I wrote this article to help you remove Searchqq.com. This Searchqq.com removal guide is working for Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Searchqq.com is a platform which offers custom Google search. The website’s logo is designed in the same color scheme as the established search provider. Contrary to the description, Searchqq.com does not bring enhanced results. Rather, it mixes the regular content with sponsored results. The website is controlled by a browser hijacker. The insidious program supports third party content to raise revenue. The promoted websites are not guaranteed to be reliable. Any of them could turn out to be malicious.

What problems can the hijacker behind Searchqq.com cause?

The Searchqq.com hijacker will cause you a lot of inconvenience. The clandestine program will reset your homepage and default search engine to searchqq.com. You will be unable to revert back to your custom preferences before removing the malicious software. The changes to the browser’s settings are made to give the hijacker control over its functionality. The manipulated search results are a source of income. The owners of the shady program get paid to take users to sponsored websites. The payment method they use is called the pay-per-click system. Every click adds a certain unit to the commissions they receive from the corresponding advertiser.

Advertisements are the main tool for conducting promotional campaigns. The Searchqq.com hijacker displays different kinds of ads, including classic pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, coupons, in-text links, freebies, transitional, contextual, interstitial, floating, comparison, inline and full-page windows. The ads show bargain offers for a variety of shopping goods. Keep in mind that these offers could be fake. The advertisements could take you to corrupted websites, infused with malware.

The other major issue with the Searchqq.com hijacker is related to personal security. The malevolent program has the ability to track your activity and gather information on you. The hijacker will record your browsing history, keystrokes, IP address, geographic location, email, phone number, user names, passwords and other personal input. The gathered information is sold on darknet markets. The people who acquire your details can use them to break into your personal accounts and steal from them.

How did I get infected with the Searchqq.com hijacker?

The hijacker behind Searchqq.com has adapted to using a couple of propagation vectors, also referred to as dark patterns. We will explain how they operate to help you get to the core of the problem. Note that both techniques exploit users’ lack of knowledge and cautiousness. Keeping your guard up would improve your virtual security.

The first method we will talk about is bundling. This pattern involves using another piece of software as a download client. The Searchqq.com hijacker merges its setup file with the executable of the main program. It gets offered with it as a bonus tool. You have to find where this option is mentioned in the terms and conditions and deselect it. Never skip through the steps in haste.

The other way to contact the Searchqq.com hijacker is via a spam email. The furtive program can lurk behind an attachment, listed as a letter or a document. The sender can write a notification on behalf of an actual company or entity to lead you astray. To check whether a given message is genuine, look up the email address. It should belong to the organization the sender claims to be representing.

Searchqq.com 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 perform to remove the hijacker 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 Searchqq.com from your browser? Please, leave a comment below, describing what steps you performed. I will answer promptly.