Chill Search Mac Virus – How to Remove It?

George Herman

IT Security Expert

Get a FREE scan to check for Chill Search problems

Some infections like this Chill Search virus can regenerate themselves. There is no better way to detect, remediate and prevent malware infection, than to use a professional anti-malware software like SpyHunter. One Application that is capable of solving all MAC problems.

Go to Spyhunter.com

SpyHunter Anti-Malware FREE 15-day trial available.

What Is Chill Search Mac Virus?

Chill Search is a browser hijacker and potentially unwanted program, which will display advertisements and change system settings without your permission or knowledge. Chill-Tab alters the default browser settings. Often, when you alter your default search engine settings, your computer becomes more susceptible to attack by online criminals trying to exploit vulnerabilities in your Internet browser, possibly allowing them to gain access to the computer. Such programs infiltrate your computer bundled with other software or fake downloads which you install onto the system. However, due to the fact that these programs come from unknown sources and are considered as not reliable, you’d better remove them from your Mac as soon as possible.

How Is Chill Search Mac Virus Distributed?

The Chill Search Mac Virus is a computer virus that is distributed through the search engine’s pop-up ads. When you wait patiently for the ad to load, it gets downloaded automatically into your system without your knowledge or permission. It then starts its rampage of nuisance on your computer, practically ruining its functionality. The virus is designed to download and install adware, that, in turn, changes your browser homepage and search provider to search.chillsearch.com, a highly questionable website. It then keeps bombarding you with ads for its own products and services or those of third parties or similar ad-supported programs.

How harmful is Chill Search hijacker?

Despite the fact that PUPs are not particularly dangerous, they can flood your web browser with numerous ads and pop-ups and significantly slow down the performance of your Mac. It threatens the confidentiality of your info, slows down your computers boot time and destroys your browser with pesky adverts. It also tracks browsing histories, so stay alert if you have a vivid imagination! Why should you take action? Browser hijackers are generally bundled with other freewares that we download thinking they can only do good. It is for this reason we often cannot detect them and their signs of presence at first sight. Once they are installed, they immediately make changes to browser settings and start tracking our activities. The main purpose of hijackers is to make money via online marketing. Their creators know that if you keep seeing ads you will be more likely to click on them. If a site you are visiting is flooded with promos or those ads appear unexpectedly, your system has already been infected by a browser hijacker. Always be aware of bundled freewares downloaded from the Internet, especially if they offer optional components during the installation process.

How did I get infected?

Chill-Tab, just like other browser hijackers, prevent users from modifying browsers settings. Moreover, it changes the default homepage and search engine of your browser. This browser hijacker is typically bundled with other free applications that you download off of the Internet. Unfortunately, some free downloads do not adequately disclose that other software will be installed along with it. This is probably how you got infected with Chill search Mac virus.

How can I remove Chill Search virus ?

Step 1: Uninstall Chill Search and remove related files and objects

Open your Finder –> Click on GO –>Click on Utilities

Find Activity Monitor and open it

Review all the processes in Activity Monitor and write down the ones related to Chill Search virus

Select Quit

To kill the malicious process, choose the Force Quit option.

Step 2: Remove Chill Search – related extensions from Safari / Chrome / Firefox

The first thing you need to do is to make sure Safari is not running. If you have troubles closing it, you may need to Force Quit Safari - (Start Activity Monitor by opening up Finder, then proceed to Application --> Utilities --> Activity monitor. Locate the Safari process and force quit it.

Safely launch Safari again by holding the Shift key and clicking on the Safari application icon - This will prevent Safari’s previously opened malicious web pages.

In case that you still are having trouble with scripts interrupting the closing of unwanted pages, please do the following:

Force Quit Safari again.
Disconnect form Internet and try again.

Then Re-Launch Safari but don’t forget to press and hold the Shift button to prevent pop-ups. Then, click on Preferences.

Carefully take a look at your default home page and change it if the hijacker altered it.

Then go to the Extensions tab and make sure there are no unknow extensions installed.

Next step is to click on Privacy tab

Manage website data

Here you can remove any unwanted website data or just remove them all. Please, keep in mind that after you do this all stored website data will be deleted. You will need to sign-in again for all websites that require any form of authentication.
The next step is to Clear History (if you want), select the tab.

Click the menu next to clear and choose a time period — if you want to completely reset Safari, choose all history.
Press Clear History

To remove from Chrome, open the browser and click the icon with the three dots located in the top-right.
Select to More Tools --> Extensions and review what Chrome Extensions are present in the browser
Remove the ones that you do not recognize.

If the parasite continues to disrupt your browsing with Chrome, this is what else you can do:
1. Click again the menu of Google Chrome, and open Settings.
2. Select the Search Engine from the left panel, review the available search engines and change the default to your preference.
3. Then, click on Manage Search Engines, review the list of search engine availabilities and if any of the listed items looks suspicious, click the three-dots next to them, and delete.
4. Click on Privacy and Security in the left panel, select the Clear browsing data option, check every box except the Passwords one, and click Clear Data.
5. Next step is to clear Notifications, select the Site settings option in the Privacy and Security section, then locate Notifications.
6. Review the listed websites in the Allow to send notifications section and if any of the entries shown there seem dubious or related to the browser hijacker, select the three dots next to the object and click on Remove.

Start Mozilla Firefox
On the top right click the three dashes

go to add-ons and themes
The add-ons manager will open
Carefully review review four Firefox Extensions
If any unwanted extension is present, click on the three horizontal dots and then Remove

After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red dot in the top left and start it again.

To make sure Chill Search is removed from the browser we recommend to scan with a reputable antimalware program like SpyHunter for Mac

Go to official SpyHunter for Mac page

Step 3: Scan for and remove Chill Search files from your Mac

Fix your browser settings with SpyHunter Anti-Malware

Once you download and install SpyHunter for Mac run a scan.

Once the scan is complete, your mac will be virus free.

Chill Search malware Frequently Asked Questions:

How do I get rid of Chill Search?

Chill Search is a Browser hijacker – malicious software that can be installed by third-party applications or websites. They usually change the settings of web browsers and search engines to display certain ads, pop-ups, banners, etc.

What are the symptoms of Chill Search infection in your Mac?

Chill Search becomes your web browser’s built-in search engine.

Your browser’ s search queries are redirected through Chill Search.com

The “Chill Search” browser extension or some shady software is installed on your Mac.

How do I remove Chill Search from my browser?

In Internet Explorer, click the gear icon on the top left and select Manage add-ons. Under Add-on Types, select Search Providers. Select your search engine from the list of providers and click Remove to remove it. In Google Chrome, go to Settings (at the top right) and choose Search in the On Startup drop down menu.

How do I uninstall Chill Search?

If you made a mistake when installing an app on your mac, the easiest way to uninstall it is by right clicking on its icon in your dock, then going to ‘move to trash’. Once it’s gone, restart your mac. If that didn’t work for you, try rebooting and looking for an icon opening up. Once you’ve found that, go to utilities/get info, then go to the ‘Applications’ tab and look for the app. Right-click it and select ‘Get Info’ and then look for the option to ‘Uninstall this Version’. If that doesn’t work, restart your mac again. If you don’t have any luck you can always use the SpyHunter free uninstall.

How to Make Your Mac Run Faster?

You might be wondering how to make your Mac run faster? It is a common misconception that the more processing power you have, the faster your computer will run. In reality, it’s actually about what’s going on in your processor and memory. For the average person using a computer for just general applications like word processing and web browsing, you don’t need much in the way of computing power.

– Use an SSD drive instead of a hard disk drive.

– Double your RAM if possible.

– Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP). (Attention! – do this only if you know the consequences.)

References:

More about pop-up advertisements on Wikipedia.
MacOS malware
SpyHunter Anti-Malware overview and also the reasons why we recommend it for malware elimination.

ATTENTION, PLEASE!
Chill Search may have the ability to replicate itself, if not completely cleaned. This may require tracking down hundreds of files and settings. You can choose to use Spyhunter Professional Anti-Malware Program to deal with any infection that might be lurking along with Chill Search!
>>Download SpyHunter – a Professional Virus scanner and remover.

Please, have in mind that SpyHunter offers a free 15-day Trial version with full functionality. Credit card is required, no charge upfront.