Sometimes you open a new tab in your Chrome browser, then you type your keyword or query into the address bar, and hit enter. Now you are expecting the familiar results of Google, but instead, you can see results by Yahoo, Bing, or some random search engine you’ve never used.
This is not a big problem, but it can disturb the flow of your work.
This can happen due to several reasons, and these are
- a software update
- a stray extension
- Or you clicked “Yes” on a prompt a little too quickly
The good news? You don’t have to live with it. Getting the Google search engine back as the default search engine will take no more than 30 seconds. Below you can find the step-by-step instructions to fixing your browser, plus a video walkthrough if you prefer to watch me do it live.
Watch the Tutorial
If you want to see where exactly I navigated in the browser, check out my latest video tutorial on YouTube below. I have described the entire process in real-time.
Step-by-Step: Changing Your Default Search Engine
If you prefer to read the instructions step-by-step, here is how you can do it on the desktop version of Google Chrome.
Open Chrome Settings
Open your browser and look at the top right corner of the browser. You can see three vertical dots (the kebab menu). Open it, and in the dropdown menu, navigate to Settings.
Find the Search Engine Tab
On the left-hand side, you can see a sidebar, and there are several options in it. Find the “Search Engine” tab. It is usually located between “Appearance” and “Default Browser.”
Make the Switch
You will see an option that says, “The search engine you choose will be used for features like searching from the address bar and from images on web pages.” If it is currently showing Yahoo, Bing, or DuckDuckGo, simply click onthe change button and select Google.
