How to Remove HoistSearch.com Effectively?

Has your default homepage been changed to HoistSearch.com without your knowledge? Have you tried resetting the homepage to your favorite one but fail? This post will show you how to remove HoistSearch.com step by step. Please continue reading.

What Is HoistSearch.com?

HoistSearch.com is a website that offers Internet users a new feature that displays search results from some of their favorite sites directly in the window that they are viewing. Similar to Google, this website provides users a search engine on its page and allows them to search the web. It can take the queries that you submit on the site you are searching and display ads or search results in response to those queries in an integrated manner. However, some users complain that this website automatically replaces their previous website and becomes their default homepage. Actually, HoistSearch.com is deemed as a redirect virus that modifies users’ browser settings without their permission. It can secretly penetrate into the targeted computers and make itself as an integrated part of users’ default browser. This redirect virus is designed to show various advertisements to users when they do some searching. Once installed on your computer, it will attack your web browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer. Then, it changes your browser settings, causing your default homepage and search engine to be replaced by HoistSearch.com. Whenever you launch your browser, you may see this unwanted website popping up. When doing a search with its search engine, you may see many ads and sponsored links provided in the search result list. Besides, this redirect virus may also collect your internet browsing activities by recording your IP addresses, browser types and versions, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), search terms, and browser cookies, which could lead to identity theft and other privacy issues. That’s why we highly recommend a prompt removal of this threat.

Consequences of HoistSearch.com Infection

Browser settings get changed. The redirect virus is able to make changes to your browser settings, causing the changes of default homepage and search engine.

Browsers are redirected to unknown websites. The redirect virus can alter Hosts files, which allows it to redirect you to web pages that you have no intention to visit.

Many annoying ads pop up. The redirect virus will pop up lots of ads on the web pages that you visit. And most ads are delivered based on your interests or search habits.

Computer performance becomes decreased. The redirect virus eats a lot of system resources when running in the system, which causes the computer to run slowly and sluggishly.

Unknown toolbars appear on the browsers. The redirect virus downloads and installs various toolbars you have never heard of on you browsers, which reduces your Internet speed.

Personal information is collected and sent to unknown people. The redirect virus monitors your online activities and sends the information it has collected to its creators without your knowledge.

How Does Your PC Get Infected by HoistSearch.com?

Usually, this nasty redirect virus spreads via Internet. Most of time, it comes bundled with freeware or shareware which is downloaded from those nonofficial software markets. When you download and install such software on your computer, the redirect virus gets installed as well. Cunning as HoistSearch.com redirect virus, it also hides in an email attachment which looks harmless but actually contains malicious codes of various types of malware. Once you download or open the attachment, the redirect virus sneaks into your computer immediately. Besides, this redirect virus can lurk into your PC as you click on sponsored links or pop-up ads in unsafe websites like those pornographic websites and other dubious webs. Therefore, you need to take extra cautious when you are surfing on the Internet so as to avoid unnecessary damage and losses.

How to Remove HoistSearch.com Effectively?

Option 1: Follow the Steps to Manually Remove the Redirect Virus.

Option 2: Use SpyHunter to Automatically Remove the Redirect Virus.

Note: Manually removing the redirect virus is effective; however, it involves several complicated steps that not every user can handle easily. Users need to have much experience in dealing with processes, files and registry entries. So, if you are not a computer geek, downloading and using a professional malware removal tool will be a better choice. It does not require you to be a computer expert to remove the redirect virus at all.

Option 1: Follow the Steps to Manually Remove the Redirect Virus.

Step 1: Remove add-ons related to HoistSearch.com.

Internet Explorer:
1. Open Internet Explorer, click on the gear icon and select Manage Add-ons.
2. Click on “Toolbars and Extensions”, look for any add-ons related to the redirect virus and remove them.


Google Chrome:
1. Open Google Chrome, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select “Tools” > Extensions.
2. Look for any add-ons related to HoistSearch.com redirect virus and click the trash icon on the right to delete them.


Mozilla Firefox:
1. Open Mozilla Firefox, click on the menu icon and select “Add-ons”.
2. Select any add-ons related to the redirect virus and delete them.


Step 2: Remove the files associated with HoistSearch.com redirect virus from your PC.
1. Start Control Panel, click on Appearance and Personalization link.
2. Then click on Folder Options.
3. Under the View tab, tick “Show hidden files, folders and drives” and non-tick “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended). And then hit OK.
4. Then in the local disk C, look for and delete any files associated with the redirect virus.

Step 3: Remove any registry entries related to the redirect virus.
1. Press Windows + R keys together and type “regedit” into the Run box, and then hit OK to open the Registry Editor.
2. Click on File and search for the registry entries relevant to the redirect virus, and remove them all from your PC.
Option 2: Use SpyHunter to Automatically Remove the Redirect Virus.

SpyHunter is a powerful malware removal tool which serves to help detect and remove various malware like redirect viruses, Trojan horses, worms, rootkits, adware, spyware, ransomware, etc. Now you can automatically clean up HoistSearch.com redirect virus by following the steps below:

Step 1: Click on the download button below and save the file to your desktop. Then, run the downloaded file and proceed to download the SpyHunter installer.
Step 2: Once the SpyHunter installer is completely downloaded, select the language to proceed with the installation. After that accept the SpyHunter terms and wait till the installation finishes. Click the “Finish” button and you will see the home page of SpyHunter.
Step 3: Now click on “Scan Computer Now” to scan the system for HoistSearch.com redirect virus and any other related computer threats.
Step 4: Once the scanning completes, SpyHunter will list all the detected threats residing in the system. Then, you need to remove all of the threats by clicking “Fix Threats’” button.

How to Prevent Malware Infection

● Install a powerful anti-malware program such as SpyHunter on your computer, and regularly install updates for it.
● Don’t click on bogus ads or coupons that pop up in websites which you think not safe.
● Make sure that you use the latest version of your web browser and that any security patches have been applied.
● Download software from the Internet only when you are certain that it is from a trustworthy source.
● Scan for malware before you using any external storage devices on your computer.
● Be very wary of any emails from unknown people. Don’t click on links in the email message or open the attachments.


Attention: The manual removal is a rather complicated task which requires certain computer skills. Even some IT gurus think it is hard to handle. What’s worse, it is highly risky to operate the process and easily make your PC suffer from further man-made damage. That is the reason why we strongly suggest you to download a reliable removal tool to help easily delete HoistSearch.com. The removal tool will be able to do a complete scan of your system and then delete the detected threats within a few clicks of the mouse. In addition, it can protect your PC from other threats as long as you update it frequently.