Google is the company behind the Chrome browser, but that doesn't mean you have to use Google as your search engine if you use Chrome. In fact, it's very easy to use Bing, Qwant, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo (yes, it still exists), and many other search engines in Chrome. So I'm going to show you how to change the default search engine in Chrome on desktop or your mobile devices.
The default search engine is the one that Chrome will use when you type a search directly into the address bar. Google obviously wants you to use its search in Chrome, but you don't have to. No matter what platform you're using – Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone, and iPad – it's definitely possible to change your default search engine. And it's really easy to do!
Change the default search engine in Chrome on desktop
First, open the browser Google Chrome on your Windows, Mac or Linux computer. Click on thethree vertical dots menu icon at the top right of the window and select Settings the menu.
In Settings, select “Search Engine” in the sidebar, then opposite Search engine used in the address bar, choose one of the search engines from the drop-down menu.
And voila !
Perform a search with a search engine other than the default one
Another interesting and little-known option, It is possible to create shortcuts to use in the search bar to use a search engine other than the default one.
To do this, always in the Search Engine section of Chrome settings, click on Manage search engines and site search.
Here you will see a list of search engines that you can use as alternatives to the default search engine, using a shortcut. The default shortcuts offered by Chrome correspond to the URL of these sites, but you can customize them to use them more quickly. For example, replace duckduckgo.com with ddg.
Now, in the Chrome address bar, type the shortcut ("ddg" for example) then space or tab and Chrome will recognize that you are searching on this alternative engine! Type your search terms and press Enter to start the search.
Search directly on a site using a shortcut
Finally, in the section Site search, you will even be able to create shortcuts to search directly on specific sites !
To do this, next to Site Search, click Add.
There you will have to configure your shortcut:
- Name: the name of your shortcut (the name of the site for example Byothe.fr)
- Shortcut: a short sequence of characters that you will remember, for example @bfr
- URL: The URL of the search on the site in question, where you replace the search query with "%s"
To find this URL, go to the site and use the site's search box. On Byothe, for example, a search will return a URL like "https://byothe.fr/?s=TermeDeLaRecherche".
- Once set, click on Save
You can now use your shortcut to automatically launch a search on the site in question!
Change the default search engine in Chrome iPhone, iPad or Android
To change the default search engine in Chrome on mobile, it's not very complicated either.
Open the Google Chrome app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device, then tap thethree horizontal dots menu icon top or bottom right to find the menu Settings.
In settings, go to Search and choose one of the search engines from the list.
That's all you have to do. Now, when you type something in the address bar, Chrome will search with the search engine of your choice.
