There are few persistent and annoying problems like changing Search Engine وHome Page Your browser is invaded without your permission. You try to search on Google but end up being redirected to Yahoo, or your homepage suddenly becomes a dodgy fake one you've never heard of.
The search engine has been changed (to Yahoo or another engine)
If your search engine or home page keeps changing to Yahoo (or any other search engine), the most plausible explanation is that at some point you accidentally chose to change your search engine (usually through a third-party program that has a sneaky checkbox in the installer asking if you want to opt out of changing your search engine, meaning they change your search engine by default).
If this happens, it may be a matter of manually changing the search engine to the one you initially chose.
Google Chrome
Click the More icon in Top right -> Settings -> Search engine Change your search engine in the drop-down menu. You can also change your home page here by going to the "On startup".
Microsoft Edge
Click the More icon in Top right -> Settings -> Privacy, Search & ServicesScroll down to the bottom, and tap on Address bar and search , then change the drop-down menu. "The search engine used in the address bar."
To change your Edge home page, click "at the beginning" in "Settings" In the right pane, then make changes.
Mozilla Firefox
To restore your previous search engine, click the three-line settings icon in the upper right corner of Firefox, then "Settings".
Click Search in the left pane, and then under Default search engine, switch it to the one you want to use.
To fix your Firefox home page, click Home Page in the left pane, and then in the drop-down menu Home page and new windows , switch it to whatever you want.
The search engine keeps changing (to Yahoo or another engine)
If your homepage or search engine keeps changing, you may have a redirect virus. At some point, you may have clicked on a pop-up window. "Update" Fake that tells you to do things like update Flash Player or update your browser.
Installing such an update will install a redirect link in your browser, changing your search engine to another one even when you change it again. The virus's creators then take advantage of any searches you perform using that search engine and gain access to your browsing data.
Run an antivirus scan. If your operating system's built-in antivirus doesn't detect it, try a program like Malwarebytes Or Avast Or Bitdefender To see if it works to solve the problem or not.
There are several different fixes for this:
1. Uninstall related programs
There are a lot of programs that come with accompanying bloatware, which sometimes sneaks onto your computer when you fail to uncheck the box while installing the program you want, or even without permission sometimes.
This program attaches to your browser and redirects your home page even if you change it again.
Find this program by right-clicking on the Start menu, going to “Apps & features,” and then finding and deleting applications with any of the following names (or similar):
- Research provided by Yahoo
- Web Companion
- PDFPoof
- Search
- ProMediaConverter
- PDFOnline
- WebDiscover
2. Find the Culprit browser extension.
Disable browser extensions one by one, checking each time to see if you're still being redirected to the invasive search engine or homepage. If your preferred search engine persists with a particular extension disabled, it's likely the disabled extension is causing the redirect and should be removed.
3. Reset your browser
In Chrome, go to “Settings -> Advanced options -> Restore settings to their original defaults -> Reset settings.”
In Edge, click “More icon -> Settings -> Reset settings -> Restore settings to default values.”
In Firefox, click the icon Settings -> Help -> More troubleshooting information -> Update FirefoxThis will keep your basic browser settings while removing things like add-ons, themes, and profile information.
One of the above should fix your constantly changing homepage and/or search engine, giving you back control of your browser. For more Windows tips, see:
