Removal guides

Remove Safe Finder Virus from Mac, Windows (2022 Guide)

Safe Finder hijacks web browsers to promote Yahoo search

Safe Finder (by Linkury, Ltd.) is a deceptive browser-hijacking application which is designed to promote Yahoo search via various fake search engines. It can be installed on both Mac and Windows devices. Once installed, the app modifies browsers’ settings and changes the default search engine, homepage, and new tab page to search.safefinder.com. The described application belongs to browser hijacker and potentially unwanted program (PUP) categories.

Safe Finder redirect virus is capable of infecting Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and other browsers. It typically changes homepage and new tab page settings to load search.safefinder.com and sets the default search engine to feed.safefinder.com.

Safe Finder takes over browser’s homepage, default search and new tab page settings.

When the user enters a search query via browser’s URL bar or via the fake search box available on the new homepage, he/she will get redirected to Yahoo search results page. In general, browser hijackers that promote this search engine are known as Yahoo redirect viruses.

You must remove Safe Finder if you want to change your browser’s settings the way you want them to be. However, alteration of browser’s preferences is not the only inconvenience that the hijacker causes.

User-spying activities explained

The browser hijacker collects certain kinds of personal and non-personal information about user’s of its services. Therefore, even if you installed this annoyance unknowingly, it will collect data such as your OS type, time zone, country, default search settings, browsing history, services and offers that interest you, and similar.

The official website of the hijacker promises to “simplify” the way people use web.

It also collects IP address and data you might willingly provide (such as your email address). The hijacker uses collected data to deliver sponsored content (ads) and even share this data with third-parties for “analytical and strategic” purposes. Therefore, if you do not want to disclose your browsing habits just to receive even more ads daily, take actions now to initiate Safe Finder removal and restore your browser’s settings.

Unfortunately, it seems that there are many Mac users who complain that this program cannot be removed, cannot be found in extensions or in applications folder. If you can’t uninstall Safe Finder from Mac manually, it might be that you have installed an advanced version of this threat. In such case, we believe that the easiest removal option is using a trustworthy Mac spyware and malware removal tool.

Threat Summary

NameSafe Finder
TypeBrowser hijacker; browser redirect virus
Associated URLssearch.safefinder.com, search.safefinderformac.com, search.macsafefinder, feed.safefinder.com and others
ActivityChanges homepage, new tab and default search settings in web browsers to promote fake search engines redirecting to Yahoo search results; tracks data about user’s browsing activities
DistributionCan be installed alongside freeware, after clicking on an online ad or directly from web browsers’ stores
RemovalRemove manually or automatically (see instructions below)

Avoid browser hijackers in general

Browser hijackers like Safe Finder are easy to install, yet hard to remove. Therefore, it’s best to avoid installing them at all. You can install this browser infection in several ways – get to know them so that you can avoid doing the same mistakes in the future.

  1. You may install the browser-altering application after clicking an online advertisement which redirects to the Safe Finder’s installation page;
  2. Next, you can possibly install it directly from browser’s extension stores, like Google Chrome Store;
  3. You might install it alongside other free application downloaded from the Internet. In such scenario, you overlook the preferences what to install which are hidden in Custom or Advanced installation modes.
When installing the browser hijacker, you should see a list of privileges asked by it.

To avoid installing the described annoyance, stay away from aggressive online ads promising you exceptional features of new tab search, install new programs from trustworthy sources and make sure you follow the installation wizard’s steps attentively. Finally, avoid installing random programs and/or extensions that are of unknown functionality to you.

Remove Safe Finder virus manually or automatically

You can remove Safe Finder redirect virus easily if you follow the steps prepared by our team. Since browser hijackers aren’t malicious, their removal typically doesn’t require extraordinary computing skills. All you’ll need to do is to uninstall associated applications, clear your browsers from suspicious extensions and possibly reset them.

Safe Finder removal steps are explained in detail below. Please let us know if you managed to remove the hijacker successfully. If you’ve found other way to eliminate the threat, or you have any other remarks regarding this program, do let us know in the comments section below.

In case you can’t uninstall Safe Finder from Mac and you can’t find the program in applications, you might need to use an automatic removal tool which will detect all hidden entries created by the advanced version of this redirect virus.

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Safe Finder redirect virus Removal Tutorial

To remove the unwanted program from your computer, use these instructions below to uninstall associated programs or apps from your Windows or Mac computer. Then scroll down for instructions how to clean each affected web browser individually.

Remove Safe Finder redirect virus from Windows

Windows 10/8.1/8 users

Click on the Windows logo to open Windows menu. In search, type control panel and select the matching result. Then go to Programs and Features.

 

Windows 7 users

First, open Windows menu by clicking on the icon in the lower left corner of the screen. Then go to Control Panel and find section called Programs. Click on the Uninstall a program option under it.

 

Windows XP users

In Windows XP, click Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs.

Uninstall unwanted programs

Once in Programs and Features, look through the list of installed programs. You can click on Installed on tab to sort the programs by their installation date.

Right-click on suspicious programs you can't remember installing and choose Uninstall. Follow instructions provided by the Uninstall Wizard, click Next and finally Finish to uninstall the unwanted program from your PC.

Remove Safe Finder redirect virus from Mac

  1. Click on Finder.
  2. Go to Applications folder.
  3. Look for suspicious applications you can't remember installing. Right-click them and select Move to Trash.
  4. After moving all suspicious apps to Trash, right-click the Trash bin in Mac's Dock and select Empty Trash.
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Remove Safe Finder redirect virus from Google Chrome

Remove suspicious Chrome extensions

  1. Open Chrome and type chrome://extensions into address bar and press Enter.
  2. Here, look for suspicious extensions, and Remove them.
  3. Don't forget to confirm by pressing Remove in the confirmation pop-up.

Change Start Page settings

  1. In Chrome address bar, type chrome://settings and press Enter.
  2. Scroll down to the On startup section. Check for suspicious extensions controlling these settings, and Disable them.
  3. Additionally, you can set browser to Open a specific page or set of pages via these settings. Simply choose this option, click Add a new page, enter your preferred URL (f.e. www.google.com) and press Add.

Change default search settings

  1. In Chrome URL bar, type chrome://settings/searchEngines and press Enter. Make sure you type searchEngines, not searchengines. Additionally, you can go to chrome://settings and find Manage search engines option.
  2. First, look at the list of search engines and find the one you want to set as default. Click the three dots next to it and select Make Default.
  3. Finally, look through the list and eliminate suspicious entries. Right-click the three dots and select Remove from the list.

Remove push notifications from Chrome

If you want to get rid of the annoying ads and so-called push-notifications viruses, you must identify their components and clean your browser. You can easily remove ads from Chrome by following these steps:

  1. In Google Chrome, press on Menu (upward arrow) in the top-right corner of the window.
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Go to Privacy and Security > Site Settings.
  4. Open Notifications.
  5. Here, go to the Allow list and identify suspicious URLs. You can either Block or Remove by pressing on the three vertical dots on the right side of the URL. However, we suggest the Block option, so the site won't ask you to enable the notifications if you ever visit it again.

Reset Google Chrome browser

  1. The final option is to reset Google Chrome. Type chrome://settings in the URL bar, press Enter and then scroll down until you see Advanced option. Click it and scroll to the bottom of the settings.
  2. Click Restore settings to their original defaults.
  3. Click Restore settings to confirm.

Remove Safe Finder redirect virus from Mozilla Firefox

Remove unwanted add-ons from Firefox

  1. Open Firefox and type about:addons in the URL bar. Press Enter.
  2. Now, click on Extensions (in the left section).
  3. Click Remove next to every suspicious browser add-on that you can't remember installing.

Change Firefox Homepage

  1. In Firefox address bar, type about:preferences and hit Enter.
  2. Look at the left and click the Home tab.
  3. Here, delete the suspicious URL and type or paste in the URL of a website you'd like to set as your homepage.

Alter preferences in Firefox

  1. Type about:config in Firefox address bar and hit Enter.
  2. Click I accept the risk! to continue.
  3. Here, type in the URL which has taken over your browser without your knowledge. Right-click each value that includes it and choose Reset.

Remove annoying push notifications from Firefox

Suspicious sites that ask to enable push notifications gain access to Mozilla's settings and can deliver intrusive advertisements when browsing the Internet. Therefore, you should remove access to your browser by following these simple steps:

  1. In Mozilla Firefox, click on Menu (the three horizontal bars) on the top-right corner of the window, then choose Options.
  2. Click on Privacy and Security, then scroll down to Permissions section.
  3. Here, find Notifications and click Settings button next to it.
  4. Identify all unknown URLs and choose to Block them. Click Save Changes afterward.

Reset Mozilla Firefox

  1. In Firefox, type about:support in the address bar and press Enter.
  2. Click on Refresh Firefox...
  3. Click Refresh Firefox again to confirm.

Remove Safe Finder redirect virus from Microsoft Edge

Remove suspicious extensions:

  1. Open MS Edge browser and click on the three dots button in the top right corner, then click on Extensions.
  2. Look through the list of installed extensions and find the ones you can't remember installing or simply suspicious-looking ones. Right-click on them and choose Uninstall. Then confirm by pressing Uninstall again.

Change MS Edge Start Page and default search engine:

  1. Click on the three dots again and go to Settings. First, make sure that you choose to Open Microsoft Edge with A specific page or pages option. Then click the X next to suspicious URLs and type in the one you want to set as your homepage. Click the Save icon to confirm.
  2. Click on the three dots > Settings. Scroll down and click on Show Advanced Settings. Then scroll down until you find Change search engine button. Click it. Here, select the search engine you prefer using and click Set as default.
    Additionally, we recommend selecting and Removing suspicious search engines.

Turn off push notifications in Edge

If you keep receiving pop-up ads or other promotional content while browsing on Microsoft Edge, your browser might be corrupted by a potentially unwanted program (PUP). You have to clean it — follow these easy instructions:

  1. In Microsoft Edge, open Menu (three horizontal dots) in the top-right corner of the screen and click Settings;
  2. Click on Advanced settings.
  3. Scroll down to the Website permissions section. Here, click Manage permissions.
  4. Find Notifications and Remove all suspicious websites.

Clear browsing data

  1. Click on the three dots in the top right corner again and click on Settings. Find Clear browsing data section and click Choose what to clear button.
  2. In the next window, select all options and click Clear.

Remove Safe Finder redirect virus from Safari

Uninstall suspicious Safari extensions

  1. Open Safari and click on Safari button in the top left corner. Select Preferences in the menu that appears on the screen.
  2. Now, go to Extensions tab. Look at the left to see all installed extensions, click on suspicious ones and hit that Uninstall button as shown in the picture. Confirm your choice by clicking Uninstall again. Repeat until you get rid of all unwanted extensions.

Change Safari Homepage and default search engine

  1. In Preferences, open the General tab. Here, check what URL is set as your homepage. Delete it and type in whatever URL you want to set as your Safari Start Page.
  2. Next, go to the Search tab. Here, choose what Search engine you want to set as default.
  3. Next, click on Manage websites... then Remove all... and then Done.

Remove push notifications on Safari

Some suspicious websites can try to corrupt your Safari by asking to enable push notifications. If you have accidentally agreed, your browser will be flooded with various intrusive advertisements and pop-ups. You can get rid of them by following this quick guide:

  1. Open Safari and click on Safari button in the top-left corner of the screen to select Preferences;
  2. Go to Websites tab and navigate to Notifications on the left side toolbar.

Reset Safari

  1. Click on Safari > Clear History...
  2. Then choose to clear All history and hit Clear History button to confirm.
  3. Go to Safari > Preferences and then open Privacy tab.
  4. Click Manage Website Data... then Remove All. To finish, click Done.
  5. Finally, clear Safari cache. In Safari Menu, click Develop > Clear Cache.
Chrome Firefox MS Edge Safari Internet Explorer

Remove Safe Finder redirect virus from Internet Explorer

TIP: If you are still using IE, we strongly advise using Microsoft Edge or a different browser because Microsoft is no longer providing technical or security support for IE browser.

Remove suspicious extensions from IE

  1. Now, go back to Toolbars and Extensions.
  2. Below Show:, select All add-ons.
  3. Right-click suspicious extensions and choose Disable, or, if available - Remove.
  4. If any pop-up appears, confirm your choice.
    Tip: If you can't find any suspicious extensions, most likely you have uninstalled them via Programs and Features already. This mostly applies to IE browser.

Change default search provider and remove suspicious ones

  1. Open Internet Explorer and click on the gear icon in the top right of the window.
  2. Then select Manage Add-ons.
  3. Here, click on Search Providers tab.
  4. Here, we recommend setting Bing, Google or another trusted and well-known search provider as default. To do it, right-click the provider and choose Set as default.
  5. Now you can right-click suspicious search providers and choose Remove.

Change IE Home Page

  1. In Internet Explorer, click the gear icon in the top left corner.
  2. Choose Internet Options.
  3. Change Home Page URL to whatever page you want to use as your homepage.
  4. Click Apply.
  5. Click OK.

Block pop-up notifications on Internet Explorer

Suspicious websites can gain access to your Internet Explorer browser through push notifications. If you enable them even by accident, you will start receiving numerous annoying ads and other advertising content while browsing. The easiest way to remove push-notification viruses is by performing the following steps:

  1. In Internet Explorer, click on the Menu (the gear button) on the top-right corner of the window, then select Internet Options.
  2. Go to the Privacy tab;
  3. Look for Pop-up Blocker section and select Settings;
  4. Scroll through all URLs and you can Remove them one by one or all at the same time. Click Close.

Reset Internet Explorer

  1. Click the gear icon in IE menu > Internet Options. Now click on Advanced tab.
  2. Under Reset Internet Explorer settings, click Reset...
  3. Click on the checkbox next to Delete personal settings.
  4. Click Reset.
  5. To finish, click Close.

Alternative software recommendations

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

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Disclaimer. This site includes affiliate links. We may earn a small commission by recommending certain products, at no additional cost for you. We only choose quality software and services to recommend.

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