How to Remove Search Marquis From Your Mac
Search Marquis is a browser hijacker that may sneak into your Mac and change the default search engine, homepage, and new tab page of your Safari, Chrome, or Firefox browser. The presence of Search Marquis may cause annoying ads, pop-ups, redirects, and slow performance. Fortunately, you can remove Search Marquis from your Mac by following these steps.
Step 1: Quit the affected browser
Before you start removing Search Marquis, make sure to close all instances of the affected browser (Safari, Chrome, or Firefox). You can do it by clicking on the browser’s name in the menu bar, and then selecting Quit [Browser Name].
Step 2: Check for rogue profiles and configuration files
Search Marquis may install rogue profiles or configuration files on your Mac that could prevent you from changing the browser settings. To check for these files, follow these steps:
– Open the System Preferences app from the Apple menu.
– Click on Profiles (or Profiles & Device Management) and look for any suspicious profiles. If you find one, select it and click on the – (minus) button to remove it.
– Next, open the Finder app and go to the following folders:
~/Library/Application Support/
~/Library/LaunchAgents/
~/Library/LaunchDaemons/
Look for any files or folders with suspicious names, such as SearchMarquis, AnySearch, or GoSearch22. If you find any, move them to the Trash or delete them permanently.
Step 3: Reset the browser settings
After removing the rogue profiles and files, you can reset the browser settings to their defaults. Here’s how to do it for each browser:
For Safari:
– Open Safari and click on the Safari menu in the menu bar.
– Select Preferences and then click on the Advanced tab.
– Check the box next to Show Develop menu in menu bar.
– Click on the Develop menu and select Empty Caches.
– Go back to the Preferences window and click on the General tab.
– In the Homepage field, enter the URL of the homepage you want (e.g., www.google.com) or leave it blank.
– Close the Preferences window and restart Safari.
For Chrome:
– Open Chrome and click on the Chrome menu in the menu bar.
– Select Preferences and then click on Advanced at the bottom.
– Scroll down to Reset and clean up section and click on Reset settings to their original defaults.
– Confirm by clicking on Reset settings.
– Close Chrome and relaunch it.
For Firefox:
– Open Firefox and click on the Firefox menu in the menu bar.
– Select Preferences and then click on the General tab.
– In the Startup section, select Restore default values for this profile.
– Click on the Home button and choose the Homepage and new windows option.
– Enter the URL of the homepage you want (e.g., www.google.com) or leave it blank.
– Close the Preferences window and restart Firefox.
Step 4: Scan your Mac for malware
To make sure that Search Marquis is completely removed from your Mac, you should scan it for malware using reliable security software, such as Malwarebytes, Avast, or Norton. These programs can detect and remove various types of malware, including browser hijackers, adware, spyware, and viruses.