How to remove Searchmo.xyz

What is Searchmo.xyz

Searchmo.xyz is a suspicious redirect supported by a browser hijacker installed on the system. Sometimes, users may not know whether they are infected or not. However, the biggest premise that hinges on its presence is a sudden change in browser appearance. Searchmo.xyz affects the browser by altering the homepage and changing a default search engine to https://searchmo.xyz. At first look, such manipulation may seem useful, however, these apps are often designed for secretly gathering personal data (e.g. passwords, IP-addresses, geolocations, and others) and selling it to third-parties. This then may result in significant data leaks that completely expose your browsing activity. The only way to deal with such scam is being careful whilst surfing the web, avoid clicking on suspicious ads, and stop downloading software from untrustworthy resources. Below, we will delve more deeply into distribution methods and help you get rid of Searchmo.xyz as a result.

How Searchmo.xyz infected your computer

Likewise, adware, browser hijackers are a type of malware that belongs to potentially unwanted programs category. Cybercriminals use various methods to infiltrate devices and capture sensitive data. One of them is known as bundling which is a sneaky technique of pre-packing freeware with Unwanted Apps. During the set-up, most users forget checking optional installs (“Advanced” or “Custom”) since they rush till the end of the process. As a result, the attempts of frauds successfully pay off because they manage to spread their software over the device. Besides that, clicking on ads can also become a real concern since they can include redirects to questionable and malicious websites that run imminent scripts to infect the system. Luckily, dealing with such infections does not require extraordinary skills. If you feel that you are not experienced enough to pull it off on your own, we will help you do that in the step-by-step tutorial down below.

Remove Searchmo.xyz manually for free

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

Note: Searchmo.xyz 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 Searchmo.xyz from Control Panel

To start removing Searchmo.xyz you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names – “Searchmo.xyz”. 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 Searchmo.xyz from Mac:

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

Remove Searchmo.xyz from Windows XP:

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

Remove Searchmo.xyz from Windows 7:

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

Remove Searchmo.xyz 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 Searchmo.xyz or other suspicious program, click Uninstall.

Remove Searchmo.xyz from Windows 10:

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

Cannot uninstall Searchmo.xyz

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

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

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

Uninstalling Searchmo.xyz 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 Searchmo.xyz 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 Searchmo.xyz 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 Searchmo.xyz 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 Searchmo.xyz 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 Searchmo.xyz from Internet Explorer, please, perform instructions for uninstalling program from Control Panel. To disable Searchmo.xyz, 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 Searchmo.xyz or other suspicious extensions.
6. Also disable other suspicious extensions from the list.

Opera Browser:

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

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

Searchmo.xyz 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 Searchmo.xyz. 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 Searchmo.xyz 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 Searchmo.xyz.