Safe Finder Removal Guide

What is Safe Finder

Update: Recent versions of Safe Finder infect Safari browsers on Mac systems. We updated this guide with instructions to remove search.safefinderformac.com, search.macsafefinder.com or search.sfmac.com from MacOSX

Safe Finder by Linkury Ltd. is browser extension that installs in 3 major browsers (Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer). SafeFinder replaces default search and homepage of all your browsers to search.safefinder.com (or alternatively to isearch.safefinder.com, search.safefinder.biz). Even if you remove SafeFinder from Control Panel and extensions from browsers these settings will remain unchanged. In some cases, it infects browser shortcuts and every time you open your browser you get search.safefinder.com as homepage or new tab. Also, it injects extra advertising in some webpages – usually on shopping sites. This is quite annoying.

How Safe Finder infected your PC

The main distribution channel of SafeFinder adware is bundling with freeware programs. Often you need some free utility and you download it from the internet. Nowadays many useful free utilities earn money by this kind of advertising – along with the installation of this free program you get adware programs as SafeFinder. It is also distributed on CNET (along with CNET Downloader) and on various landing pages with big green buttons (usually advertised with Google Adwords).

Remove SafeFinder manually for free

Here is a manual step-by-step tutorial for full Safe Finder removal from your computer. This works 99% and was checked with the latest versions of SafeFinder installer on operating systems with the latest updates and browser versions.

Remove Safe Finder from Control Panel

To start removing SafeFinder you should remove it using Control Panel. It should uninstall correctly, however, we recommend you to use IObit Uninstaller to clean leftover items after uninstalling. Here are instructions for Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8 and Mac.

Remove Safe Finder from Mac:

1. In the Finder sidebar, click Applications.
2. Safe Finder might have an Uninstaller. If you see Uninstall Safe Finder or Safe Finder Uninstaller, double-click it and follow the onscreen instructions.
3. Otherwise, drag Safe Finder from the Applications folder to the Trash (located at the end of the Dock).
4. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash.

Remove Safe Finder from Windows XP:

1. Click on Start button.
2. Choose Control Panel.
3. Click Add or Remove Programs.
4. Find SafeFinder or SafeFinder Smartbar.
5. Click Uninstall.

Remove Safe Finder from Windows 7:

1. Click Start button.
2. Then go to Control Panel.
3. Click Uninstall a Program.
4. Find SafeFinder or SafeFinder Smartbar and click Uninstall.

Remove Safe Finder from Windows 8:

1. Hover mouse pointer to the bottom-right corner to see Menu.
2. Click Search.
3. After that click Apps.
4. Then Control Panel.
5. Click Uninstall a Program under Programs.
6. Find SafeFinder or SafeFinder Smartbar, click Uninstall.

Remove Safe Finder from Windows 10:

There are 2 ways to uninstall Safe Finder from Windows 10

Way one

1. Click on the Start button.
2. In opened menu choose Settings.
3. Click on the System tile.
4. Click Apps & features and locate Safe Finder in the list.
5. Click on it and then click Uninstall button near it.

Way two (classic)

1. Right-click on the Start button.
2. In opened menu choose Programs and Features.
3. Locate Safe Finderin the list.
4. Click on it and then click Uninstall button above.

Cannot uninstall SafeFinder

In some cases SafeFinder won’t uninstall and gives you message that “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall SafeFinder. Please, contact your system administrator” when you try to remove it from Control Panel or “Access denied” error when removing SafeFinder folder and files. This happens, because process SafeFinder.exe or service SafeFinderSvc.exe does not allow you to do it. In this case I will recommend you to use SpyHunter 5 or Malwarebytes or uninstall SafeFinder in Safe Mode. To boot in Safe Mode do the following:

1. Reboot your computer.
2. While it starts booting press F8 button.
3. This will open Advanced Boot Options menu.
4. Choose Safe Mode and wait until Windows loads.
5. Go to Control Panel > Uninstall a program and remove SafeFinder

>> See detailed instructions and video tutorial on how to boot in Safe Mode

and for Mac:

If you can’t uninstall Safe Finder using instructions above, or it keeps coming back, you can use free AppCleaner for Mac to remove all residual data and libraries of Safe Finder. Follow instructions below:

1. Download free AppCleaner.
2. Drag Safe Finder from Applications folder to AppCleaner window.
3. Choose files and folders you want to remove along with Safe Finder.
4. Click Delete button.

Remove Safe Finder add-on from your browsers

Removing SafeFinder from Control Panel or Applications often does not bring desired effect. It is browser extension and it may still be active in Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove SafeFinder extension from your browsers manually.

Safari:

1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Click Extensions tab.
3. Find Safe Finder extension.
4. Click Uninstall button to remove it.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://extensions/.
3. Find SafeFinder extension.
4. Click the trash can icon to remove it.

1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Click Extensions tab.
3. Find SafeFinder extension.
4. Click Uninstall button to remove it.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:addons.
3. Choose SafeFinder extension.
4. Click Disable or Remove button.

Internet Explorer (9, 10, 11):

Note: There is no feature to remove browser extensions from browser in latest version of Internet Explorer. To remove SafeFinder from Internet Explorer, please, perform instructions for uninstalling program from Control Panel. To disable SafeFinder, please, do the following:

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click on gear/asterisk icon in the top-right corner.
3. In opened menu Manage Add-ons.
4. Select Toolbars and Extensions.
5. Click Disable SafeFinder.

Opera Browser:

Generally, Safe Finder does not install in Opera browser however you can always double check. Do the following:

1. Start Opera browser.
2. Go to Tools > Extensions > Manage Extensions.
3. Find SafeFinder extension.
4. Click Uninstall button.

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

SafeFinder installs along with search engine that hijacks your browsers. Here is instruction to reset your browsers homepage, newtab and search engine to default values.

Reset Safari:

1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Go to the Privacy section of Safari’s preferences.
3. Click Remove All Website Data button.
4. In opened window click Remove Now button to remove data stored by websites in Safari.
5. Go to the Advanced section of Safari’s preferences.
6. Click the Show Develop menu in menu bar option.
7. In the menu click Develop and select Empty Caches from this menu.
8. Again, go to Safari menu and choose Clear History….
9. Choose to clear all history and click Clear History button.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://settings/.
3. Scroll down and find Show advanced settings link.
4. Click on it and scroll down to the bottom again.
5. Click Reset browser settings button and click Reset to confirm.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:support.
3. Click Reset Firefox… button.
4. Click Reset Firefox to confirm.

Reset Safari:

1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
2. Go to the Privacy section of Safari’s preferences.
3. Click Remove All Website Data button.
4. In opened window click Remove Now button to remove data stored by websites in Safari.
5. Go to the Advanced section of Safari’s preferences.
6. Click the Show Develop menu in menu bar option.
7. In the menu click Develop and select Empty Caches from this menu.
8. Again, go to Safari menu and choose Clear History….
9. Choose to clear all history and click Clear History button.

Internet Explorer (9, 10, 11):

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. Click on gear/asterisk icon in the top-right corner.
3. In opened menu choose Internet options.
4. Click Advanced tab.
5. Click Reset button.
6. Choose Delete personal settings and click Reset.

Opera Browser:

1. Close Opera and open command prompt from the start menu.
2. Type following command del %AppData%\Opera\Opera\operaprefs.ini
3. Start Opera.

Remove following files and folders

Safe Finder files:


axinterop.wmplib.dll
chromehost.exe
googlechromeremoteplugin.dll
interop.wmplib.dll
lrcnt.dll
lrcnta.exe
mactrackbarlib.dll
microsoft.mshtml.dll
microsoft.practices.enterpriselibrary.common.dll
microsoft.practices.enterpriselibrary.exceptionhandling.dll
microsoft.practices.enterpriselibrary.exceptionhandling.logging.dll
microsoft.practices.enterpriselibrary.logging.dll
microsoft.practices.objectbuilder.dll
ndde.dll
productsremovaltool.exe
regasm.exe
sgml.dll
sgmu.dll
sidb.dll
siem.dll
sipb.dll
sismlp.dll
smartbar.gui.controls.dll
smartbar.gui.docking.dll
smartbar.infrastructure.businessentities.dll
smartbar.infrastructure.core.dll
smartbar.infrastructure.plugins.chromelocalplugin.dll
smartbar.resources.languagesettings.dll
smartbar.resources.socialnetssharer.dll
smartbar.resources.socialnetssharer.xmlserializers.dll
smartbar.resources.translations.dll
smartbarinternetexplorerbho.dll
smartbarinternetexplorerextension.dll
smartbarversionshelper.exe
smta.dll
smti.dll
smtu.dll
spbe.dll
spbl.dll
spsm.dll
srau.dll
srbhu.dll
srgu.dll
srns.dll
srom.dll
srpu.dll
srsbs.dll
srsbsau.dll
srsl.dll
sruhs.dll
srus.dll
interop.shdocvw.dll
lrrot.dll
newtonsoft.json.dll
smartbar.gui.mainclient.dll
smartbar.infrastructure.plugins.firefoxlocalplugin.dll
smartbar.infrastructure.plugins.internetexplorerlocalplugin.dll
smartbar.infrastructure.utilities.dll
smartbar.monetization.proxy.proxyservice.dll


Safe Finder folders:


C:\users\{your username}\appdata\local\smartbar\application\


How to block ads and pop-ups from Safe Finder

Safe Finder redirects, in most cases, are caused by a program installed on your PC or add-on installed in browsers. However, sometimes it can appear on a clean computer when visiting malicious website, using advertising script. Also, apps that generate “Search.safefinder.com” ads are themselves installed from pop-ups. To protect your PC and browsers from phishing websites, pop-up ads, banners, malicious scripts it is recommended to use AdGuard. Download free trial here:

Download AdGuard for Windows

Download AdGuard for Mac

Alternative way to remove adware browser extension SafeFinder and reset browser settings

For safe and effective browser extension removal use avast! Browser Cleanup utility. Run it with administrator privileges and remove all extension with bad rating including SafeFinder. You can also reset your browser settings for each of your browsers: Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox.

Download Avast Browser Cleanup

Cleaning browsers shortcuts

You can clean your browser shortcuts manually right-clicking on your browser icon, choosing “Properties” and removing hijacker address from “Target” field (leave just the path to your browser). However it is easier to use free Shortcut Cleaner from BleepingComputer. Download it here – its FREE:

Download Shortcut Cleaner

Final tips

Be careful surfing the internet and downloading software, as programs like SafeFinder may become a real headache as they are hard to remove and break your privacy. To keep safe from such threats we recommend you always use antivirus and one of antimalware programs available on the market. One of the best anti-spyware and antimalware programs is SpyHunter 5. It can protect your PC from threats like SafeFinder.