How to remove Search.yahoo.com (Windows and Mac)

What is Search.yahoo.com

Note: Search.yahoo.com is legitimate search engine, that provides decent search results and can be used as homepage and default search engine in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Opera and Internet Explorer. It is usually controlled by programs and browser extensions called “Yahoo Toolbar” or “Search Provided by Yahoo”. However, sometimes this webpage is installed or redirected to by browser hijackers without user consent. In this article, we will mostly describe the cases of malware infection that causes redirects to Search.yahoo.com and methods to remove them.

There are a lot of hijackers, that install Search.yahoo.com (Us.yhs4.search.yahoo.com) as default search engine and homepage. Search engines fight for the market and different companies use various ways to distribute their product. Along with their own browser add-ons, Yahoo is partnering with thousands of software developers and webmasters, allowing them to earn by driving traffic and customers to search.yahoo.com website. Developers earn on user clicks on ads inside Yahoo Search or just per each installation of Yahoo search products in browsers. Here we would explain how to remove most popular malware, that causes Search.yahoo.com redirect and how to restore your browser settings to default values.

How Search.yahoo.com infected your PC

Among the most popular threats, that are related to Yahoo search we can note: Spigot, Safe Finder, Mystart, Conduit toolbars. Only these four infected literally tens of millions of computers all over the world and continue doing this under different names. Now program, that can be a reason of Search.yahoo.com problem can have any random name, the list includes several hundreds of names. All these programs have several things in common: usually, Yahoo search applications are bundled with free programs and, if users do not look carefully, they start modifications in background. Second thing is that Search.yahoo.com usually comes with a browser extension, that can also have various names. Manual removal of Search.yahoo.com becomes possible only after you uninstall appropriate programs and remove appropriate extension and toolbars, otherwise, this can become Sisyphean labor. To make this task hassle-free and effective we recommend you to use SpyHunter 5 to remove all potentially unwanted programs, that are related to Yahoo search.

Remove Search.yahoo.com manually for free

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

Remove Search.yahoo.com from Control Panel

To start removing Search.yahoo.com you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names – “Yahoo Toolbar” or just “Search Provided by Yahoo” or just any name. 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 Search.yahoo.com from Mac:

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

Remove Search.yahoo.com from Windows XP:

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

Remove Search.yahoo.com from Windows 7:

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

Remove Search.yahoo.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 Search Provided by Yahoo or other suspicious program, click Uninstall.

Remove Search.yahoo.com from Windows 10:

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

Cannot uninstall Search.yahoo.com

In some cases Search.yahoo.com won’t uninstall and gives you message that “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall Search.yahoo.com. Please, contact your system administrator” when you try to remove it from Control Panel or “Access denied” error when removing Search.yahoo.com folder and files. This happens, because 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.yahoo.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 “Search Provided by Yahoo” 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.yahoo.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.yahoo.com. Follow instructions below:

1. Download free AppCleaner.
2. Drag Search Provided by Yahoo or other suspicious program from Applications folder to AppCleaner window.
3. Choose files and folders you want to remove along with Safe Finder.
4. Click Delete button.

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

Uninstalling Search.yahoo.com from Control Panel often does not bring desired effect. It sometimes have browser extension and it may still be active in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove Search.yahoo.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 Search Provided by Yahoo extension.
4. Click Uninstall button to remove it.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://extensions/.
3. Find 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 suspicious extension.
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.yahoo.com from Internet Explorer, please, perform instructions for uninstalling program from Control Panel. To disable Search.yahoo.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 Search.yahoo.com.
6. Also disable other suspicious extensions from the list.

Opera Browser:

Generally, Search.yahoo.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 Search.yahoo.com extension.
4. Click Uninstall button.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

Search.yahoo.com installs 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.

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.

How to block redirects from Search.yahoo.com

Search.yahoo.com 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.yahoo.com” hijacks 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 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.yahoo.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.yahoo.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 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 Search.yahoo.com.