How to Uninstall Mysearch (Browser Hijacker/PUP)

What is Mysearch? And how does it work?

Mysearch is a misleading search engine created by APN, LLC and has been categorized as both a browser hijacker and a potentially unwanted program (PUP). Even though this search engine is presented as an enhanced search engine powered by Google, it hardly generates any kind of accurate results as it mostly caters to sponsored content from its affiliated sites. Clearly, the goal of the developer of this browser hijacker is only after making a profit through the pay-per-click marketing.
The moment Mysearch enters your system it will modify the settings of your browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and other types of browsers – leaving users no other choice but to use it every time they browse the web. And just like a typical browser hijacker, Mysearch also has the ability to track users’ activities online to collect information including their search queries, browsing history, websites often visited, ads clicked and so on. The information gathered is processed and used to deliver more sponsored content to users.
In addition, you can’t also trust the search results delivered by this program as most of them are modified to cater to sponsored content. Needless to say, nothing is useful about Mysearch and it only brings risk and potential threats to your system.
How does Mysearch spread online?
Mysearch spreads the web as a part of a software bundle along with other optional programs. You can find these kinds of packages on free sharing sites. To avoid unauthorized installation of unwanted programs like Mysearch, make sure that you use the recommended setup which is the Custom or Advanced setup the next time you install any software bundle.
Uninstall Mysearch from your computer by following the instructions provided below.
Step 1: Start the removal process by closing all the browsers infected with Mysearch. If you’re having a hard time closing them, you can close them using the Task Manager just tap on Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
Step 2: After you open the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab and look for the infected browser’s process and end it.
Step 3: Then close the Task Manager and open Control Panel – to do so, tap the Windows key + R, then type in appwiz.cpl and then click OK or press Enter.

Step 4: After pulling up Control Panel, from the list of installed programs, look for Mysearch or any suspicious program you don’t remember installing and then Uninstall it.

Step 5: Edit your Hosts File.

Tap the Win + R keys to open then type in %WinDir% and then click OK.
Go to System32/drivers/etc.
Open the host’s file using Notepad.
Delete all the entries that contain Mysearch.
After that, save the changes you’ve made and close the file.

Step 6: Reset all your browsers to default to their default state.
Google Chrome

Launch Google Chrome, press Alt + F, move to More tools, and click Extensions.
Look for Mysearch or any other unwanted add-ons, click the Recycle Bin button, and choose Remove.
Restart Google Chrome, then tap Alt + F, and select Settings.
Navigate to the On Startup section at the bottom.
Select “Open a specific page or set of pages”.
Click the More actions button next to the hijacker and click Remove.

Mozilla Firefox

Open the browser and tap Ctrl + Shift + A to access the Add-ons Manager.
In the Extensions menu Remove the unwanted extension.
Restart the browser and tap keys Alt + T.
Select Options and then move to the General menu.
Overwrite the URL in the Home Page section and then restart the browser.

Internet Explorer

Launch Internet Explorer.
Tap Alt + T and select Internet options.
Click the General tab and then overwrite the URL under the homepage section.
Click OK to save the changes.

Step 7: Hold down Windows + E keys simultaneously to open File Explorer.
Step 8: Navigate to the following directories and look for suspicious files associated with the browser hijacker such as the software bundle it came with and delete it/them.

%USERPROFILE%\Downloads
%USERPROFILE%\Desktop
%TEMP%

Step 9: Close the File Explorer.
Step 10: Empty the contents of Recycle Bin.
Refer to the advanced instructions given below to ensure the removal of Mysearch as well as all the file residues it left behind.
Perform a full system scan using [product-code]. To do so, follow these steps:

Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot
After that, the BIOS screen will be displayed, but if Windows pops up instead, reboot your computer and try again. Once you’re on the BIOS screen, repeat pressing F8, by doing so the Advanced Option shows up.

To navigate the Advanced Option use the arrow keys and select Safe Mode with Networking then hit
Windows will now load the SafeMode with Networking.
Press and hold both R key and Windows key.

If done correctly, the Windows Run Box will show up.
Type in the URL address, [product-url] in the Run dialog box and then tap Enter or click OK.
After that, it will download the program. Wait for the download to finish and then open the launcher to install the program.
Once the installation process is completed, run [product-code] to perform a full system scan.