I wrote this article to help you remove LookSmart.ME. This LookSmart.ME removal guide works for Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer.

If the LookSmart.ME page silently replaces your previous homepage and search engine, we have bad news for you. Your machine is infected. That’s right. You are currently dealing with an annoying browser hijacker infection. As you probably know, no type of program, which is categorized as a cyber threat, can be good for your system. This hijacker included. It is not helpful. It is not useful. But it is harmful.

The pest is also incredibly irritating and manipulative. Keeping it on board will bring no positives. On the contrary. It will bury you in problems. That is, if you let it, of course. We strongly recommend that you don’t. Once you spot the LookSmart.ME site, start looking for the hijacker`s hiding spot and when you find it, remove it upon discovery. Keep in mind that the problems it throws your way will only escalate as time passes. They will become more and more with each day and eventually, the infection will get out of hand. Do not let this happen. Protect your system before the hijacker manages to cause some irreversible damage. Because if you give it time, it will. Act promptly and remove the intruder for good.

The nasty hijacker, once installed, corrupts all of your browsers. There is no immune browser. All Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera, etc. are infected. The pest appends its pesky extension to them and this takes full control. It starts making unauthorized changes in your settings and makes c huge mess. For instance, were you asked if it was okay for the LookSmart.ME page to replace your homepage? No. You just found it there one day. The hijacker doesn’t need your permission. It acts how it sees fit and the results are not good for you.

Also, the infection completely demolishes your browsing experience. You cannot make a single online move without the pet interrupting. It constantly redirects you to shady sites and bombards you with ads. There is not a single page which is not completely blocked by all kinds of commercials. And this is not only annoying, it is also dangerous. Nothing you see on your screen is reliable. The hijacker cannot be trusted to display safe content. Quite the opposite. Most of what you see is corrupted and if you click, you risk downloading more malware on your already infected PC.

Speaking of your computer, it is also suffering. Its performance worsens significantly due to the pest`s shenanigans. Its speed slows down to a crawl. It crashes often. Your browsers freeze. Apps fail to load. It is a nightmare. Do yourself a favor and do not put up with all of this. Cut the hijacker`s stay short. This is the best course of action you can take. Do not hesitate and take it. Follow our removal guide below and clean your PC once and for all. The sooner you do so, the better. Delays lead to regrets.

How did the hijacker enter your machine? Well, since the pest cannot enter without your permission, it asks for it. Obviously, at some point, you gave it. Do not be too hard on yourself, though. You were tricked. The hijacker doesn’t ask for approval openly. It relies on deceptive methods like freeware, spam, corrupted pages, fake torrents, etc. However, what the pest needs the most to succeed is your carelessness. If you throw caution to the wind, any of these tactics will do the job. Do not be negligent. Be vigilant and don’t make hackers` job easier. It is always easier to prevent an infection from entering that to deal with it once it is already on board.

LookSmart.ME Uninstall

Before starting the real removal process, you must reboot in Safe Mode. If you are familiar with this task, skip the instructions below and proceed to Step 2. If you do not know how to do it, here is how to reboot in Safe mode:

For Windows 98, XP, Millenium and 7:
Reboot your computer. When the first screen of information appears, start repeatedly pressing F8 key. Then choose Safe Mode With Networking from the options.

For Windows 8/8.1
Click the Start button, next click Control Panel —> System and Security —> Administrative Tools —> System Configuration.‌

Check the Safe Boot option and click OK. Click Restart when asked.
For Windows 10
Open the Start menu and click or tap on the Power button.

While keeping the Shift key pressed, click or tap on Restart.

Here are the steps you must follow to permanently remove from the browser:

Remove From Mozilla Firefox:

Open Firefox, click on top-right corner , click Add-ons, hit Extensions next.

Look for suspicious or unknown extensions, remove them all.

Remove From Chrome:

Open Chrome, click chrome menu icon at the top-right corner —>More Tools —> Extensions. There, identify the malware and select chrome-trash-icon(Remove).

Remove From Internet Explorer:
Open IE, then click IE gear icon on the top-right corner —> Manage Add-ons.

Find the malicious add-on. Remove it by pressing Disable.

Right click on the browser’s shortcut, then click Properties. Remove everything after the .exe” in the Target box.

Open Control Panel by holding the Win Key and R together. Write appwiz.cpl in the field, then click OK.

Here, find any program you had no intention to install and uninstall it.

Run the Task Manager by right clicking on the Taskbar and choosing Start Task Manager.

Look carefully at the file names and descriptions of the running processes. If you find any suspicious one, search on Google for its name, or contact me directly to identify it. If you find a malware process, right-click on it and choose End task.

Open MS Config by holding the Win Key and R together. Type msconfig and hit Enter.

Go in the Startup tab and Uncheck entries that have “Unknown” as Manufacturer.

Still can not remove LookSmart.ME from your browser? Please, leave a comment below, describing what steps you performed. I will answer promptly.