How to remove Searchisty

What is Searchisty

Searchisty browser hijacker is a type of malicious software designed to take control of a user’s web browser by altering key settings such as the default search engine, homepage, and new tab. Once installed, it redirects search queries to findflarex.com, a fake search engine that subsequently redirects users to boyu.com.tr, a dubious search engine known for its unreliable and potentially harmful search results. Trusting the search results generated by boyu.com.tr can lead users to phishing sites, technical support scams, fake giveaways, and even websites hosting malicious software. Searchisty often comes bundled with extensions that enable the “Managed by your organization” feature in browsers like Chrome, further complicating efforts to remove the hijacker and restore normal browser functionality. This feature can be misused to prevent access to various webpages, manage extensions, inject unwanted ads, and gather personal browsing data. Users usually acquire Searchisty through deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers, or fake software updates. Given its invasive nature and potential risks, it is highly recommended to utilize specialized tools to remove Searchisty and restore browser settings.

How Searchisty infects computers

Searchisty, a notorious browser hijacker, typically infiltrates computers through deceptive software bundling and misleading advertisements. It often accompanies free software downloads from unreliable sources, where it is included as an optional offer that users may inadvertently install if they do not carefully deselect it during the setup process. Additionally, Searchisty can gain access via fake software updates, malicious pop-up ads, and dubious websites that trick users into downloading the hijacker. Once installed, Searchisty alters browser settings such as the homepage and default search engine to redirect users to potentially harmful websites, thereby increasing the risk of encountering phishing scams, malware, and intrusive ads. The hijacker may also enable the “Managed by your organization” feature in browsers like Chrome, further complicating its removal and compromising user privacy by tracking browsing activities and collecting sensitive data.

1. Download Searchisty Removal Tool
2. Remove Searchisty from Control Panel and Applications
3. Remove Searchisty extensions from browsers
4. Reset browser search and homepage settings
5. Alternative way to remove Searchisty search redirects
6. Clean browser shortcuts from Searchisty
7. How to protect from threats like Searchisty

Remove Searchisty manually for free

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

Note: Searchisty can be installed as Google Chrome extension as Administrator (you may see Installed by enterprise policy or Your browser is managed by your organization 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 Searchisty from Control Panel or Applications

To start removing Searchisty you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names – “Searchisty”. 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, Windows 11, or Mac.

Remove Searchisty from Windows XP:

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

Remove Searchisty from Windows 7:

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

Remove Searchisty 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 Searchisty or other suspicious program, click Uninstall.

Remove Searchisty from Windows 10:

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

Remove Searchisty from Windows 11:

1. Right-click on the Start button.
2. In opened menu choose Settings.
3. Click on the Apps tab on the left side.
4. Click Apps & features and locate Searchisty or other recently installed suspicious program in the list.
5. Click on 3-dots icon near it and then click Uninstall button near it.
6. Depending on the type of application (Windows Store app or classic Win32 app) it will be removed immediately or you will need to confirm the action and go through standard uninstall procedure.

Remove Searchisty from Mac:

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

Cannot uninstall Searchisty in Windows

In some cases, Searchisty won’t uninstall and gives you the message, that “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall Searchisty. Please, contact your system administrator” when you try to remove it from Control Panel or “Access denied” error when removing the Searchisty 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 Searchisty 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 Searchisty or other suspicious program

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

Cannot uninstall Searchisty in MacOS

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

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

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

Uninstalling Searchisty from Control Panel or Applications often does not bring the desired effect. It sometimes has a browser extension and it may still be active in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove Searchisty extension from your browsers manually.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://extensions.
3. Find Searchisty extension.
4. Click the Remove button 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. Find Searchisty extension.
4. Click three-dots icon near it and choose Remove in the menu.
5. In opened dialog window click Remove button to confirm the action.
6. Remove all suspicious extensions from the list.

Safari:

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

Microsoft Edge:

1. Start Microsoft Edge browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) edge://extensions.
3. Find Searchisty extension.
4. Click Remove link under the name of extension.
5. In opened dialog window click Remove button to confirm the action.
6. 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 Searchisty from Internet Explorer, please, perform instructions for uninstalling program from Control Panel. To disable Searchisty, 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 Searchisty or other suspicious extensions.
6. Also disable other suspicious extensions from the list.

Opera Browser:

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

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

Searchisty installs a search engine (%WEBSITE%) that hijacks your browsers. Here is the instruction to reset your browser’s homepage, new tab, and search engine to default values.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://settings.
3. On the left panel expand Advanced options.
4. Choose Reset and clean up.
5. Click on Restore settings to their original defaults link and confirm by clicking Reset button.

Google Chrome > Settings > Advanced

Reset and clean up

Reset Google Chrome

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:support.
3. Click Refresh Firefox… button.
4. Click Refresh Firefox button in opened dialog window 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.

Microsoft Edge:

1. Start Microsoft Edge browser
2. Click on 3-dots icon in the top-right corner and choose Settings.
3. On the left panel find and click Reset settings option.
4. Click on Restore settings to their default values link and confirm by clicking Reset 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. Start Opera browser and click on Opera icon in the top-left corner.
2. Choose Settings and click Advanced on the left side and choose Browser.
3. Scroll down to the very bottom and click on Restore settings to their original defaults link.
4. Confirm by clicking Reset button.

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 Searchisty. 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

How to protect from threats, like Searchisty, in future


SpyHunter 5 Dashboard

SpyHunter 5 Results

SpyHunter 5 System Guard

Be careful surfing the internet and downloading software, as programs like Searchisty 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 Searchisty.

Download SpyHunter for Windows

Download SpyHunter for Mac