How to remove searchsnow.com from browser's settings?

How to remove searchsnow.com browser hijacker from Mac?

What is searchsnow.com?

Searchsnow.com is an address of a fake search engine. In most cases such addresses/fake search engines are promoted through browser hijackers. App of this type promote them by changing certain browser's settings. Also, very often browser hijackers are designed to collect browsing-related and/or other information. Most of the times users download and/or install such apps unknowingly, therefore,, they are categrized as potentially unwanted applications (PUAs).

As a rule, browser hijackers promote fake search engines by assigning their address as an address of a homepage, default search engine and/or new tab. Simply said, such apps promote fake search engines by forcing users to visit a certain address when they open a browser, new tab and/or enter search queries into URL bar. They are called fake search engines because they do not generate unique results and/or display misleading ones. This particular search engine displays results on mybrowser-search.com by opening through a couple of other shady addresses such as searchbaron.com and hut.brdtxhea.xyz. To stop a browser from opening searchsnow.com (and addresses that it redirects to) it is required to uninstall a PUA which is designed to promote it, otherwise that app will reassign its settings after every attempt to modify, undo them. Also, such apps should not be kept installed because they often are designed to collect various data. Usually they target browsing-related details like IP addresses, entered search queries, addresses of visited pages, geolocations, etc. Although, they can be designed to record personal, sensitive details as well. Their developers may use gathered information to generate revenue by selling it to third parties (potentially cyber criminals) or in some other ways. Which means their users may become victims of identity theft, experience problems related to browsing safety, online privacy, etc.

Threat Summary:

Name	searchsnow.com browser hijacker
Threat Type	Browser hijacker, Mac malware, Mac virus
Serving IP Address	185.93.1.241
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. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner for Mac To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited three days free trial available.

Some more examples of fake search engines are searchmarquis.com, prudensearch.com and search.becovi.com. As a rule, their addresses appear in browser's settings when a browser gets hijacked by some potentially unwanted application. Quite often such apps are advertised as useful, legitimate, they supposed to improve browsing experience and/or include some features. Although, neither fake search engines or browser hijackers should be trusted. Typically, they are useless and can be the culprit of various problems.

How did searchsnow.com install on my computer?

In most cases browser hijackers and other PUAs get downloaded and/or installed through untrustworthy, deceptive ads, or when software developers distribute them by using a deceptive marketing method called "bundling". They use this method to trick users into unwanted downloads or installations of PUAs by including them in setups of other programs as additional offers. Typically, such offers can be declined through setup's settings such as "Custom", "Advanced" or other settings. Unintentional downloads and installations happen when users leave them unchanged. In some cases it happens when users click ads that are designed to execute certain scripts.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

Third party downloaders, installers, Peer-to-Peer networks (like torrent clients, eMule, etc.), unofficial pages, and other similar download and/or installation channels often are used as tools to distribute various PUAs. They can be used to distribute malicious apps as ell. Therefore, software (and files) should be downloaded only from official websites and through direct links. Moreover, downloads and installations should not be completed without checking "Advanced", "Custom" and other options of setups. It is common that those settings mention offers to download and/or install additional, unwanted apps. Advertisements that are displayed on questionable, untrustworthy websites often open other websites of this kind or even cause unwanted downloads, installations. For these reasons such ads should not be trusted (clicked). If there are any unwanted, suspicious extensions, add-ons, plug-ins installed on a browser, then they should be uninstalled from it as soon as possible. The same should be done with 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 macOS to automatically eliminate them.

Searchsnow.com opens mybrowser-search.com via searchbaron.com and hut.brdtxhea.xyz (GIF):

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

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

searchsnow.com redirect removal:

Remove searchsnow.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 searchsnow.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.

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

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Remove searchsnow.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 searchsnow.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 searchsnow.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.