How to remove the SearchConverterBox application?

SearchConverterBox browser hijacker removal instructions

What is SearchConverterBox?

SearchConverterBox is a browser hijacker that modifies browser's settings, it changes some of them to the searchconverterbox.com address. Like most apps of this type, it is likely that SearchConverterBox collects certain information as well. Typically, users do not download and install browser hijackers intentionally, for this reason they are called potentially unwanted applications (PUAs).

In most cases apps that are classified as browser hijackers modify settings such as the address of a default search engine, homepage and new tab. SearchConverterBox changes them to searchconverterbox.com. This app opens searchconverterbox.com when users open a browser (or new tab), or enter search queries into URL bar. Searchconverterbox.com is a fake search engine, it redirects users to search.yahoo.com/displays results generated by Yahoo. As a rule, address of a fake search engine cannot be removed from browser's settings unless users uninstall a browser hijacker that is designed to promote it.

It is common that apps like SearchConverterBox are designed to collect geolocations, IP addresses, entered search queries, addresses of visited websites. However, in some cases they are designed to gather sensitive, personal information as well. Moreover, collected information could be monetized by selling it to third parties (potentially cyber criminals), or it could be misused to generate revenue in other ways. It means that users of apps like SearchConverterBox might encounter issues related to online privacy, browsing safety, or even become victims of identity theft.

Threat Summary:

Name	SearchConverterBox
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab
Browser Extension(s)	SearchConverterBox
Supposed Functionality	Improved browsing experience
Promoted URL	searchconverterbox.com
Serving IP Address (searchconverterbox.com)	172.67.163.156
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 Malwarebytes. ▼ Download Malwarebytes To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Malwarebytes. 14 days free trial available.

To summarize, most browser hijackers are designed to promote some fake search engine and collect certain data. It is common that their developers advertise them as useful, legitimate, however, most browser hijackers are useless and can be the reason behind various issues. More examples of PUAs of this type are Decent web, DailySportSearch and PDFSearchHQ.

How did SearchConverterBox install on my computer?

Quite often users download and/or install PUAs when they are included download and/or installation setups of other programs as additional offers and users do not decline those offers. This distribution method is known as "bundling". In most cases offers to download and/or install PUAs can be decline via "Advanced", "Custom", "Manual", or other settings, or by unticking checkboxes that could be found in certain download and/or installation setups. Sometimes users downloaded and/or installed PUAs via deceptive advertisements that are designed to execute certain scripts. However, users cause it only if they click those ads.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

Programs, files should be downloaded from official, trustworthy websites (and via direct links). Third party downloaders, installers, Peer to-Peer networks (like torrent clients, eMule), questionable websites and so on should bot be used. Download and installation setups that have settings like "Advanced", "Custom" or some checkboxes should be checked for offers to download and/or install unwanted, additionally included applications. Advertisements on untrustworthy websites should not be clicked, they could be designed to open other pages of this kind, or download, install unwanted apps. Unwanted, suspicious extensions, plug-ins or add-ons that are installed on a browser should be removed. The same should be done with programs of this kind that are installed on a computer. If your computer is already infected with SearchConverterBox, we recommend running a scan with Malwarebytes for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

Searchconverterbox.com redirects to search.yahoo.com (GIF):

Notification saying that SearchConverterBox can read and change certain data:

Websites promoting SearchConverterBox:

IMPORTANT NOTE! Two of these pages ask for a permission to enable web browser notifications.

Therefore, before commencing, perform these steps:

Google Chrome (PC):

• Click the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen
• Select "Settings", scroll down to the bottom and click "Advanced"
• Scroll down to the "Privacy and security" section, select "Content settings" and then "Notifications"
• Click three dots on the right hand side of each suspicious URL and click "Block" or "Remove" (if you click "Remove" and visit the malicious site once more, it will ask to enable notifications again)

Google Chrome (Android):

• Click on the Menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the screen and click "Settings"
• Scroll down, click on "Site settings" and then "Notifications"
• In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs and click on them one-by-one
• Select "Notifications" in the "Permissions" section and set the toggle button to "OFF"

Mozilla Firefox:

• Click the Menu button (three bars) on the right upper corner of the screen
• Select "Options" and click on "Privacy & Security" in the toolbar on the left hand side of the screen
• Scroll down to the "Permissions" section and click the "Settings" button next to "Notifications"
• In the opened window, locate all suspicious URLs, click the drop-down menu and select "Block"

Internet Explorer:

• Click the Gear button on the right upper corner of the IE window
• Select "Internet options"
• Select the "Privacy" tab and click "Settings" under "Pop-up Blocker" section
• Select suspicious URLs under and remove them one by one by clicking the "Remove" button

Microsoft Edge:

• Click the menu button (three dots) on the right upper corner of the Edge window
• Scroll down, find and click "Settings"
• Scroll down again and click "View advanced settings"
• Click "Manage" under "Website permissions"
• Click the switch under each suspicious website

Safari (Mac):

• Click "Safari" button on the left upper corner of the screen and select "Preferences..."
• Select the "Websites" tab and then select "Notifications" section on the left pane
• Check for suspicious URLs and apply the "Deny" option for each

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Quick menu:

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

SearchConverterBox browser hijacker removal:

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.

Windows XP users:

Click Start, choose Settings and click Control Panel. Locate and click Add or Remove Programs.

Windows 10 and Windows 8 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.

Mac 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 (for example, "SearchConverterBox"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

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

SearchConverterBox browser hijacker 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 "SearchConverterBox" and other 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, disable "SearchConverterBox", look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://www.searchconverterbox.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 "searchconverterbox.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 searchconverterbox.com redirect, 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 "SearchConverterBox", as well as all other 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 disable "SearchConverterBox", remove hxxp://searchconverterbox.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 searchconverterbox.com redirect 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 searchconverterbox.com redirect, 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://searchconverterbox.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 "SearchConverterBox".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the searchconverterbox.com redirect, 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.

Removal assistance:
If you are experiencing problems while trying to remove searchconverterbox.com redirect from your Internet browsers, please ask for assistance in our malware support forum.

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