How to remove Search.gg

What is Search.gg

Search.gg is the name of a browser hijacker that comes along with unwanted/rogue software. It tries its best to mimic legitimate engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others known to many users. Inexperienced people might barely spot the difference between Google and Search.gg. Some may take it as a regular update change to their browser settings. In fact, the presence of Search.gg in your main homepage address suggests that your browser has been inflicted by unwanted software. This could potentially happen after installing bundled software from third-party resources. Users infected with Search.gg may see new ads and redirects popping whilst surfing the web. This might bother or even downgrade your system performance due to high resource usage. It is rare that people install browser hijackers or adware on purpose. Also with noting that browser hijackers can gather personal data. Because Search.gg has access to changing your browser settings, it may also keep track of your entire activity. Therefore, such data like passwords, IP addresses, or geolocations can be collected and sold to third-party figures. Thus, it is important to run the removal of Search.gg from your computer. To do it, follow our tutorial below.

How Search.gg infected your computer

Search.gg is not an independent search engine. This means there should be some other program forcing such changes. Usually, it is unwanted software the gets unintentionally installed as a result of using pirated or cracked setups from freeware websites. Many users do not check the whole installation process for additional offers. Sometimes they are hidden inside of “Advanced” or “Custom” sections. In other cases, developers may offer to choose between “Recommended” or “Manual” types of installation. Always opt for “Manual” types of installation to be able to check what is going to be installed along with the main program. Even if you check all of these sections, there is still a risk of catching some unwanted programs at the end of the process. Whenever downloading pirated software, it is important to take their installation carefully – always look for the sections we mentioned above. In order to combat such threats in the future, it is good to have an antivirus equipped up your belt. Below, we will show you the most effective and trusted programs that will help you stay more protected against unwanted activity in the future.

Remove Search.gg manually for free

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

Note: Search.gg 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.gg from Control Panel

To start removing Search.gg you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names, but usually “Search.gg”. 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.gg from Mac:

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

Remove Search.gg from Windows XP:

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

Remove Search.gg from Windows 7:

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

Remove Search.gg 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 Search.gg or other suspicious program, click Uninstall.

Remove Search.gg from Windows 10:

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

Cannot uninstall Search.gg

In some cases, Search.gg won’t uninstall and gives you the message, that “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall Search.gg. Please, contact your system administrator” when you try to remove it from Control Panel or “Access denied” error when removing the Search.gg 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.gg 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 Search.gg 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.gg using instructions above, or it keeps coming back, you can use free AppCleaner for Mac to remove all residual data and libraries of Search.gg. Follow instructions below:

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

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

Uninstalling Search.gg from Control Panel often does not bring the desired effect. It sometimes has browser extensions and it may still be active in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove Search.gg related extensions 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 Search.gg 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 Search.gg 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 Search.gg 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.gg from Internet Explorer, please, perform instructions for uninstalling program from Control Panel. To disable Search.gg, 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 Search.gg or other suspicious extensions.
6. Also disable other suspicious extensions from the list.

Opera Browser:

Generally, Search.gg 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 Search.gg or other suspicious extensions.
4. Click Uninstall button.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

Search.gg 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.gg. You can also reset your browser settings for each of your browsers: Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox.