How to remove Search-aholic.com

What is Search-aholic.com

If you are constantly being redirected to Search-aholic.com, then your browser is being controlled by a browser hijacker. Programs of this type are ostensibly meant to provide better search queries based on innovative algorithms delivered by its developers. In fact, it looks a bit awkward when a shady organization claims its software to outrace Google or other world-class companies. The research throws away all doubts and proves that Search-aholic.com indeed gathers personal data and simply shows queries from legitimate engines like Google or Yahoo. With the help of SearchAholic browser extension, the hijacker controls the settings in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari. This is why the presence of such programs can ensue multiple problems related to the privacy of users and should be removed to prevent unauthorized tracking by third-parties figures.

How Search-aholic.com infected your computer

Developers of browser hijackers are truly impudent and spread their malware in a sneaky fashion. They mask it under “Advanced/Custom” sections that are included in third-parties repacks. These installation kits are frequently-seen on dubious websites that impose lots of ads and links. Unfortunately, people are keen on skipping these options and end up being inadvertently infected with malicious apps. To protect yourself from these attacks, you should be equipped with up-to-date software to combat new threats. Both removal instructions and protection tips are mentioned in the article below.

Remove Search-aholic.com manually for free

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

Note: Search-aholic.com can be installed as Google Chrome extension as Administrator (you may see Installed by enterprise policy inscription near it), and this will not allow removal. Therefore, before starting removal process, perform these actions:

1. Start the Command Prompt by clicking the Start menu button and typing command prompt (or just searching for “command prompt” in Windows 10 search field). Right click on the Command Prompt result and choose Run as Administrator.



2. Type in and execute the following commands:

   
rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers"
rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy"
gpupdate /force

Remove Search-aholic.com from Control Panel

To start removing Search-aholic.com you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names – “SearchAholic” or “Search-aholic.com”. 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, Windows 8, Windows 10 or Mac.

Remove Search-aholic.com from Mac:

1. In the Finder sidebar, click Applications.
2. Search-aholic.com might have an Uninstaller.
3. Otherwise, drag Search-aholic.com from the Applications folder to the Trash (located at the end of the Dock).
4. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash.

Remove Search-aholic.com from Windows XP:

1. Click on Start button.
2. Choose Control Panel.
3. Click Add or Remove Programs.
4. Find SearchAholic or other suspicious program.
5. Click Uninstall.

Remove Search-aholic.com from Windows 7:

1. Click Start button.
2. Then go to Control Panel.
3. Click Uninstall a Program.
4. Find SearchAholic or other suspicious program and click Uninstall.

Remove Search-aholic.com 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 SearchAholic or other suspicious program, click Uninstall.

Remove Search-aholic.com from Windows 10:

There are 2 ways to uninstall Search-aholic.com 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 SearchAholic or other suspicious program 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 SearchAholic or other suspicious program in the list.
4. Click on it and then click Uninstall button above.

Cannot uninstall Search-aholic.com

In some cases, Search-aholic.com won’t uninstall and gives you the message, that “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall Search-aholic.com. Please, contact your system administrator” when you try to remove it from Control Panel or “Access denied” error when removing the Search-aholic.com folder and files. This happens because the process or service does not allow you to do it. In this case, I will recommend you to use SpyHunter 5 or Malwarebytes or uninstall Search-aholic.com 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 SearchAholic or other suspicious program

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

and for Mac:

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

1. Download free AppCleaner.
2. Drag SearchAholic from Applications folder to AppCleaner window.
3. Choose files and folders you want to remove along with Search-aholic.com.
4. Click Delete button.

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

Uninstalling Search-aholic.com from Control Panel often does not bring the desired effect. It sometimes has browser extension and it may still be active in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove Search-aholic.com related 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 SearchAholic extensions.
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 SearchAholic or other suspicious extensions.
4. Click the trash can icon to remove them.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:addons.
3. Choose SearchAholic or other suspicious extensions.
4. Click Disable or Remove button.
5. Remove all suspicious extensions from the list.

Internet Explorer (9, 10, 11):

Note: There is no feature to remove browser extensions from browser in latest version of Internet Explorer. To remove Search-aholic.com from Internet Explorer, please, perform instructions for uninstalling program from Control Panel. To disable Search-aholic.com, 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 SearchAholic or other suspicious extensions.
6. Also disable other suspicious extensions from the list.

Opera Browser:

Generally, Search-aholic.com 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 SearchAholic or other suspicious extensions.
4. Click Uninstall button.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

Search-aholic.com installs a search engine that hijacks your browsers. Here is the instruction to reset your browser’s homepage, new tab, 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.

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.

Alternative way to remove adware browser extensions and reset browser settings

For safe and effective browser extension removal use avast! Browser Cleanup utility. Run it with administrator privileges and remove all extensions with bad rating including related to Search-aholic.com. 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 Search-aholic.com 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 the anti-malware programs available on the market. One of the best anti-virus programs is SpyHunter 5. It can protect your PC from threats like Search-aholic.com.