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[FAQ] SafeSearch won't turn off — Troubleshooting
You’ve followed the steps in the Help Article about using SafeSearch but, when you search, SafeSearch is always on. Why is this happening?
There's no simple answer, as there are a number of possible causes. However, as noted in the Help Article, the two most common causes are:
- You may be using a “safe” network such as at a school or workplace, where SafeSearch has been turned on to comply with organization policy. Check with the administrator of your local network.
- Your internet service provider may have implemented a default SafeSearch filter to comply with government regulations. This is a known situation in some countries such as the UK and some Middle Eastern countries.. Check with your provider — you may need to opt out, change a setting or, as a last resort, change your provider.
Google has no way of troubleshooting the reason for SafeSearch being always on for your device or network. You’ll need to do your own troubleshooting, or enlist the services of someone experienced in this area. The notes below may help.
Possible other causes confirmed by users
There's been a lot of discussion on this subject, and user reports have confirmed a number of other possible causes:
- Redirect to Google’s SafeSearch VIP (intentional, unintentional or malicious)
- An installed program or app (intentional, unintentional or malicious)
- Malware
- Browser extension(s) (intentional, unintentional or malicious)
- DNS settings on computer
- DNS settings on router
- Public Wi-Fi network forcing SafeSearch
- Internet security or antivirus software setting
- Operating system “family protection” settings
- Changed proxy settings
- OS registry entry
- Corrupted browser cookies
- Advanced browser settings
- Different settings for different browser user accounts
Google’s old NoSSL feature
Some time ago, Google offered a feature called NoSSL. This would disable HTTPS for Search, and was intended to allow organizations to enable SafeSearch for all of their users. In 2014 Google announced SafeSearch VIP, a new way to allow organizations to enable SafeSearch while retaining the security offered by HTTPS. Following that, the NoSSL feature was removed, and users still accessing Google using that feature were automatically migrated to SafeSearch VIP to keep the reason for the original feature working.
If your ISP or network administrator had NoSSL enabled for your network in order to disable HTTPS, this new change will have put you into SafeSearch; in that case, there is not an easy way to disable it. This is by design, as the functionality was built for school administrators, who want to keep their students safe.
If you haven't switched SafeSearch on, and you seem to be locked into it, you should contact your ISP or network administrator for details. If it helps to confirm the issue, the instructions for turning on the potentially-conflicting feature are here:
Block adult content at your schoolOption 3: Lock SafeSearch
Connections to google.com using the 216.239.32.20 and 216.239.38.120 IP addresses will show this behavior; SafeSearch cannot be disabled when accessing Google Search using those endpoints. The nslookup command can determine the IP address your computer is using for google.com on Windows, OS/X, and Unix/Linux.
Malware on your computer or other device
It's possible that malware on your computer is overriding the SafeSearch setting.
While this might be a result of malicious software installed onto your computer without your knowledge, it’s more likely that such behaviour is caused by software you’ve actually agreed to install — a PUP.
PUP means “potentially unwanted program”. It’s an extra piece of software that’s included when a user downloads or updates another program or application. A PUP is different from malware, because the user agrees to download it. If you download a program from the Internet without reading the download agreement, or without carefully reading every installation screen and check box before clicking the “Next” button, you might not realize what other unwanted programs are being downloaded. Downloading popular software from other than the official website is a particular danger.
The PUP is often an add-on/extension/plug-in installed in your browser. PUPs can be many things — search engines, toolbars, shopping advisors, coupon sites, or ad fetchers, for example.
The quickest way to check whether your problem is caused by a browser add-on or extension is to disable add-ons/extensions and see if the problem goes away. If you do find that disabling add-ons solves the problem, you'll need to track down the add-on responsible and disable or uninstall it.
Other steps you should take are:
- Check the installed programs or apps for anything suspicious.
- Scan your device for malware.
For Google Chrome browser, the Chrome Cleanup Tool might help:
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
Spybot Search & Destroy
SuperAntiSpyware
Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool
Kaspersky TDSSKiller
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