distribute other PUAs named Media Player, Easy Mac Care and Shoptimizely too.
PrudenSearch promotes prudensearch.com by assigning it as an address of a default search engine. It is worthwhile to mention that most browser hijackers change address of a homepage and new tab too. Prudensearch.com is a fake search engine because it displays results generate by Bing, although, it redirects users to bing.com through trovi.com, another shady address. It is common that apps like PrudenSearch do not allow users to undo the changes that were made by them as long as they are installed. It means that prudensearch.com can be removed from browser's settings only when PrudenSearch is uninstalled. Another problem with such PUAs is that they often are designed to gather details like user's IP addresses, geolocations, addresses of visited pages, entered search queries, and/or other browsing data. It is possible that collected data may be misused to generate revenue by selling it to third parties (potentially cyber criminals) or in some other way. Therefore, such apps have such apps may lead to problems like identity theft, issues related to browsing safety, online privacy. Apps of this type should never be downloaded and installed. Fake search engines should never be used as well. As mentioned in the introduction, PrudenSearch is distributed alongside with Shoptimizely (adware) and Easy Mac Care and Media Player - a couple of other PUAs. These applications should not be trusted as well. Therefore, it they are installed on a browser and/or computer, then they should be uninstalled from it right away.
| Name | PrudenSearch browser hijacker |
| Threat Type | Browser hijacker, Mac malware, Mac virus |
| Detection Names (of a deceptive installer) | Avast (MacOS:Agent-FJ [Adw]), BitDefender (Adware.MAC.Bundlore.EGJ), Emsisoft (Adware.MAC.Bundlore.EGJ (B)), Kaspersky (Not-a-virus:HEUR:AdWare.OSX.Bnodlero.ah), Full List (VirusTotal) |
| Serving IP Address | 104.26.7.110 |
| Additional Payload | Media Player, Easy Mac Care, Shoptimizely |
| Symptoms | Your Mac became slower than normal, you see unwanted pop-up ads, you get redirected to shady websites. |
| Distribution methods | Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers, torrent file downloads. |
| Damage | Internet browsing tracking (potential privacy issues), displaying of unwanted ads, redirects to shady websites, loss of private information. |
| Malware Removal (Mac) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your Mac with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
Prudensearch.com is virtually identical to searchmine.net. More examples of fake search engines like prudensearch.com are search.getstranto.club, my-search.site and go.coloringmaster.net. Typically, fake search engines do not generate independent results, they display results generated by some other search engine (like Bing, Yahoo, Google). Also, some fake search engines display misleading results/promote questionable websites. As mentioned in the introduction, PrudenSearch (and other PUAs) are distributed through a deceptive installer. It is common that such installers are used to distribute not only PUAs but also malware (e.g., ransomware, Trojans). Therefore, such installers should never be used to install any applications.
How did prudensearch.com install on my computer?
This fake search engine appears in browser's settings when users install PrudenSearch through a deceptive Adobe Flash Player installer. Although, PUAs can be installed through setups of other programs and deceptive ads as well. Unwanted downloads, installations through setups of other programs happen when users leave their settings like "Custom", "Advanced" of setups unchanged. By leaving those settings unchanged users allow for additionally included apps to be downloaded and/or installed together with some desired software. This distribution method of potentially unwanted software is known as "bundling". Downloads, installations through deceptive ads can happen only when users click ads that are designed to execute certain scripts.
How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?
It is strongly recommended to download software only from official websites, through direct links and avoid using various third party downloaders (and installers), Peer-to-Peer networks (e.g., eMule, torrent clients), unofficial sites and other channels of this kind for that. Another way to avoid unwanted downloaders and/or installations is not to leave "Advanced", "Custom" and other settings of any download and installation setup unchecked. Those settings often mention offers to download and/or install additional software that can be declined before completing downloads and/or installations. Additionally, it can be avoided by not clicking advertisements that appear on questionable websites. It is because such ada tend to open other untrustworthy pages or even cause downloads or installations of unwanted apps by executing certain scripts. If some unwanted, suspicious plug-in, extension or add-on is already installed on a browser or program of this kind is installed on the operating system, then it should be removed/uninstalled right away. If your computer is already infected with browser hijackers, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for macOS to automatically eliminate them.
Prudensearch.com redirects to bing.com via trovi.com (GIF):
Delusive application installer promoting prudensearch.com, Media Player, Shoptimizely and Easy Mac Care:
Prudensearch.com assigned as default search engine in Chrome:
IMPORTANT NOTE! Rogue setups/apps that promote the prudensearch.com website are designed to create a new device profile. Therefore, before taking any further removal steps, perform these actions:
1) Click the "Preferences" icon in the menu bar and select "Profiles"
2) Select the "Chrome Settings" and "Safari Settings" profiles and delete them.
3) Perform a full system scan with Combo Cleaner anti-virus suite.
After performing these actions, you can proceed with further removal steps for this browser hijacker.
Instant automatic Mac malware removal:
Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced computer skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of Mac malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner for Mac
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. Limited three days free trial available.
Quick menu:
- What is prudensearch.com?
- STEP 1. Remove prudensearch.com related files and folders from OSX.
- STEP 2. Remove prudensearch.com redirect from Safari.
- STEP 3. Remove prudensearch.com browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
- STEP 4. Remove prudensearch.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
Video showing how to remove prudensearch.com browser hijacker using Combo Cleaner:
prudensearch.com redirect removal:
Remove prudensearch.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 prudensearch 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.
PrudenSearch browser hijacker homepage and default Internet search engine removal from Internet browsers:
Remove malicious extensions from Safari:
Remove prudensearch 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 prudensearch 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 prudensearch 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.
Outstanding!