What is Search-startpage.com

Search-startpage.com is a browser hijacker, which is a type of unwanted software that alters web browser settings without the user’s permission. This particular hijacker is known to modify the homepage, new tab URL, and default search engine settings, redirecting users to its own search engine. The main purpose of the hijacker is to generate revenue for its developers through advertising and affiliate marketing. It does this by redirecting searches to its own search engine and displaying ads. The hijacker may also collect and share user data, such as browsing habits and search queries, with third parties, potentially leading to privacy issues or identity theft. Search-startpage.com affects popular web browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer. It is often difficult to remove because it comes with additional software that reinstalls the hijacker if attempts are made to change the browser settings back to normal. The search engine installed by the hijacker is a fake search engine that may look legitimate but is designed to redirect searches and collect user data. It may appear similar to well-known search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo, but it lacks their legitimacy and safety.

Search-startpage.com

How Search-startpage.com infects computer

It often infiltrates computers through deceptive marketing methods known as “bundling,” where it is installed alongside other software without the user’s full knowledge or consent. To prevent infection by browser hijackers like Search-startpage.com, users should be cautious when downloading and installing software, especially from unofficial sources. Opting for custom installation and unchecking any additional software offered during the installation process can help avoid unwanted programs.

  1. Download Search-startpage.com Removal Tool
  2. Remove Search-startpage.com from Control Panel and Applications
  3. Remove Search-startpage.com extensions from browsers
  4. Reset browser search and homepage settings
  5. Alternative way to remove Search-startpage.com search redirects
  6. Clean browser shortcuts from Search-startpage.com
  7. How to protect from threats like Search-startpage.com

Download Removal Tool for Windows

Download Removal Tool

compatible with microsoft

To remove Search-startpage.com completely, we recommend you to use SpyHunter 5. It detects and removes all files, folders, and registry keys of Search-startpage.com and several millions of other adware, hijackers, toolbars. The trial version of Spyhunter 5 offers virus scan and 1-time removal for FREE.

Download Removal Tool for Mac

Download SpyHunter for Mac

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

Remove Search-startpage.com manually for free

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

Note: Search-startpage.com can be installed as Google Chrome extension as Administrator (you may see Installed by enterprise policy or Your browser is managed by your organization 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 Search-startpage.com from Control Panel or Applications

To start removing Search-startpage.com you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names – “Search-startpage.com”. 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, Windows 11, or Mac.

Remove Search-startpage.com from Windows XP:

  1. Click on Start button.
  2. Choose Control Panel.
  3. Click Add or Remove Programs.
  4. Find Search-startpage.com-related or other suspicious program.
  5. Click Uninstall.

Remove Search-startpage.com from Windows 7:

  1. Click Start button.
  2. Then go to Control Panel.
  3. Click Uninstall a Program.
  4. Find Search-startpage.com-related or other suspicious program and click Uninstall.

Remove Search-startpage.com 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 Search-startpage.com-related or other suspicious program, click Uninstall.

Remove Search-startpage.com from Windows 10:

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

Remove Search-startpage.com from Windows 11:

  1. Right-click on the Start button.
  2. In opened menu choose Settings.
  3. Click on the Apps tab on the left side.
  4. Click Apps & features and locate Search-startpage.com-related or other recently installed suspicious program in the list.
  5. Click on 3-dots icon near it and then click Uninstall button near it.
  6. Depending on the type of application (Windows Store app or classic Win32 app) it will be removed immediately or you will need to confirm the action and go through standard uninstall procedure.
  7. Remove Search-startpage.com from Mac:

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

    Cannot uninstall Search-startpage.com in Windows

    In some cases, Search-startpage.com won’t uninstall and gives you the message, that “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall Search-startpage.com. Please, contact your system administrator” when you try to remove it from Control Panel or “Access denied” error when removing the Search-startpage.com 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 Search-startpage.com 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 Apps or other suspicious program

    >> See detailed instructions and video tutorial on how to boot in Safe Mode

    Cannot uninstall Search-startpage.com in MacOS

    If you can’t uninstall Search-startpage.com using instructions above, or it keeps coming back, you can use free AppCleaner for Mac to remove all residual data and libraries of Search-startpage.com. Follow instructions below:

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

    Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

    Uninstalling Search-startpage.com from Control Panel or Applications often does not bring the desired effect. It sometimes has a browser extension and it may still be active in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove Search-startpage.com-related extension from your browsers manually.

    Google Chrome:

    1. Start Google Chrome browser
    2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://extensions.
    3. Find Apps or other related extension.
    4. Click the Remove button 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. Find Apps or other related extension.
    4. Click three-dots icon near it and choose Remove in the menu.
    5. In opened dialog window click Remove button to confirm the action.
    6. Remove all suspicious extensions from the list.

    Safari:

    1. Start Safari on your Mac, click Safari to open drop-down menu and choose Preferences
    2. Click Extensions tab.
    3. Find Apps or other related extension.
    4. Click Uninstall button to remove it.

    Microsoft Edge:

    1. Start Microsoft Edge browser.
    2. In address box type (or copy-paste) edge://extensions.
    3. Find Apps or other related extension.
    4. Click Remove link under the name of extension.
    5. In opened dialog window click Remove button to confirm the action.
    6. 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 Search-startpage.com from Internet Explorer, please, perform instructions for uninstalling program from Control Panel. To disable Search-startpage.com, 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 Apps or other suspicious extensions.
    6. Also disable other suspicious extensions from the list.

    Opera Browser:

    Generally, Search-startpage.com 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 Apps or other suspicious extensions.
    4. Click Uninstall button.
    5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

    Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

    Search-startpage.com installs a search engine (search.Search-startpage.com) that hijacks your browsers. Here is the instruction to reset your browser’s homepage, new tab, and search engine to default values.

    Google Chrome:

    1. Start Google Chrome browser
    2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://settings.
    3. On the left panel expand Advanced options.
    4. Choose Reset and clean up.
    5. Click on Restore settings to their original defaults link and confirm by clicking Reset button.

    Mozilla Firefox:

    1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
    2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:support.
    3. Click Refresh Firefox… button.
    4. Click Refresh Firefox button in opened dialog window to confirm.

    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.

    Microsoft Edge:

    1. Start Microsoft Edge browser
    2. Click on 3-dots icon in the top-right corner and choose Settings.
    3. On the left panel find and click Reset settings option.
    4. Click on Restore settings to their default values link and confirm by clicking Reset button.

    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. Start Opera browser and click on Opera icon in the top-left corner.
    2. Choose Settings and click Advanced on the left side and choose Browser.
    3. Scroll down to the very bottom and click on Restore settings to their original defaults link.
    4. Confirm by clicking Reset button.

    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 Search-startpage.com. 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

    How to protect from threats, like Search-startpage.com, in future

    Be careful surfing the internet and downloading software, as programs like Search-startpage.com 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 Search-startpage.com.

    Download SpyHunter for Windows Download SpyHunter for Mac
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James Kramer
Hello, I'm James. My website Bugsfighter.com, a culmination of a decade's journey in the realms of computer troubleshooting, software testing, and development. My mission here is to offer you comprehensive, yet user-friendly guides across a spectrum of topics in this niche. Should you encounter any challenges with the software or the methodologies I endorse, please know that I am readily accessible for assistance. For any inquiries or further communication, feel free to reach out through the 'Contacts' page. Your journey towards seamless computing starts here