As the Ultra Search Engine been downloaded and installed on your Mac and you didn’t know how it got there? Well, here in this article, we will show you how the Ultra Search Engine can infect your device and also how to get rid of Ultra Search Engine permanently.
The Ultra Search Engine is known to be a potentially malicious browser hijacker that redirects your browser search queries and disrupts regular browsing sections without even the user’s permission. This malicious program usually targets Mac operating systems.
For more info about how to get rid of Ultra Search Engine on your Mac, ensure you scroll through every section of this post. Read on!
What is UltraSearch App?
Ultra Search App is known to be a malicious application for Mac and a potentially unwanted program. It is being distributed via tricky techniques and once it’s able to gain access to a target system it changes the browser settings without your permission.
UltraSearch App is mainly developed to spam your online browsing with several redirects to various shady websites. However, as long as the program is running on your Mac it makes the operating system very vulnerable to more infections. Your online privacy and safety will be endangered as well.
What is Ultra Search Engine?
Ultra Search Engine is a malicious program for Mac that plants unwanted advertisements into websites you visit and modifies the default search engine of your browser to UltraSearch Engine Search.
Although, this program tends to get installed on Mac operating systems even without users’ knowledge. Once it’s installed on a computer, the UltraSearch Engine browser hijacker will redirect your browser search queries via search.initialunit.com, which will further redirect to search result pages from search.yahoo.com.
This usually occurs to generate advertising revenue by using Yahoo Search for its search results. UltraSearch Engine also opens new tabs in the browser that shows ads trying to sell software, push fake software updates, and tech support scams.
Signs that show you have UltraSearch Engine Installed
Once the UltraSearch Engine browser hijacker has been installed on your computer, these are the common symptoms you will see below:
- Your web browser’s default search engine will change to UltraSearch Engine Search.
- Your browser’s search queries will be redirected via search.initialunit.com.
- The “UltraSearch Engine” browser extension or program will be installed on your computer.
Why is my browser redirected to UltraSearch Engine?
Wondering why your browser is been redirected to the UltraSearch engine? Well, it may be because the “UltraSearch Engine” extension or program has been installed on your computer.
This particular type of program is usually offered via advertisements or bundled with other software, leaving the user confused about where this software came from.
Always pay rapt attention whenever you are installing software because usually, a software installer includes optional installs. Always choose the custom installation option and remove anything that is not familiar, especially optional software that you may have downloaded and installed in the first place. In other words, do not install software that you don’t trust.
How to Get Rid of Ultra Search Engine
Getting rid of the Ultra Search engine requires 4 major steps namely: removing malicious profiles from your Mac, removing Ultrasearch Engine from Mac, using Malwarebytes for Mac to remove this browser hijacker, and finally removing Ultra search engine from, Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. Let’s take these steps one after the other below:
Get rid of Malicious Profiles from Mac
Home users, adware, and browser hijackers usually apply the configuration profile to prevent users from deleting malicious programs from the computer.
Now, to get rid of malicious profiles from Mac, ensure you check your computer first to see if there are any configuration profiles installed. To do this, follow the steps below:
- Select “System Preferences” from the Apple Menu.
- Look for the Profiles icon once the System Preferences window opens.
- Note that if there isn’t a Profile icon, then it means there are no profiles installed, which is normal and you can proceed to the next steps.
- However, if there’s a Profile icon, you can click on it and choose any suspicious profile you may want to remove, and then tap the – (minus) button.
- Click on the Remove option to remove the profile.
That’s it! This is how to get rid of Ultra Search Engine.
Remove Ultrasearch Engine from Mac
In this next step, you need to identify and remove the UltraSearch Engine program and its files from your computer completely. Follow the steps below to do this:
- On the Apple menu bar, in the top-right corner, you will see the UltraSearch Engine icon, tap on it and then choose Quit.
- Select the Finder application on your dock.
- Tap on “Applications” in the Finder left pane.
- The “Applications” screen will be shown with a list of all the apps installed on your device.
- Scroll through the list till you see UltraSearch Engine, right-click it, and then tap “Move to Trash”.
- Right-click on the Trash icon and select “Empty Trash” on the dock.
- This will delete all the Trash’s content, including the UltraSearch Engine program just sent to the Trash.
- Tap on the desktop to ensure that you are in the Finder, select “Go” then click on “Go to Folder“.
- Enter or copy/paste each of the following paths (/Library/LaunchAgents, ~/Library/LaunchAgents, and /Library/LaunchDaemons) into the window that opens, and tap on Go.
- Search for any suspicious files that could be responsible for all the drama or something you don’t remember downloading that doesn’t look like a genuine program.
This is how to get rid of Ultra Search Engine.
Use Malwarebytes by Mac to get rid of Ultra Search Engine
Malwarebyte is free and usually recommended when it comes to cleaning up an infected device. It’s an important tool to fight against malware. In this third step, we will scan the computer with Malwarebytes for Mac to remove UltraSearch Engine from your device.
- The first thing to do is to download Malwarebytes for Mac.
- After successfully downloading it, double-click on the setup file to install Malwarebytes on your computer, you can check the Downloads folder.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to install Malwarebytes for Mac by clicking Continue.
- Once Malwarebytes has been successfully installed, then the program will display the Welcome to Malwarebytes screen. Tap on the “Get started” button.
- Choose either “Personal Computer” or “Work Computer”.
- Choose “Use Malwarebytes Free”.
- Tap on the “Scan” button and wait for the Malwarebytes to scan completely.
- Tap on the “Quarantine” button.
- Now, restart your computer.
Once the malware removal process has been completed, you can close Malwarebytes and continue with the following instructions.
Get rid of Ultra Search Engine from Safari, Chrome, or Firefox
In case you are still having issues with the UltraSearch Engine adware browser extension, then you can as well reset your browsers back to their default settings.
Here’s how to get rid of Ultra Search Engine from Safari, follow the steps below:
- On the Menu bar, tap on the “Safari” Menu and choose “Preferences”.
- After the General tab has been opened, check the Homepage.
- Click on the “Extensions” tab.
- Locate and uninstall UltraSearch Engine.
In case the above steps did not help to remove the Ultra Search Engine browser hijacker from Safari, you can try the steps below:
- In Safari, select Preferences from the Safari Menu.
- Tap on the General icon (if necessary) in the window that opens.
- Input your desired home page in the “Homepage” field, however, DO NOT press return!
- Click on any of the other icons (for instance Tabs, AutoFill, etc.) at the top of the window.
- You are likely to see a prompt asking for confirmation for changing the home page. You can confirm.
- Return to the General page and check to ensure that the home page has been changed.
Now, your computer should be free of the UltraSearch Engine browser hijacker.
Here’s how to get rid of Ultra Search Engine from Google Chrome, just follow the steps below:
- Tap on the “three vertical dots” at the top right-hand corner, this will open up the main menu on Google Chrome.
- Go to “More Tools” in the menu and then to “Extensions”.
- Click on “Remove” to uninstall an extension.
- Finally, tap on “Remove” in the dialog box.
You can as well try to delete the UltraSearch Engine hijacker by resetting Chrome settings.
Here’s how to get rid of Ultra Search Engine from Mozilla Firefox, just follow the steps below:
- Tap on the ‘Menu’ button and choose ‘Add-ons’.
- Navigate to the ‘Extensions’ tab.
- To uninstall an add-on, tap on the “Remove” button next to it.
In case you are still having issues with UltraSearch Engine removal, you need to go ahead to reset your Firefox browser.
Once you have been able to complete the step-by-step guidelines outlined on how to get rid of Ultra Search Engine, then your MAC should be clean from this browser hijacker and other malware. Consequently, Safari, Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox will no longer display the UltraSearch Engine site on startup.
However, if the steps above did not work for you, then you may be already infected with a new browser hijacker. Feel free to drop any question lingering in your mind to ask in the comment section below.