How to Remove Yahoo Search Redirect Virus on Mac 2024

Last Updated by Sayb Saad on July 19, 2023

Yahoo Search Redirect is a browser-hijacking virus that changes your browser settings and redirects you to fake search engines and potentially dangerous websites. Hackers usually use this virus to plant spyware on your Mac and steal your data.

You might be at serious risk if you see Yahoo Search Redirect pop up on your Mac. You must uninstall it immediately. You might even have to reinstall your browser if the virus has penetrated deep into your Mac.

Fortunately, removing the Yahoo Search Redirect virus from your system is easy. You’ll have to use a premium antivirus to remove all its contents and background processes completely. I strongly recommend using Intego because it’s highly Mac-oriented and provides perfect detection scores and real-time protection.

Remove Yahoo Search Redirect with Intego

Quick Guide: 4 Easy Steps to Remove Yahoo Search Redirect

Scan your Mac — Run a full scan using a Mac-oriented antivirus like Intego. It provides excellent detection and keeps viruses like Yahoo Search Redirect at bay.
Remove Yahoo Search Redirect — After the scan is complete, remove all malware files from your Mac, including Yahoo Search Redirect.
Restore your browser settings — After removing Yahoo Search Redirect, you must restore your Safari browser settings to default to undo any changes done by the virus.
Stay protected — Removing the Yahoo Search Redirect virus doesn’t ensure it won’t infect your Mac again. Choose a reliable antivirus to protect yourself.

Remove Yahoo Search Redirect with Intego

How to Remove Yahoo Search Redirect

Step 1: Scan your Mac

Apple’s security is top-notch compared to Windows, but it still doesn’t make your Mac immune to viruses. That’s why you need to have an excellent antivirus on your Mac. I highly recommend using Intego because it’s one of the most feature-rich antiviruses for Macs.

Once you have picked out a reliable antivirus for your Mac, you should run a full scan. Most antiviruses provide various scan options, including a quick scan, custom scan, and full scan. Always run the full scan as it checks every file location on your Mac, and malware hiding in the most unassuming areas on your hard drive can’t go undetected.

Lastly, remove any portable hard drives or USBs from your Mac. Some viruses can sneak in there when you’re running a scan, successfully going under the radar of your antivirus scanner.

Step 2: Remove Yahoo Search Redirect

Once the scan is done, your antivirus will give you a list of malware detected on your Mac, including Yahoo Search Redirect. Go through this list manually and remove all malware files from your system. I recommend doing this because many antiviruses mark legitimate files as unsafe, so you might accidentally delete safe and important files unknowingly.

I have never had this problem with Intego, though. It gave me a perfect detection score and never flagged any safe files on my Mac throughout my tests. I highly recommend you use it to protect your Mac from viruses like Yahoo Search Redirect.

While running one full scan may be enough if you’re using a top-tier antivirus, I still recommend running a full scan a second time to be 100% sure your Mac is free of malware. A full scan can be time-consuming, so I always run it when I’m not using my Mac for a couple of hours.

Step 3: Restore your browser settings

Removing Yahoo Search Redirect from your Mac doesn’t fix your Safari browser settings — you’ll still have to undo the changes the virus has made to your browser.

To do that, open Safari, click “Safari” in the top window pane, and go to “Preferences.” Next, check if the URL for “Homepage” under the “General” tab is set to a safe website. Typically, it’s set to Apple’s website, but if you see a shady website there then you will need to change it back to Apple’s website or Google’s search page.

Lastly, make sure to check the “Extensions” tab. Yahoo Search Redirect may have added unknown extensions to your Mac’s Safari browser. You need to uninstall them immediately. Most such extensions are infested with malware and allow other viruses from the web to creep into your Mac via Safari.

Once you’ve done all that, restart your Macbook so that all malicious background processes can be wiped clean. More often than not, when you remove viruses using an antivirus, some of their contents still linger around. You have to do a hard reset to get rid of them completely.

Step 4: Stay protected

Even after removing Yahoo Search Redirect from your Mac, there’s no telling you won’t get infected with the same virus again. Fortunately, you can avoid that by having a premium antivirus like Intego protect you in real-time from all sorts of malware.

I tested Intego extensively, and it passed all my tests with flying colors. Not only does it detect 100% of the malware on your Mac, but it also guards you against unprotected WiFi networks and malicious files with its powerful firewall.

Protect your Mac with Intego

The Best Antivirus Software to Remove Yahoo Search Redirect Virus on Mac — Full Test Results in 2024

1. Intego — Perfect Malware Detected and Range of Security Features for Mac

Key Features:

Detects 100% of malware
Smart and highly configurable firewall
Browsing extension that provides complete internet security
Useful extras, including parental controls and optimization tools
30-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee

I tested Intego extensively and was impressed by its virus-detection capabilities. I planted dozens of malware on my Mac, and it detected all of them including Yahoo Search Redirect. I was also happy to learn that it detects Windows-specific viruses, which can’t harm your Mac but can spread to other Windows devices through your Mac.

Intego offers 2 scan options on Mac — Quick Scan and Full Scan. The quick scan checks critical file locations on your Mac where viruses are most likely to be hiding, whereas the full scan checks every nook and cranny of your Mac’s hard drive. I always run the full scan to ensure my Mac is entirely virus-free.

Apart from its perfect real-time protection, Intego offers an intelligent 2-way firewall that monitors incoming and outgoing traffic on your Mac. It automatically adjusts its settings depending on your WiFi network. For example, when I connected my Mac to a public WiFi network, it turned off all incoming connections to prevent hackers from accessing my device.

One of the features that stood out the most was Intego’s “Washing Machine” system optimization toolkit. It removed 2.6GB of space on my Mac by removing cookies, junk files, duplicate files, and other unnecessary data hogging my Mac’s CPU resources. I strongly suggest you use it if you feel your Mac has gotten slow over the years.

Intego’s Mac app hosts a variety of useful extras. Its parental controls feature (ContentBarrier) lets you monitor your child’s online and offline activities and remotely block certain websites and apps. It also provides a personal backup feature called Time Machine, which lets you backup your sensitive files on your external hard drive or server and protect yourself against ransomware.

I suggest getting its Mac Premium Bundle if you want to use all its extra features. If not, you could sign up for the “Internet Security” plan, which only provides a virus scanner and real-time protection. You can try it out risk-free with its 30-day free trial. If you’re still unsure about committing then you can try Intego risk-free as it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Remove Yahoo Search Redirect with Intego

2. TotalAV — Best Mac Antivirus for Beginners

Key Features:

Excellent defense against ransomware, spyware, adware, and more
Comes with a VPN, Mac cleanup tools, ad blocker, password manager, and more
Supports macOS 10.9 or later
Get help over live chat, email or phone
30-day money-back guarantee

TotalAV is an excellent option for protecting your Mac. You’ll get a powerful antivirus engine, a very easy-to-use app, and a suite of optimization features that give cluttered Macs a much-needed performance boost.

TotalAV achieved 100% malware detection in scanning tests and 99% detection in real-time protection. While this is slightly below the marks hit by Intego, TotalAV’s results are still very impressive and put it among the most secure antiviruses you can get. I also appreciated that TotalAV’s virus scans provide detailed summary reports upon completion. You’ll not only be alerted to any malware or PUPs (potentially unwanted programs), but also tracking cookies, duplicate files, and programs that may be slowing down your system startup.

In addition to its excellent malware scanner, TotalAV’s Mac app comes with a Web Shield, Browser Cleaner & Manager, Optimization Tools, VPN (Internet Security & Total Security plans), Ad Blocker (Total Security only), Secure Password Vault (Total Security only).

TotalAV’s optimization tools are by far its best extra feature, as I saw noticeable speed improvements on my Mac after using them. The kit includes a junk file remover, startup manager, application uninstaller, and duplicate file finder. I found each tool to be fast and thorough, particularly the startup manager. It quickly identified several pesky apps and successfully prevented them from starting up the next time I booted my Mac.

TotalAV’s Antivirus Pro package covers 3 devices and includes the antivirus scanner and web protections. The Internet Security package covers 5 devices and also includes the VPN. And the Total Security package covers 6 devices and adds an ad blocker and a password manager.

I recommend giving TotalAV Antivirus Pro a try. It’s the most affordable plan and includes TotalAV’s best features, including real-time protection, ransomware security, and the full suite of optimization tools. You can test TotalAV for yourself risk-free using its 30-day money-back guarantee. I was easily able to get a refund by emailing customer support and had my money back within 5 days of confirmation.

Remove Yahoo Search Redirect with TotalAV

3. McAfee — Powerful and Highly Configurable Firewall

Key Features:

Fast and accurate virus scanner that detects 100% of viruses
WebAdvisor browser extension keeps online threats at bay
Intelligent firewall with plenty of features for advanced users
Useful extras include an ID theft protection feature (limited to US users) and a VPN
30-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee

McAfee is another excellent antivirus for your Mac, but it doesn’t have as many features as Intego. That’s because it isn’t specifically Mac-focused — I would say it’s more beneficial for Windows users. Despite that, it’s still a decent option for your Mac because it provides excellent detection scores.

I ran McAfee’s full scan, and it checked over 600,000 files on my Mac in under 12 minutes — that’s extremely fast compared to the competition. I was also pleased to see that it detected and removed all the malware I had planted on my Mac, including Yahoo Search Redirect. The Quick Scan was even faster, taking less than 5 minutes to scan the critical file locations on my Mac!

McAfee provides exceptional real-time protection with its WebAdvisor browser extension. I tried opening potentially dangerous websites and scam URLs and was pleased to see that McAfee blocked all of them. I also liked that it marked websites with a green or red tick, depending on whether they’re safe to open.

What stood out the most was McAfee’s powerful firewall. It provides a wide array of features for advanced users. I especially liked its “Intrusion Detection,” which immediately alerts you to hackers if they try and access your Mac. Also, it lets you completely control your Mac’s incoming and outgoing internet traffic with its “Traffic Control” feature. McAfee also provides a VPN and ID theft protection, but the latter is only available in certain countries for now.

Overall, McAfee is a decent antivirus for Mac. I suggest you try out its “Total Protection” plan, which provides the best value for money and packs various security features. You can use its 30-day free trial to try it out risk-free, and, if you’re still unsure of committing, it provides a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Remove Yahoo Search Redirect with McAfee

Quick Comparison Table: 2024’s Best AVs for Removing Yahoo Search Redirect Virus on Mac

	Virus Scanner	Real-Time Protection	Firewall	macOS Version	Money-Back Guarantee	Free Plan/Trial
Intego	✔	✔	✔	10.12 or higher	30 days	30-day free trial
TotalAV	✔	✔	✔	10.9 or higher	14 days	30-day free trial
McAfee	✔	✔	✔	10.13 or higher	30 days	30-day free trial

Remove Yahoo Search Redirect with Intego

Protect your Mac from Viruses like Yahoo Search Redirect

Yahoo Search Redirect is a dangerous virus that can put your Mac at risk. It hijacks your browser and changes its default settings, including the default search engine and homepage. It can also install malicious Safari extensions without your knowledge. Having this virus makes your Mac prone to hackers, so you need to use a premium antivirus to remove it and keep such threats at bay in the future.

I strongly recommend using Intego because it’s specifically Mac-focused and offers a range of security, privacy, and optimization features for your Mac. It provides perfect detection scores and exceptional real-time protection to keep you safe from viruses like Yahoo Search Redirect. It’s also one of the most user-friendly antiviruses I’ve used on my Mac.