How to Get Rid of Palikan.com Redirects on Your Mac (2026)

To get rid of palikan.com redirects on a Mac, delete any app you don't recognize from Applications, remove unknown items in System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions and Device Management, uninstall strange extensions in every browser you use, then set your homepage and search engine back by hand and check your proxy settings. Restart, and the redirect should stay gone.

A browser that opens a search page you never chose feels like someone else has been sitting at your desk. It's annoying more than it's dangerous in most cases, but it's also a sign that something got installed without your full say. This guide covers what is actually known about palikan.com, how to clear it out of Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox on macOS, why it sometimes comes back, and the habits that stop the next one getting in.

What is palikan.com?

Palikan.com is a search site that security sites have classed as a browser hijacker since at least 2017: software that changes your homepage, new tab page and default search engine to palikan.com without asking. BleepingComputer's removal guide, dated May 4, 2017, calls it a home page hijacker that came with a custom Chromium-based browser and changed the home page and search provider in Chrome, Internet Explorer and Firefox. It also notes that searches typed on the Palikan.com page were passed on to Yahoo search results.

The early reports are about Windows. MalwareTips' 2017 guide gives Windows-only steps and describes the hijacker adding the palikan.com address to desktop shortcuts. PCRisk's guide, last updated December 7, 2021, names a "Go_palikan" application and a "Palikan New Tab" extension, says it spreads through bundled free software, deceptive pop-up ads and fake Flash Player installers, and includes a general macOS section for deleting unwanted apps.

Here's what I couldn't find: a security researcher's write-up of a Mac-specific Palikan installer, the name of the company behind the domain, or a documented list of what it collects from a Mac. So I'd treat any Mac guide that describes Palikan's exact files or data harvesting with some skepticism unless it shows its evidence. What is well documented is how browser hijackers in general behave on macOS, and the fix below works the same way whichever hijacker you have.

Signs your Mac has a browser hijacker

A browser hijacker on a Mac usually shows itself through settings that change back after you fix them. If palikan.com or any other unfamiliar search site keeps appearing, look for these:

• Your homepage or new tab page opens palikan.com, or another search site you didn't pick.
• Searches from the address bar go through an unfamiliar page before showing results.
• A browser extension you don't remember installing sits in Safari or Chrome.
• Chrome's menu says Managed by your organization on a personal Mac.
• An app you don't recognize is in Applications, often with a generic name like a search, PDF or video helper.
• More pop-ups and website notifications than usual.

Apple's own guide to pop-ups in Safari says that if they persist after you block them, you might have unintentionally installed adware or other unwanted software, and that some third-party download sites bundle software you don't want with the software you do.

The removal order that works

Remove the source first, then fix the browser. If you reset Safari while the app or extension behind the redirect is still installed, it can simply change things back. Here's the order I follow:

1. Delete unknown apps from Applications.
2. Remove unknown login items and background items.
3. Remove unknown configuration profiles in Device Management.
4. Uninstall unknown extensions in every browser you have, including ones you rarely open.
5. Set your homepage, new tab page and search engine back by hand, or reset the browser.
6. Check your proxy settings.
7. Update macOS and restart.

Step 1: Delete the app that brought it

Hijackers on a Mac usually ride in on an app, so the first move is to remove any app you don't recognize. Google's help page on unwanted software covers the basic Mac steps, and sorting by date makes the odd one out easier to spot:

1. Open Finder and click Applications in the sidebar.
2. Switch to list view with View > as List and click the Date Added column (add it in View > Show View Options if it's missing) so recent installs sit together.
3. Control-click anything you don't recognize and choose Move to Trash.
4. Empty the Trash: Control-click its Dock icon, then Empty Trash.

When I clean up a Mac that's acting strangely, the date column does most of the work. The suspicious app usually turns out to be one installed the same day as some free converter or downloader, so I look at what arrived around then and ask whether I meant to install it.

If an app refuses to go to the Trash because it's open, quit it first. If it keeps relaunching, find a process with the same name in Activity Monitor (in Applications > Utilities) and end it with the Stop button in the toolbar.

Remove login items and background items

A login item can reopen a hijacker every time you sign in. Apple's Login Items guide puts them in Apple menu > System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions. Under Open at Login, highlight anything you don't recognize and press the minus sign below the list. Further down the same page, the list of apps with background activity can also hold an item from the app you just deleted; turn off anything unfamiliar.

Step 2: Check for a configuration profile

Some hijackers install a configuration profile, which can lock browser or network settings so you can't change them back. Intego's browser hijacking guide lists unwanted configuration profiles as one of the places a hijacker can hide. To check, follow Apple's Device Management steps:

1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings.
2. Click General in the sidebar, then Device Management, which sits near the bottom of the list.
3. Double-click a profile to see what it does.
4. If you don't recognize it, highlight it and press the minus sign to delete it.

How to remove palikan.com from Safari

In Safari on a Mac, removing a hijacker means uninstalling the extension, then setting your homepage, search engine and new tab page back yourself. Everything is in Safari > Settings, which opens with Command-Comma.

Uninstall the extension

Apple's Safari extensions guide: choose Safari > Settings, click Extensions, select the extension you don't recognize and click Uninstall. Safari extensions come inside apps, so Apple notes you can also delete the app that contains the extension, which you may have done in step 1.

Set your homepage back

Per Apple's homepage guide, go to Safari > Settings > General and type the address you want in Homepage, or open that page and click Set to Current Page. On the same tab, check New windows open with and New tabs open with; a hijacker often changes these too.

Set your search engine back

In Safari > Settings > Search, choose Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo or another engine from the Search engine menu, per Apple's Search settings guide. If the setting looks right but searches still detour through palikan.com, an extension or app is still doing the redirecting, so go back to the extension list.

Clear out website notifications

Pushy sites often ask to send notifications, and those alerts keep pulling you back. Apple's notifications guide has you go to Safari > Settings > Websites > Notifications, select a site and set it to Deny. You can also turn off Allow websites to ask for permission to send notifications at the bottom of that list.

Then quit Safari with Command-Q and hold Shift as you reopen it. Apple's pop-up guide recommends this so Safari doesn't restore the windows and tabs that were open, including the hijacked page.

How to remove palikan.com from Google Chrome

In Google Chrome on a Mac, the cleanest fix after removing the app is a settings reset, which puts the search engine, homepage and new tab page back to defaults and turns off extensions. Before you reset, do two checks:

1. Type chrome://extensions in the address bar and click Remove on anything you don't recognize.
2. Click the three-dot menu. If it says Managed by your organization on a personal Mac, type chrome://policy to see what's been set. Google's managed browser page says to remove unwanted programs and extensions, reset Chrome and restart if you didn't expect this.

Then reset, using Google's reset steps:

1. Click the three-dot menu, then Settings.
2. Click Reset settings, then Restore settings to their original defaults.
3. Click Reset settings to confirm.

Google says the reset changes the default search engine, homepage, startup pages, new tab page, pinned tabs and site permissions, clears cookies and site data, and turns off extensions and themes. Bookmarks and saved passwords stay. If you're signed in to Chrome, the reset applies on every device where you're signed in, so expect to turn your trusted extensions back on afterward.

If Managed by your organization is still there after a restart, a configuration profile is the usual suspect. Go back to the configuration profile check above.

How to remove palikan.com from Firefox

Mozilla Firefox has a one-click cleanup called Refresh Firefox that removes extensions and custom settings while keeping your personal data. Per Mozilla's refresh guide, open Help > More Troubleshooting Information and click Refresh Firefox. It keeps bookmarks, history, passwords, cookies and autofill, and removes extensions, themes, added search engines and changed preferences. Firefox saves your old profile to a folder on your desktop, which Mozilla suggests deleting once you no longer need it, since it holds sensitive data.

If you only use Firefox now and then, check it anyway. A hijacker that changed Chrome may have changed Firefox too, and it's easy to forget about until you open it months later.

Check your Mac's proxy settings

Some adware routes your web traffic through a proxy so it can see or redirect what you browse. On macOS Ventura and later, Apple's proxy guide puts it under Network in System Settings, then your connection (such as Wi-Fi), then Details > Proxies. On a home Mac, these switches are normally all off. If one is on and you didn't set it, turn it off. On a work Mac, leave it and ask IT, since companies do use proxies on purpose.

Update macOS and restart

Updating macOS and restarting brings in Apple's latest malware checks. Apple's pop-up guide recommends installing the latest macOS, and restarting if you're already up to date, because a built-in tool removes known malware. Apple's security guide says the XProtect signatures update automatically, separately from macOS updates, and that XProtect checks periodically and removes known malware when it gets new information. It doesn't promise to catch every adware app, so it's a backstop, not a replacement for the steps above.

If the redirect still comes back after all this, a reputable second opinion is worth running. Malwarebytes' free Mac version is described as a cleanup tool for infections already on a device. I'd download any scanner only from the developer's own site, never from a pop-up that tells you your Mac is infected.

Why does palikan.com keep coming back?

A redirect that returns after you fixed the settings almost always means one piece of the hijacker is still installed. Find your symptom in the left column:

Also check iCloud. If you use Safari on several Apple devices, a bookmark or Favorites entry pointing at palikan.com can sync back. Delete it from Bookmarks > Edit Bookmarks on the Mac and it should disappear everywhere.

Did palikan.com see my data?

No public source documents exactly what palikan.com collected, so the honest answer is that nobody outside the operator knows. PCRisk lists browsing tracking and privacy issues among the risks of hijackers like this one. My approach is simple: anything you typed into a search box while it was hijacked could have passed through the hijacker's page. For ordinary searches I wouldn't lose sleep over that, but if you typed something sensitive, like an account number or a password into a page you reached through a redirect, change that password and turn on two-factor sign-in for the account. My guide to strong passwords on a Mac covers letting the Passwords app make one for you.

How to keep browser hijackers off your Mac

Browser hijackers rely on you clicking through an installer or a pop-up. A few habits close most of the doors:

• Get apps from the App Store or the developer's own site. Apple says the App Store is the safest place to get Mac apps. In System Settings > Privacy & Security, keep Allow apps downloaded from on App Store or the option that adds identified (known) developers.
• Read every installer screen. Free utilities from download portals are the classic carrier. When I install one, I go slowly through each screen and uncheck any extra "recommended" offer, search page or browser add-on before clicking Continue.
• Ignore Flash Player updates. Adobe ended Flash Player on December 31, 2020, so any prompt to update it is fake.
• Don't trust pages that say your Mac is infected. Close the tab, or quit Safari and reopen it holding Shift.
• Review your extensions a few times a year. I do mine when I'm already tidying my browser, and delete anything I haven't used in months.
• Download meeting and work apps from the source. Fake installers for popular apps are common; my guide to downloading Zoom on a Mac shows how to spot the real one.

If a different search page took over, the same steps apply. My walkthrough for removing My Inbox Helper covers another hijacker, and if your links now open in the wrong browser after cleanup, my guide to picking your Mac's default browser sorts that out.