Get Rid of Searchgoose.com Hijacker from Browser

Searchgoose.com is a fake search engine that is often promoted by potentially unwanted applications. Such programs belong to the browser hijacker category. The site replaces the default search engine, new tab, and your browser’s homepage. Since the website can not generate results, it redirects you to search.yahoo.com for every query.

The usual targets of such programs are popular browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. All these browsers allow users to install third-party extensions, which can be used by unethical developers to gain access to your device. A few more applications that operate in the same manner are LiveConverterSearch, Lookmini, and Search Omiga.

Besides ruining your browsing experience, the rogue program can also track your browsing habits. It can record your search queries, browsing history, installed applications, and more data. Then the cybercriminals sell this information to third-party buyers to generate revenue.

Cybercriminals can use the information to distinguish your computer from others. Then they send intrusive ads to your device and try to urge you into installing several malicious programs. As a result, you might end up facing a severe cybercrime like identity theft, data loss, financial fraud, and more.

We recommend using a robust antimalware program to get rid of the Searchgoose.com hijacker from your browser. The security solution would instantly detect and eliminate any malicious program from your computer. Moreover, it would also defend your system from similar threats in the future.

When your PC is infected with Searchgoose.com hijacker, you might see below symptoms:

Your browser's homepage is changed to Searchgoose.com
The default search engine for browsers is replaced to Searchgoose.com
You will see a different 'New Tab' page to display the modified search page.
Installs an add-on or browser extension via Searchgoose.com

Never download pirated software. You should also take proper caution while downloading free software. Always download from the official website. The free and pirated software comes with bundled software.
Check everything before clicking on the install button.
Always select advanced/custom installation mode and deselect everything other than the actual program. Most of these recommended programs are adware and hijackers

The removal instructions in this article are for Windows users. If you want to clean your Android device check our Android Removal Guide

How to Remove Searchgoose.com Hijacker (Virus Removal Guide)

To remove the Searchgoose.com redirect, follow below steps:

STEP 1: Uninstall Searchgoose.com from Windows
STEP 2: Use MalwareFox to remove Searchgoose.com hijacker
STEP 3: Use AdwCleaner to scan for adware and unwanted programs
STEP 4: Reset the browsers to remove Searchgoose.com

You may find this removal guide a little complex since there are several steps. However, we tried to make it as simple as we can. These complicated steps are essential to make sure you completely removed the malware from your PC.
So, you should follow the steps in the correct order. If you face any problem at any point, comment below, and we will try to help you.

STEP 1 : Uninstall Searchgoose.com from Windows

This first step is about removing the unwanted and malicious program from your PC, that is supporting the hijacker.

Visit “Programs and Features”.
Windows 10
1. Click on the Start and type Control Panel in the search box and then click on “Control Panel”.
2. Now click on the “Uninstall a program” option which is under “Programs” category.
Windows 8
Right-click on the Start menu button and then select “Programs and Features”. You will see the list of installed programs.
- If you don't find the Programs and Features in the Start menu, then click on search bar and type “programs and features”, then click the “Programs and Features”
- If there is no Start button, it is because you are running Windows 8 not Windows 8.1. So, you need to press Windows key + X. It will open the context menu, now select “Programs and Features”.
Windows 7
1. Click on Start menu, now click on the “Control Panel”.
  
  If there is no “Control Panel” on the Start menu, you can search it by typing control panel on the search bar, then click the “Control Panel” result.
2. Now click on the “ Uninstall a Program” which is under Programs category.
Find unwanted and malicious programs and remove them.

Now carefully observe every program and find unwanted applications that might be related to Searchgoose.com, then select them one by one and click the “Uninstall” button.

The malicious program's name might not match with the hijacker. If you don't see any unwanted applications, then you can skip to the next step.
Uninstall the program by following the screen instructions.

In the next screen prompt, click on Yes and then follow the instructions to uninstall the program.

You need to read all screen instructions carefully during the uninstallation because malicious programs might trick you where you choose an option, and the program won't remove completely.

If you can't uninstall Searchgoose.com easily, then you can use Bulk Crap Uninstaller. It helps you in finding the crap software and eradicates them from your system.

STEP 2: Use MalwareFox to remove Searchgoose.com adware

MalwareFox is a light yet strong antimalware capable of detecting and removing modern security threats. It analyzes the behaviour of all programs and uses cloud-based scanning to catch the malware. Whenever a program takes action that matches with the malware description, MalwareFox blocks that program. Moreover, it is light on your system resources, which lets it finish the scan quickly.

I am not trying to make you install high-cost removal tools. The subscription for MalwareFox antimalware is reasonably low. But that is only when you want a fully-featured tool with real-time detection capability. You can use the free version also to scan the PC manually. However, you can opt for the 14 days trial where you get to try all the features and then decide to purchase the premium version. If you are already using any other antivirus, you don't need to remove that, MalwareFox works with them effectively without any conflicts.

Download MalwareFox.

Download MalwareFox Antimalware by clicking the link below.

MALWAREFOX DOWNLOAD LINK
(Clicking on the above link opens a new page, you can download MalwareFox from there)
Launch the MalwareFox installer.

Once you download the MalwareFox, launch the installer by double-clicking on MalwareFox.exe file. Most likely, you will find it in the Downloads folder.

Now you will see a User Account Control prompt that is asking to install the MalwareFox on your PC. Click on “Yes” to start the installation process.
Install MalwareFox by following the on screen instructions.

The first step is to choose the setup and program language, select the language then click on OK.

Now click on Next then follow the instructions to install MalwareFox on your computer.

Now, after the installation, MalwareFox downloads the latest signatures from the database. Wait until the download gets completed.
Scan your PC.

Now click on the “Scan” button to perform a system scan.
Let the whole scan complete.

MalwareFox is now scanning and detecting threats like pop-ups, browser hijackers, and other malicious programs. The whole process should not take more than a few minutes. You don't need to wait for that time, and you can do any other work during the scan. It won't slow down your PC's performance while scanning.
Remove detected threats.

MalwareFox catches and lists all the security threats on your PC. To remove them, click on the “Next” button.

Within a moment, MalwareFox makes your PC malware-free. Now you can close it and proceed with the next step.

STEP 3: Use AdwCleaner to scan and remove adware from your PC.

AdwCleaner is a free tool to remove adware from your PC. It is created by Malwarebytes and effectively searches and removes applications that are responsible for displaying pop-ups, browser redirects, and other types of ads on your system.

AdwCleaner only looks for adware when you run the scan. It won't actively monitor your PC as it doesn't have real-time protection. For that, you should have an antimalware such as MalwareFox.

Download AdwCleaner.

You can download AdwCleaner by clicking the link.

ADWCLEANER DOWNLOAD LINK
(Clicking on the link opens a new page, from where you can download the AdwCleaner)
Install AdwCleaner.

Once the AdwCleaner is downloaded on your PC, you need to locate the installer. It is most likely in the Downloads folder. Double-click on “adwcleaner_XXX.exe" to install it on your PC.

Now Windows will confirm if you want to install it on your PC. Click Yes in the User Account Control prompt to install it on your machine.

Now AdwCleaner gets automatically installed, now accept the End User Agreement by clicking on “I Agree”.
Scan your PC using AdwCleaner

Now click on “Scan Now” button to start the scan.
Remove threats from “Quarantine”.

Once AdwCleaner finished the scan, you will see a list of all the malicious programs that it found in your system. Click on the “Quarantine” button to move the malware into quarantine.

Now AdwCleaner will warn you that it will close all the processes before quarantining the selected items. You need to save your current work before continuing. So save your work and click on the “Continue” button.

Then AdwCleaner will move all the threats to the quarantine. After that, you need to restart your PC. Click on the “Restart now” button.

After restarting your PC, click on the “Quarantine” tab. Then select all the threats by clicking on the “checkbox” in the header of the table, then click on the “Delete” button.

Now you have successfully removed all the unwanted scraps from your PC, including the adware. Move to the next step.

(OPTIONAL) STEP 5: Reset the browser to remove Searchgoose.com hijacker

If the Searchgoose.com site is still visible on your browser, then you should reset the browser to its default settings. If your problem is already solved by following the above steps, there is no need to follow this step.

Google Chrome

To remove Searchgoose.com hijacker from Google Chrome, you should reset the browser to its default settings. Don't worry, resetting will not affect your bookmark and saved passwords. It will help you in undoing the changes due to malware.

Open Chrome’s “Settings” menu.

Click on the Menu button. It appears as three vertical dots in the upper right side of the window. Then click the “Settings”.
Now click on “Advanced”.

Now Chrome’s “Settings” will appear in a new tab. Then scroll down to the end of the screen and click on the “Advanced” button.
Click “Reset” button.

Now scroll down until the “Reset and clean up” section appears. Then click on the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
Confirm your action by clicking “Reset”.

Now Chrome will confirm your action telling you what will be removed and what not. Click on the “Reset Settings” button.

Mozilla Firefox

In order to remove Searchgoose.com redirect from Mozilla Firefox completely, you should reset Firefox to its default settings. When you reset it, many changes due to malicious software or add-ons get removed. It doesn't affect your saved items like passwords, bookmarks, browsing history, open tabs, and web form auto-fill information.

Open “Firefox Menu”.

Click on the menu button, which appears as three horizontal lines located in the upper right corner. Now click on the “Help“.
Click on “Troubleshooting Information”.

Now click the “Troubleshooting Information“.

If you can’t access the “Help” menu, then type about:support in the address bar and hit enter. It will open the troubleshooting page directly.
Click the “Refresh Firefox”

Now you need to click on the “Refresh Firefox” button, which is located on the top right corner of the page.
Confirm your action.

Now Firefox will confirm your action warning you what will remove and what not. Click on the “Refresh Firefox” to proceed.
Click on “Finish”.

Firefox will restart with factory settings. Now you will see the list of imported information. Then click on the “Finish“.

In the reset process, Firefox does not delete your data. It collects all the information and put it in the “Old Firefox Data“ folder. If your problem is not fixed after the resetting, you can revert the changes by moving this folder from Desktop to the current profile folder. If your problem is fixed, then you should delete this data as it contains your personal data to prevent going in other people's hands.

Microsoft Edge Chromium

To remove Searchgoose.com hijacker from Microsoft Edge Chromium, you should reset it to its default settings.

Open “Menu”.

Open Microsoft Edge Chromium browser, then click on the Menu button in the top right corner of the browser, then click on “Settings“.
Go to “Reset settings” tab.

In the “Microsoft Edge” settings page, click on the “Reset settings” tab, then click the “Restore settings to their default values”.
Click on “Reset”.

Now Microsoft Edge will confirm your action by displaying the prompt reporting the action it will take when you click on the Reset button. Click on “Reset” to continue.

You have successfully removed the Searchgoose.com hijacker from your browser. If you are still seeing Searchgoose.com in your browser, then please comment down. We will try to come up with a solution as soon as possible.