How to remove SuperSearch (super-search.org)

What is SuperSearch (super-search.org)

SuperSearch is a browser hijacker that replaces your default homepage with the super-search.org address. This new URL address will therefore function as the main search engine that generates ostensibly better results. Do not mistake it with adware called by the same name as SuperSearch. They are different and have no correlation with each other apart from their questionable trustworthiness. Although super-search.org can generate its own search queries, they are no better or faster than those provided by legitimate engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, or others. This instantly says there is no real value in using super-search.org. On the contrary, the browser hijacker can slow down your PC due to poor optimization and gather sensitive data like passwords, IP addresses, or geolocations, which might put your privacy at quite a huge risk. If you spotted that super-search.org or any other changes have been assigned to your browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, etc.), be sure they are suspicious and should be removed. Usually, such changes are caused by unwanted extensions or apps installed on your PC. Unwanted software that could sneak into your system alters some values in order to attach unreliable changes to your browser. It will also reassign them in case you attempt to erase them manually. This is why your system should be scanned for such a presence as soon as possible. We will help you do that below.

SuperSearch adware

Super-search.org hijacker

How SuperSearch (super-search.org) infected your computer

As a rule, most users open the door for unwanted software when installing pirated, cracked, or freeware software. This method is known as “bundling”. It means that such software is bundled with third-party offers meant to promote unwanted apps like adware or browser hijackers. Developers hide them inside of installation set-ups within “Advanced” or “Custom” sections. Sometimes users are given a choice to select between “Recommended” or “Manual” types of installation. In all other cases, developers of unwanted software do not disclose any information at all and make their changes installed against users’ consent. They simply do not give any options to deselect promotional offers during the installation. For this exact reason, many users get infected with Potentially Unwanted Programs not knowing where they came from. The only and best to avoid them is to download software only from trusted and official resources. It is also advised against visiting websites with suspicious ads. Yes, even advertising content can redirect you to pages that launch executable scripts to install malware or PUPs in the background mode.

Remove SuperSearch manually for free

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

Disable push notifications from super-search.org in browsers

Remove super-search.org from websites, allowed to show push-notifications in Google Chrome

1. Go to Google Chrome settings, by clicking 3-dots icon in the top-right corner and choosing Settings.
2. On a Mac you can also go to Chrome and choose Preferences.
3. Under opened Privacy and security tab, choose Content settings.
4. Click on Notifications menu (with the bell icon).
5. Set up preferred overall settings for push notifications and click Manage exceptions… button.
6. Find super-search.org in the list and click cross icon to remove it. Click Done button to confirm the action.

Remove super-search.org from websites, allowed to show push-notifications in Mozilla Firefox

1. Go to Mozilla Firefox options, by clicking 3-bars icon in the top-right corner and choosing Options.
2. Choose Content tab on the left side.
3. Under Notifications, set up preferred overall settings for push-notifications and click Choose… button.
4. Find super-search.org in the list and click Remove site to remove it.
5. Click Save Changes button to confirm the action.

Remove super-search.org from websites, allowed to show push-notifications in Safari

1. Open Safari, and in the top menu click Safari, choose Preferences.
2. In the Preferences window, click on Websites tab.
3. On the left side, choose Notifications. You will see the list of websites and their settings for showing notifications.
4. Find super-search.org in the list and click Remove button.

Remove super-search.org from websites, allowed to show push-notifications in Android (Chrome)

1. Open Google Chrome app on Android, and tap on three dots to open main menu.
2. In the drop-down menu choose Settings, scroll down and under Advanced section tap on Site Settings.
3. In the Site Settings menu tap on Notifications.
4. In the Allowed list of websites allowed to show notifications find super-search.org, tap on it and in the bottom of the window tap on Clean & Reset button.
5. Confirm your action by tapping on Clean & Reset again in opened dialog box.

Remove super-search.org from websites, allowed to show push-notifications in Microsoft Edge

1. Open Microsoft Edge, and click on the three-dots menu, in the top-right corner.
2. In the drop-down menu choose Settings, and in the left part click Advanced.
3. Under Website permissions section, click Manage permissions button.
4. Find super-search.org in the list and click on the cross sign to remove the setting and disable its notifications.

Note: SuperSearch 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. Type in and execute the following commands:

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

Remove SuperSearch from Control Panel

To start removing SuperSearch you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names – “SuperSearch” or “super-search.org”. 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 SuperSearch from Mac:

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

Remove SuperSearch from Windows XP:

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

Remove SuperSearch from Windows 7:

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

Remove SuperSearch 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 SuperSearch or other suspicious program, click Uninstall.

Remove SuperSearch from Windows 10:

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

Cannot uninstall SuperSearch

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

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

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

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

Opera Browser:

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

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

SuperSearch installs a search engine (super-search.org), 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.

For safe and effective browser extension removal use avast! Browser Cleanup utility. Run it with administrator privileges and remove all extensions with bad ratings including related to SuperSearch. You can also reset your browser settings for each of your browsers: Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox.

Cleaning browsers shortcuts

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:

Final tips

Be careful surfing the internet and downloading software, as programs like SuperSearch 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 SuperSearch.