Google is the biggest and most popular search engine, so it makes sense that Apple has long listed Google as the default search engine in Safari. But Google isn’t a perfect search engine, and concerns about the company’s data collection practices have led many macOS users to seek alternative search engines that better protect user privacy, like Duck Duck to Win.

For those who want the default search engine in Safari to be something other than Google, one solution is to simply navigate to the alternative search engine’s website, but this approach lacks the convenience of quickly performing a web search directly from the address bar. from Safari.

If you’ve switched from Google to another search engine at some point, you may want to change your default search engine in Safari back to Google.

Fortunately, you can change your default search engine in Safari, making searches fast and convenient with the search engine of your choice.

This TechJunkie article will show you how to change your default search engine in Safari running on macOS. Note that while many people still call it Mac OS X, the new official name is macOS. However, macOS and Mac OS X are terms that can be used interchangeably because they mean the same thing, but officially Apple now calls it macOS.

How do I change my default search engine in Safari on Mac?

Apple currently offers users a choice of four search engines.

Note: These instructions are for newer versions of macOS. If you have an older version, you can find the search engine options in the General preferences tab.

  1. Open Safari
  2. Select Safari from the Safari menu bar
  3. In the Safari dropdown menu, select preferences
  4. Click on the Search tab
  5. In the dropdown menu, select your favorite search engine from the Search Engine dropdown list: Google, Yahoo, Bing, and DuckDuckGo

Simply select your desired search engine from the dropdown list to make it the default for Safari on your Mac.

There’s no need to restart Safari or reboot your Mac; the change takes effect as soon as you make your selection. Now, you can type whatever you want into the address bar and your favorite search engine (assuming it’s one of the four available) will appear with the information you’re looking for.

Now you can search the web more conveniently using your favorite search engine, although fans of search engines not mentioned above may be disappointed.

Apple does not currently offer any end-user options to make Safari’s default search engine anything other than the previous four options: Google, Yahoo, Bing, and DuckDuckGo. If you are using an earlier version of Mac OSX, the list of default engines is limited to three options.

Users looking for ease of access to alternative search engines will have to turn to Safari Extensions or possibly use another web browser.

fetch con duckduckgo safari mac os xWith just one click, users can change their default search engine from Safari to something other than Google, like the privacy-focused DuckDuckGo.

If you want to further customize your search experience in Safari, take note of the Include search engine suggestions below the search engine dropdown list. Leaving this box checked will display suggested search queries based on the words you’ve entered so far in Safari’s address bar.

The Include Search Engine Suggestions option can make searching complex or long queries much faster by providing a context-sensitive list of frequently searched terms.

The other checkbox options include the following:

  • Safari Suggestions – Safari can give you suggestions as you type, which is useful but some people find it annoying.
  • Enable fast website search: This option allows Safari to cache data from searches within websites, giving you faster access to search results when you search in the future using the smart search field.
  • Top Hit Preload in Background – When you have this box checked, Safari will preload the web page that is the first result of your search, which means the website will load much faster if you end up clicking the first result of your search .
  • Show Favorites – When you check this box (which is usually checked by default), your favorites toolbar will display your favorite websites. Favorites are like bookmarks, except they appear more prominently on the Favorites toolbar.

Change the default for Safari—iPhone and iPad

Changing Safari defaults on Apple’s most popular mobile devices is a bit different than the instructions for a Mac. If you’re using an iPhone or iPad and want to optimize your default search engine, do the following:

  1. Visit Settings on your mobile device
  2. Scroll down and tap on Safari
  3. Tap on Finder
  4. Seleccione Google, Yahoo, Bing o DuckDuckGo

Are you ready!

Change the default search engine: other browsers on Mac

Assuming you’re making the leap to choose a different default search engine in Safari, you may want to update your other browsers as well. Mac is a bit different from PC, so your options for changing defaults in browsers are slightly different across the board.

Change the default search in Mozilla on Mac

Firefox fans can upgrade their default search engine to Google, Bing, Amazon.com, DuckDuckGo, Twitter, eBay, and even Wikipedia. To make the switch do this:

  1. Tap the three vertical lines in the top right corner
  2. Click on ‘Preferences’ in the menu
  3. Click ‘Search’ on the left hand side
  4. Scroll down to ‘Default Search Engine’ and click on the dropdown menu

That’s all you need to do with Mozilla to start using your favorite website as your search option.

Change the default search in Chrome on Mac

Chrome gives you the option to set your default search website to Google, Bing, Yahoo!, DuckDuckGo, or Ecosia. To do this:

  1. Click on the Menu option in the top right corner (looks like three vertical dots)
  2. Click Settings at the bottom of the menu
  3. You can either click Search Engine on the far right menu or scroll down until you see the “Search Engine” option.
  4. Click on the dropdown menu labeled and choose your default search engine.

If you want to add your own search engine and it’s not available in the dropdown, don’t be discouraged. Chrome allows you to set any URL as your default search option. Click “Manage Search Engines” below the dropdown box to access the option to add a custom engine to Chrome. Remember AskJeeves.com (it’s now ask.com)? – You can set it as default if you want.

Google is the biggest and most popular search engine, so it makes sense that Apple has long listed Google as the default search engine in Safari. But Google isn’t a perfect search engine, and concerns about the company’s data collection practices have led many macOS users to seek alternative search engines that better protect user privacy, like Duck Duck to Win.

For those who want the default search engine in Safari to be something other than Google, one solution is to simply navigate to the alternative search engine’s website, but this approach lacks the convenience of quickly performing a web search directly from the address bar. from Safari.

If you’ve switched from Google to another search engine at some point, you may want to change your default search engine in Safari back to Google.

Fortunately, you can change your default search engine in Safari, making searches fast and convenient with the search engine of your choice.

This TechJunkie article will show you how to change your default search engine in Safari running on macOS. Note that while many people still call it Mac OS X, the new official name is macOS. However, macOS and Mac OS X are terms that can be used interchangeably because they mean the same thing, but officially Apple now calls it macOS.

How do I change my default search engine in Safari on Mac?

Apple currently offers users a choice of four search engines.

Note: These instructions are for newer versions of macOS. If you have an older version, you can find the search engine options in the General preferences tab.

  1. Open Safari
  2. Select Safari from the Safari menu bar
  3. In the Safari dropdown menu, select preferences
  4. Click on the Search tab
  5. In the dropdown menu, select your favorite search engine from the Search Engine dropdown list: Google, Yahoo, Bing, and DuckDuckGo

Simply select your desired search engine from the dropdown list to make it the default for Safari on your Mac.

There’s no need to restart Safari or reboot your Mac; the change takes effect as soon as you make your selection. Now, you can type whatever you want into the address bar and your favorite search engine (assuming it’s one of the four available) will appear with the information you’re looking for.

Now you can search the web more conveniently using your favorite search engine, although fans of search engines not mentioned above may be disappointed.

Apple does not currently offer any end-user options to make Safari’s default search engine anything other than the previous four options: Google, Yahoo, Bing, and DuckDuckGo. If you are using an earlier version of Mac OSX, the list of default engines is limited to three options.

Users looking for ease of access to alternative search engines will have to turn to Safari Extensions or possibly use another web browser.

fetch con duckduckgo safari mac os xWith just one click, users can change their default search engine from Safari to something other than Google, like the privacy-focused DuckDuckGo.

If you want to further customize your search experience in Safari, take note of the Include search engine suggestions below the search engine dropdown list. Leaving this box checked will display suggested search queries based on the words you’ve entered so far in Safari’s address bar.

The Include Search Engine Suggestions option can make searching complex or long queries much faster by providing a context-sensitive list of frequently searched terms.

The other checkbox options include the following:

  • Safari Suggestions – Safari can give you suggestions as you type, which is useful but some people find it annoying.
  • Enable fast website search: This option allows Safari to cache data from searches within websites, giving you faster access to search results when you search in the future using the smart search field.
  • Top Hit Preload in Background – When you have this box checked, Safari will preload the web page that is the first result of your search, which means the website will load much faster if you end up clicking the first result of your search .
  • Show Favorites – When you check this box (which is usually checked by default), your favorites toolbar will display your favorite websites. Favorites are like bookmarks, except they appear more prominently on the Favorites toolbar.

Change the default for Safari—iPhone and iPad

Changing Safari defaults on Apple’s most popular mobile devices is a bit different than the instructions for a Mac. If you’re using an iPhone or iPad and want to optimize your default search engine, do the following:

  1. Visit Settings on your mobile device
  2. Scroll down and tap on Safari
  3. Tap on Finder
  4. Seleccione Google, Yahoo, Bing o DuckDuckGo

Are you ready!

Change the default search engine: other browsers on Mac

Assuming you’re making the leap to choose a different default search engine in Safari, you may want to update your other browsers as well. Mac is a bit different from PC, so your options for changing defaults in browsers are slightly different across the board.

Change the default search in Mozilla on Mac

Firefox fans can upgrade their default search engine to Google, Bing, Amazon.com, DuckDuckGo, Twitter, eBay, and even Wikipedia. To make the switch do this:

  1. Tap the three vertical lines in the top right corner
  2. Click on ‘Preferences’ in the menu
  3. Click ‘Search’ on the left hand side
  4. Scroll down to ‘Default Search Engine’ and click on the dropdown menu

That’s all you need to do with Mozilla to start using your favorite website as your search option.

Change the default search in Chrome on Mac

Chrome gives you the option to set your default search website to Google, Bing, Yahoo!, DuckDuckGo, or Ecosia. To do this:

  1. Click on the Menu option in the top right corner (looks like three vertical dots)
  2. Click Settings at the bottom of the menu
  3. You can either click Search Engine on the far right menu or scroll down until you see the “Search Engine” option.
  4. Click on the dropdown menu labeled and choose your default search engine.

If you want to add your own search engine and it’s not available in the dropdown, don’t be discouraged. Chrome allows you to set any URL as your default search option. Click “Manage Search Engines” below the dropdown box to access the option to add a custom engine to Chrome. Remember AskJeeves.com (it’s now ask.com)? – You can set it as default if you want.