How to remove Searchitnow.info (Windows and Mac)

What is Searchitnow.info

Searchitnow.info is insecure search website, that can infect Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers. It replaces default settings of new tab, home page and search engine. Depending on user location, Searchitnow.info can redirect to goto-searchitnow.global.ssl.fastly.net, my-search.com, alphashoppers.co, go.mail.ru. From a technical point of view, Searchitnow.info is not a virus, although it hinders or completely blocks the work in the browser. Malware constitutes a threat to the privacy and security of personal data. Searchitnow.info creates vulnerabilities as, when searching for something, your browser will show a hodgepodge of sponsored links, links to malicious and deceptive sites and search results from real search engines. It is necessary to remove Searchitnow.info from computer and browsers and clean up settings.

How Searchitnow.info infected your PC

Currently, infections like Searchitnow.info are very widespread, which is due to the fact that most users try to find free programs, download and install them on their computer without proper attention to what can penetrate the computer with them. Antiviruses, in most cases, won’t detect Searchitnow.info or won’t be able to remove existing infection. Use special tools, recommended below to remove hijackers from your PC or Mac.

Download Removal Tool for Windows

Download Removal Tool

To remove Searchitnow.info completely, we recommend you to use Norton Antivirus from Symantec. It detects and removes all files, folders and registry keys of Searchitnow.info and several millions of other adware, hijackers, toolbars.

Download Removal Tool for Mac

Download SpyHunter for Mac

To remove Searchitnow.info completely we recommend you to use CleanMyMac. It can help you remove files, folders and registry keys of Searchitnow.info and uninstall hijackers, toolbars and unwanted add-ons from Safari browser.

Remove Searchitnow.info manually for free

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

Remove Searchitnow.info from Control Panel

To start removing Searchitnow.info you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names – “Searchitnow.info” or just “SearchItNow”. 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.

Latest versions of Searchitnow.info hijacker are protected by program called Search Protect that is located in C:\Program Files\Search Protect. This program is not present in the list of installed programs, but you can uninstall it manually by going to this folder and running uninstall.exe file. Or you can use SpyHunter 5 antimalware to remove it completely.

Remove Searchitnow.info from Mac:

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

Remove Searchitnow.info from Windows XP:

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

Remove Searchitnow.info from Windows 7:

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

Remove Searchitnow.info 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 SearchItNow or AlphaShoppers, click Uninstall.

Cannot uninstall Searchitnow.info from Windows

In some cases Searchitnow.info won’t uninstall and gives you message that “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall Searchitnow.info. Please, contact your system administrator” when you try to remove it from Control Panel or “Access denied” error when removing folders and files of Searchitnow.info. This happens, because process SearchProtect.exe or service does not allow you to do it. In this case I will recommend you to use SpyHunter 5 or Malwarebytes or uninstall Searchitnow.info 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 “SearchItNow”

Cannot uninstall Searchitnow.info from Mac

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

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

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

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

Uninstalling Searchitnow.info 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 Searchitnow.info 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 Mac Protector or similar suspicious 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 SearchItNow or similar 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 SearchItNow or similar 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 Searchitnow.info from Internet Explorer, please, perform instructions for uninstalling program from Control Panel. To disable Searchitnow.info, 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 SearchItNow or similar suspicious extensions.
6. Also disable other suspicious extensions from the list.

Opera Browser:

Generally, Searchitnow.info 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 SearchItNow extension.
4. Click Uninstall button.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

Searchitnow.info 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.

Remove following files and folders

Searchitnow.info files:


SearchProtect.exe


Searchitnow.info folders:


C:\Users\{your username}\AppData\Roaming\searchitnow


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 extension with bad rating including related to Searchitnow.info. 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 Searchitnow.info 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 Searchitnow.info.