Get rid of Search Marquis

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*Source of claim SH can remove it.

Search Marquis

Search Marquis is a pervasive browser hijacker plaguing Mac users by dictating your homepage to searchmarquis.com and steering your searches to Bing. This uninvited guest not only modifies your browser preferences but also overwhelms your browsing experience with sponsored content. Moreover, it’s linked to a similar intruder, Search Alpha, further complicating the situation. It’s vital to note, the hijacker’s impact extends beyond sluggish Mac performance, it also ushers you into a web of related rogue sites. Although Search Marquis doesn’t directly harm your system, its intrusive behavior and privacy implications make it a nuisance you’d want to address swiftly.

Search Marquis
Search Marquis will redirect your searches to Bing


How to get rid of Search Marquis on Chrome


To get rid of Search Marquis on Chrome, you first need to delete any apps related to the hijacker, and then you need to clear the browser data and restore it to its regular settings.


What is Search Marquis on Mac


Search Marquis on Mac is a rogue piece of software capable of injecting aggressive ads into your browser and making changes to the browser’s settings, altering its homepage, default search engine, and potentially even installing new extensions in it.


How to delete Search Marquis on Mac


To delete Search Marquis on Mac, the user needs to first find the app that brought it there in the first place and delete it and after that clean their browser from any undesirable changes that the rogue app might have made.


Why is Search Marquis coming up


If Search Marquis is coming up every time you launch your browser, it means that your browser and entire system has been infiltrated by this rogue browser hijacker, and now you must take measures to get rid of the unwanted app or else your computer might be at risk.


Remove Search Marquis from Mac


To remove Search Marquis from Mac, be sure to uninstall any suspicious apps and questionable browser extensions, and then clear the data of all your browsers and not only the one that seems affected by the hijacker.

What is Search Marquis?

Search Marquis is a formidable Mac-targeting browser hijacker that poses several risks to both your privacy and system security and that is related to Search Alpha – another aggressive Mac-targeting browser hijacker. By redirecting your searches to its own searchmarquis.com site or other associated websites, it can monitor and collect your browsing data, which may include personal information. This data collection can result in privacy invasion and targeted advertising. Furthermore, it slows down Mac performance, creating a frustrating user experience. The hijacker’s association with various rogue websites increases the risk of exposure to additional malware, potentially compromising the integrity of your system. Unchecked, Search Marquis can lead to a vicious cycle of system vulnerability and privacy intrusion. Therefore, identifying and removing it is crucial for keeping your system safe.

What is Search Marquis
Search Marquis will display information unrelated to your searches

Search Marquis Removal from Mac

Since it primarily proliferates through bundled software installations and deceptive ads, its installation is often unnoticed which can make the Search Marquis Removal from Mac more difficult. The hijacker is adept at embedding itself deep within the system by creating files in certain directories. Locations to note are: ~/Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/LaunchDaemons, /Library/Application Support, and ~/Library/Application Support. These hideaways allow the hijacker to persist even after removal attempts. For the Search Marquis Removal from Mac, it’s essential to navigate to these folders and meticulously delete any files associated with the hijacker. However, remember that you still need to clear your browsers’ data and delete any unwanted extensions from them in order to fully remove this intrusive browser hijacker.

Remove Search Marquis from Chrome

To remove Search Marquis from Google Chrome on a Mac computer, there are several steps that the user needs to complete. Firstly, they need to clear the browsing data to get rid of any residual files that may be contributing to the problem. Secondly, it’s a good idea to to restore the search engine settings back to how they were prior to the hijacker infiltration, thus ensuring that the rogue app no longer controls your searches. Next, the startup page needs to be reset to your desired homepage, not the one Search Marquis imposed. After that, it’s crucial to inspect and remove any suspicious or unfamiliar browser extensions. The final step to remove Search Marquis from Chrome is to restart the browser so that your changes can come into effect.

SUMMARY:

NameSearch Marquis
TypeBrowser Hijacker
Danger LevelMedium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk)
SymptomsA change in the browser’s homepage or the main search engine is a typical symptom of a Browser Hijacker.
Distribution MethodSoftware bundles, torrents, ads, freeware sites, shareware platforms, automatic installers.
Detection Tool

*Source of claim SH can remove it.

How to Remove Search Marquis from Mac

To get rid of Search Marquis you should start with quitting its process and deleting the app that caused it to get installed on your Mac.

  1. Go to Finder, open Applications > Utilities, then start the Activity Monitor, and find and Quit the hijacker process(es).
  2. Next, to get rid of Search Marquis, go back to Applications and there try to find and uninstall the rogue app that got this hijacker in your system.
  3. Click on the Apple logo menu, go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items, and there remove any suspicious items you are not familiar with.
  4. Lastly, from System Preferences, go to Profiles and delete all Mac accounts that you don’t recognize.

Those short four steps are a quick way of getting rid of the hijacker that would hopefully work for most of our readers. If, however, you need more detailed instructions and/or if completing those steps didn’t rid you of Search Marquis, below we have prepared a more in-depth explanation of how to uninstall this unwanted hijacker where we’ve included some extra steps to ensure that nothing from it would remain in the system.

*Source of claim SH can remove it.

Detailed how-to get rid of Search Marquis Instructions

  1. From the menu bar at the top of your screen, select the Finder button and then click on the Applications icon that’s in the left sidebar.
  2. From the Applications folder, go to Utilities, and there open the Activity Monitor app.
  3. Look through the listed processes and try to find the one that has been launched by Search Marquis. The process will likely not have the same name as the hijacker so use your own discretion to figure out which one it is. Here are some tips on what you need to be looking for:
    • Processes with odd names that seem out of place or are unfamiliar to you.
    • Processes that are using up large chunks of your system resources (RAM, CPU, battery life) without being related to any program that’s currently running on your Mac or any important system function.
    • Processes that appear only when the browser is running yet have different names from the other browser processes.
  4. If you have a high level of certainty that a given process could be linked to the hijacker, select its entry in the Activity Monitor and then click on the button in the upper-left corner to quit the process.
    • If you are unsure about whether you must quit the process that you suspect, try to find more information about it on the Internet by searching for its name – in most cases, if it is an unwanted process, that should show up in the search results.
      Activity Monitor Mac
  5. After you stop the suspected process, return to the Applications folder and there try to find an app with which you think the hijacker may have been bundled – app-bundling is one of the most common distribution methods for hijackers like Search Marquis so this is likely how it got on in your system too.
    • Note that apps that have been downloaded from third-party sources (rather than from the official Apple App Store) are more likely to carry hijackers that have been bundled with them due to lower security standards in most third-party app download platforms.
  6. If you think you’ve figured out which app must be removed, drag it to the Trash icon on your Desktop and then empty the Trash.
  7. Next, select the Apple menu from the top-left of your screen and go to System Preferences.
  8. Select the Users & Groups settings and then go to Login Items.
  9. There you will see the different apps that are automatically launched when your Mac starts – if any of them seem sketchy or you think could be linked to Search Marquis, remove them from the list by clicking on them and selecting the minus button below the list.
    Maclogin Items
  10. Again from System Preferences, select Profiles and remove any profiles from the list that haven’t been created by you or by other admins of the computer.
    • Note that even if the profiles seem to have legitimate names such as “Safari settings” or “Chrome settings“, they should still be removed unless you or another admin has purposefully created them.

Search Marquis Removal from Mac

To complete the Search Marquis Removal from Mac, you should also delete any files created in the system by this hijacker.

  1. Open the /Library/LaunchAgents folder, look through the most recent files, and if you find any suspicious ones delete them.
  2. Delete recently added suspicious looking files from the ~/Library/LaunchAgents, and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders as well.
  3. Finally, for the Search Marquis Removal from your Mac to be completed, go to ~/Library/Application Support, and there look for folders (not separate files) that seem linked to the hijacker and delete them.

Below, we will provide you with more details on how to find and delete the Search Marquis files from those folders.

*Source of claim SH can remove it.

Detailed Search Marquis Removal Instructions

  1. Press the Command + Sift + G key combination from your keyboard and when the Go window appears copy-past in it the following folder location: /Library/LaunchAgents.
  2. Click on Go to open that folder and in it look at all files created around and after the moment Search Marquis got installed on your Mac. If any of those files look questionable, scan them with the free malware scanner posted below, and if they are flagged as potential threats delete them by sending them to the Trash.
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    • If you see any of the following files in that folder, delete them without the need for scanning them as they are confirmed to be Search Marquis files:
      • com.msp.agent.plist
      • com.updater.mcy.plist
      • com.pcv.hlpramc.plist
      • com.avickUpd.plist
    • Next, Go to the ~/Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons, look for recently added suspicious files in them too, scan what you find, and delete the ones that the scanner flags as malware/unwanted software.
      • If in the ~/Library/LaunchAgents folder you notice any of the confirmed Search Marquis files we listed above for the /Library/LaunchAgents folder (without the “~” sign), delete them right away as there’s no need to scan them.
      • The confirmed Search Marquis files you may find in the /Library/LaunchDaemons and which you should delete are:
        • pplauncher.plist
        • com.startup.plist
        • com.ExpertModuleSearchDaemon.plist
    • Lastly, visit the ~/Library/Application Support folder and in it look for subfolders that are likely to have been created by the hijacker. The following are examples of confirmed Search Marquis folders that you must delete if you see them there:
      • ValidGeneration
      • BoostCoordinator
      • OperativeState
      • InitialWindow
      • AdjustableProduct

    How to Remove Search Marquis from Mac

    To remove Search Marquis from Mac, you must make sure that the hijacker is uninstalled from any other browsers in your system, such as Google Chrome.

    1. Open Chrome, type the following in its URL bar, and press Enter: chrome://settings.
    2. Select the Extensions settings and if you see any add-ons potentially related to the hijacker uninstall them.
    3. If you first need to check if an add-on is unwanted, disable it and if the hijacker symptoms stop, then that add-on needs to be deleted.
    4. Go to chrome://settings again and click on Search Engine from the left and then on Manage Search Engines.
    5. Block any unknown search engines listed on that page to remove Search Marquis from Mac and from your Chrome browser.

    Detailed how-to remove Search Marquis from Mac Instructions

    1. When you open Google Chrome, click on the browser menu icon in the top-right (three dots) and click on More Tools.
    2. From the More Tools submenu, go to Extensions and on the Extensions page try to find any extensions that haven’t been installed by you and delete them.
    3. Also, delete extensions that you don’t use and ones that you think might be causing problems.
    4. If an extension doesn’t get deleted even after you select the Remove button, click on the Disable button first (the small toggle button below the extension), and then click on Remove again.
      Chrome Extensions2
    5. Open the browser menu again, this time click on Settings, and from the Settings page select Search Engine (the sidebar to the left).
    6. Expand the Manage Search Engines settings from the middle and then find and remove from the browser all search engines listed there that you are not familiar with and that you don’t think you can trust.
    7. To remove a search engine, simply click on the small three-dot icon next to it and then click on the Remove from list button to stop Chrome from using this search engine in the future.
      Chrome Extensions
    8. Next, from the sidebar of the Settings page, select the Privacy and Security options and then click on the Clear Browsing Data button.
    9. Check the different boxes leaving only the one for the Passwords and other sign-in data unchecked, select the All time range, and click on Clear Data to carry out the action.
      Chrome Clear Data
    10. Lastly, open the Appearance settings from the sidebar of the Settings page and see what the browser’s new-tab page address is – if it is searchmarquis.com or anything similar that looks like it has been added by the hijacker, replaced it with the URL of a reputable and safe website that will be the new homepage of your browser (or simply type the address of your old homepage).

    How to Remove Search Marquis from Safari

    To remove Search Marquis from Safari, one must uninstall all undesirable extensions that may have been added to it by the hijacker and then reset the browser settings.

    1. When you start the browser, click on the Safari menu, go to Preferences > Extensions, and uninstall any suspicious extensions that you haven’t added yourself.
    2. Next, go to Preferences from the browser menu, select General, and restore the browser homepage if it has been changed by the hijacker.
    3. To remove Search Marquis from Safari, next, select the Privacy tab, click on Remove All Website Data, and then on Remove Now.
    4. Finally, go to the History Menu > Clear History, set the command to the All History setting, and click on Clear History again.

    Detailed how-to remove Search Marquis from Safari Instructions

    1. When you start the Safari browser, click on the Safari button from the top-left and then go to Preferences.
      Preferences in Safari
    2. From there, select Extensions and explore the items shown on that page – any extension that you don’t remember adding to the browser, that you don’t normally use, or that seems otherwise unwanted should be removed.
      extensions in safari
    3. Next, open the General tab from the Preferences bar, check the current address of the homepage and if it is searchmarquis.com or anything else that makes you think that address has been enforced by the hijacker, delete the URL and type in its place the address of a safe and legitimate website.
      General Tab in Safari
    4. Visit the Privacy tab and use the Remove All Website Data option to clear file caches and site cookies that may hold information related to Search Marquis.
      Privacy in Safari
    5. Delete the browser history by selecting the History menu, clicking on the Clear History button, and confirming the action in the next window. For a history deletion setting, we suggest that you use the All History one.

    About the author

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    Lidia Howler

    Lidia is a web content creator with years of experience in the cyber-security sector. She helps readers with articles on malware removal and online security. Her strive for simplicity and well-researched information provides users with easy-to-follow It-related tips and step-by-step tutorials.

    10 Comments

      • Hi Cal Benton,
        yes we recommend ComboCleaner and its a trusted program. You can download it and use its trial version to remove the malware from your Mac.

    • Hey Brandon, I followed this article (remove search marquis virus mac) up until the point when it told me to go to the action monitor and take a sample of any “suspicious processes.” I am able to take the samples, but I don’t know what to do with them. How do I analyze these samples to know whether or not I should delete them?

      The search marquis has gotten quite out of hand at this point. I am automatically redirected to it every time I open a new tab, or even if I click the back button to return to my google search results. I have removed it from all settings that I can find, yet still the problem persists. Thanks for your help.

      • Hi Dan, I believe you sample any of the suspicious processes so you can find the paths to the files related to these processes, you can use the online virus scanner on the page to confirm or deny your suspicions.

    • Hi Petkov, where is this online virus scanner , please? If it is combocleaner, this function is no longer free and I am unaware of it it’ll remove completely if I pay.
      Thanks

      • Hi Emily, I presume you have followed the removal guide in this article. Can you please be more specific which step is giving you trouble?

    • I am getting a message “You can’t open the application “SpyHunter-Installer.exe” because Microsoft Windows applications are not supported on macOS.” Please advise.

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