How to remove Search Baron from Mac

If you constantly get redirected to Search Baron while browsing Safari or Google Chrome, your Mac is infected with a browser hijacker. As soon as it gets into your device’s system, your browser’s settings are changed, and the default search engine becomes searchbaron.com. Consequently, Mac users might get redirected to this bogus search engine.

Despite annoying redirects, users can also experience targeted ads. They are being redirected to malicious websites that result in severe cyber threats, such as phishing scams and other infections. Fortunately, browser hijackers are more annoying than dangerous, plus there’s a way to fix this.

In this article, you will find out how to remove Search Baron from your Mac, how to recover your preferred browser settings, and what to do to avoid getting your browser hijacked in the future.

How to get rid of the Search Baron virus on Mac

You can remove the Search Baron virus from your Mac in two ways. To do that automatically, you would need to get robust antivirus software, such as TotalAV, run a full scan and follow further antivirus instructions. It’s also possible to remove it manually. However, it requires you to carefully delete Search Baron-related data from your device. We've provided detailed guides for those below. Here's a quick step-by-step guide on how to get rid of the virus using antivirus:

1. Head to the official TotalAV website and download the antivirus software tailored for Mac
2. Follow the on-screen instructions to install TotalAV on your Mac system
3. Initiate a full system scan within TotalAV to thoroughly search for the Search Baron virus and related threats
4. Once the scan is complete, carefully review the results to identify any instances of Search Baron or associated files
5. Follow the prompts to remove the identified threats, ensuring the effective elimination of the Search Baron virus
6. Set up scheduled scans with TotalAV to regularly check your Mac for potential threats!

Remove Search Baron virus with TotalAV

What is Search Baron?

Search Baron is a browser hijacker that’s a type of malware that looks like a genuine search engine. However, that’s an infection meant to track users’ data, it targets popular browsers like Safari or Chrome. With it, your privacy is compromised, and your usual browsing experience becomes annoying.

When this browser hijacker enters your Mac device, your default browser settings are changed, and the searchbaron.com search engine is also installed. The Search Baron engine is created to redirect you to malicious websites and attack you with intrusive pop-up ads.

Unfortunately, a single accidental click on a malicious link allows cybercriminals to access your data. This might result in financial loss, identity theft, and damaged devices.

Name	Search Baron (searchbaron.com)
Type	Browser hijacker, Mac adware
Device	MacOS
Symptoms	Modified browser settings, redirects the web browser to searchbaron.com or advertisement-related web pages, slows down Mac computer
Damage	Privacy interference by tracking user’s internet activity, unwanted ads, search redirects, unwanted changes of browsing settings

Protect your devices with TotalAV

Why does my browser redirects to searchbaron.com?

Searchbaron.com is a part of the Search Baron browser extension. This malicious browser extension gets installed on your Mac device unintentionally, identifying your computer is infected with malware.

Search Baron replaces the admin’s browser settings with its own and makes all your queries go through the searchbaron.com search engine. Moreover, the user can’t delete changes made by the hijacker.

Also, if you have already tried removing Search Baron from your Mac device but still get redirected to searchbaron.com, you might have left some remains of an infection. Going through your device thoroughly should be the first thing to do while getting rid of a browser hijacker or any other infection.

Symptoms of Search Baron virus

Getting infected with a browser hijacker leads to the odd browser and device performance. Search Baron virus isn’t an exception; here you can see the symptoms of it:

• Your browser settings are changed; your default homepage and search engine are searchbaron.com. When a browser hijacker infects your Mac device, it replaces the admin’s browser settings and makes you use the malicious search engine for your queries.
• Getting redirected to other dubious sites and search engines. One of the reasons hackers set up malware is to make an income. Therefore, they cooperate with third parties by redirecting you to malicious sites, collecting your data, and selling it.
• Frustrating ads. As soon as you get infected with Search Baron, you should notice an increased amount of targeted ads; in other words, adware. These can appear as pop-up ads or banners that promote good deals to attract you.
• Slowed down browser and Mac performance. Any type of malware requires enormous resources from a device, and your browser gets burdened with dozens of ads. Hence, either your device or browser can work noticeably slower.

How to remove Search Baron entirely

While a top-quality Mac antivirus tool like TotalAV will remove Search Baron quite effectively, there’s a chance of some residual parts remaining after the initial scan. Here are some extra steps you should take to ensure the annoying malware is completely removed from your system.

Remove components of Search Baron from Mac system folders

1. Click Go on the Mac’s Finder toolbar and select Utilities.
2. Open the Activity Monitor app.
3. Search for suspicious processes related to Search Baron and click on the Stop icon.
4. Confirm by clicking on Force Quit.

5. Click Go on the Mac’s Finder toolbar again and select Go To Folder.
6. Type /Library/LaunchAgents in the search bar and click on the Go button.
7. Look through the open folder for suspicious files related to Search Baron and move them to Bin.
8. Repeat Steps 5-8 with these folders too: ~/Library/Application Support; ~/Library/LaunchAgents; /Library/LaunchDaemons

Remove Search Baron from a browser

Safari:

1. Open the browser and select the Safari menu. Click on Preferences.
2. Choose an Advanced tab and enable the option “Show Develop menu in the menu bar”.
3. On the Safari browser menu, choose Develop and click on Empty Caches.
4. Select History on the Safari menu and click on Clear History.
5. On the opened dialog, select all history and Clear History.
6. Go back to Safari Preferences and select the Privacy tab.

7. Click Manage Website Data and then Remove all button.

Google Chrome:

1. Open Chrome, click on the vertical three dots in the upper right corner, and choose Settings.
2. Click on Reset Settings and then on “Restore settings to their original defaults”.

3. On the new dialog window, confirm by clicking on Reset Settings again.

How can I protect my Mac against viruses?

If you got your device infected with malware, it’s a good idea to learn about the malware prevention to avoid it happening in the future. Here, you will find tips on maintaining your Mac safe against viruses:

• Keep your OS and applications up to date. A software update is meant to fix issues interfering with the user’s experience. This also includes security gaps; therefore, updating your OS and apps should be prioritized.
• Don’t download material from unknown sources. Often viruses get into your device’s system through downloaded programs from unofficial websites. Meaning, you should download programs only from reliable sources.
• Don’t click on dubious ads. Even though we see dozens of targeted ads daily, the ones that tend to seem suspicious must be avoided. It’s another way that hackers use to set a trap and trick users.
• Avoid suspicious links and websites. By clicking an infected link, you may unintentionally download malicious material, while infected websites can collect your data. Make sure you’re aware of what sites and links you follow.
• Customize program installation process. Usually, we nod to everything the application asks you to agree with to install the software. Consequently, we allow the app to track our data and download additional patches that can be malicious.
• Use reputable antivirus software. The best way to ensure complete protection against viruses is to use robust antivirus software. Programs like TotalAV, allow you to run full scans. They block infected attachments and ensure full protection at all times.

Conclusion

Search Baron browser hijacker is both – annoying and dangerous. By targeting Mac users, it aims to collect and sell their data aside from drastically changing your browsing routine.

The good news is that you can remove Search Baron from your Mac by getting a reputable antivirus program, such as TotalAV. It clears all the threatening attachments from your device and ensures that malicious material wouldn’t settle down on your Mac again.

If you’re planning to try out the manual removal by following our suggested guides, let us know how it goes in the comments section below.

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