Safari Address Search Bar VIRUS

When seeking a remedy for these problems, the first thing to keep in mind is that terminology is meaningful. There are no viruses that affect macOS so if you go in search of that remedy, all you will find are scams. So just forget that idea. It is not a virus.

I say it's a virus because I've had a similar thing happen on my old Mac that runs High Sierra.

Where it would change the website or search engine of the Safari browser.

That's a different problem. Website redirects are not viruses either. They are the result of something you installed.

That brings us to your original concern, which is that you type a few letters into Safari's "Smart Search" field and it autocompletes with something you do not want. That's not a virus.

When you select Google as your default Search Engine, it captures and uploads every single keystroke, every space, every backspace, everything you type in that field, in real time. Google does exactly what you wrote: it makes a "best guess" based not only upon your Internet activity, but what Google wants you to see. It automatically populates that field with that result. That's how it works.

If you don't want Google to do that, don't use it. Use something else. To change Safari's Search Engine read Change Search settings in Safari on Mac - Apple Support.

On the other hand if you want to help Google exploit you to serve even more of its own purposes, you can report what they call "inappropriate predictions" to them by clicking that link at the bottom of a Google search page.

MetroOdin wrote:

Grateful for any additional suggestions and solutions.

Apparently not. Good luck.