What is OptimumSearch

At some point, you may be wondering why your browser is constantly redirecting your homepage to search.optimum.icu. Unfortunately, this is because your system is infected with a browser hijacker (OptimumSearch extension), that altered some settings. Often, such applications are meant to bring ostensibly good value. They assign new search engines and add a couple of features that smoothen the browsing experience. OptimumSearch is not an exception, however, its activity seems to be very suspicious and useless. It does not generate any unique results, instead, it just copies them from legitimate pages like Yahoo, Google, or Bang. Furthermore, the main target of such programs is collecting sensitive data for revenue purposes. The recorded intel is therefore shared with cybercriminals that put your identity under a threat. Thus, we strongly advise you to get rid of the OptimumSearch browser hijacker to prevent privacy leaks and other infiltration.

optimumsearch (search.optimum.icu)

How OptimumSearch infected your computer

The most common method used to proliferate potentially unwanted applications (PUAs) is via bundling. Bundling is a type of marketing tool designed to promote third-parties software alongside a program. Initially, it is an absolutely legitimate method of advertising, however, cybercriminals started abusing it for evil purposes. They inject unwanted or even malicious software that infects computers without users’ consent. To illustrate, whilst installing a program, people tend to misuse skipping additional options such as “Advanced” or “Custom”. They rush till the end of the setup in favor of faster installation. Unfortunately, nothing remains unpunished because users get inadvertently infected by unwanted programs that configure some properties and slow down the system. This is why you should be very attentive whilst installing freeware from third-parties pages. Always opt for “Custom” instead of “Recommended” installation and check optional offers to evade infiltrations. OptimumSearch can be annoying and dangerous in some perspective and has to be removed from your computer. To do so, follow the guidelines presented below.

Download Removal Tool for Windows

Download Removal Tool

compatible with microsoft

To remove OptimumSearch completely, we recommend you to use SpyHunter. It can help you remove files, folders, and registry keys of OptimumSearch and uninstall hijackers, toolbars, and unwanted add-ons from the Safari browser. The trial version of SpyHunter offers virus scan and 1-time removal for FREE.

Download Removal Tool for Mac

Download Spyhunter for Mac

To remove OptimumSearch completely, we recommend you to use Spyhunter for Mac. It detects and removes all files, folders and registry keys of OptimumSearch and several millions of other adware, hijackers, toolbars.

Remove OptimumSearch manually for free

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

Note: OptimumSearch 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. start command prompt as administrator

  3. Type in and execute the following commands:


    rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers"
    rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy"
    gpupdate /force

  4. update group policy in windows

Remove OptimumSearch from Control Panel

To start removing OptimumSearch you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names – “OptimumSearch” or “search.optimum.icu”. 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 OptimumSearch from Mac:

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

Remove OptimumSearch from Windows XP:

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

Remove OptimumSearch from Windows 7:

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

Remove OptimumSearch 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 OptimumSearch or other suspicious program, click Uninstall.

Remove OptimumSearch from Windows 10:

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

Cannot uninstall OptimumSearch

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

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

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

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

Opera Browser:

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

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

OptimumSearch installs a search engine (search.optimum.icu), 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

avast browser cleanup 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 OptimumSearch. 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

shortcut cleaner 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 OptimumSearch 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 OptimumSearch.

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