How to change the default search engine in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge web browser serves as the default browser for Windows personal computers. For the most part, Edge performs its default role well, and most users are happy to use it for general web browsing, with the exception of one glaring issue: Bing is Edge’s default search engine. .

While Microsoft’s Bing search engine has improved dramatically over the years, if you did a survey of users, they would likely tell you that Google’s search engine is superior. (That’s my personal preference.) It’s possible to change the default search engine in Microsoft Edge, but as you might expect, the company has buried the settings for the change deep within the menu system.

This tutorial shows you how to change the default Bing search engine in Microsoft Edge to Google Search or another search engine.

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Change the default search engine in Microsoft Edge

First, let’s briefly discuss why you might want to change the default browsers. Take a look at Figure A: side-by-side comparison shows results for the same search for mark w kaelin (kind regards).

Figure A

As you can see the first results are for both search engines, but after that Bing provides suspicious results and wrong results while Google provides links to my social networks. Simply put, which set of results do you prefer?

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To change the default search engine in Microsoft Edge, start Edge browser and expand the settings menu by clicking the three dots in the right corner of the navigation bar. In the menu, as shown in Number B, select the Settings item.

Number B

On the Settings page, displayed in Figure C, we want to find and select the “Privacy, search and services” menu item in the left navigation bar. If this item is not in the navigation bar, click the drop-down menu button (three horizontal lines) next to Settings in the title area.

Figure C

Once the privacy settings have been selected, scroll down the page (Number D) until you find an entry with the label “Address bar and search”. It will probably be at the very bottom of the list.

Number D

Scroll to the next page (Figure E) to finally find the parameter we are looking for called “Search engine used in address bar”. Click the menu button down to reveal a set of common alternatives to Bing.

Figure E

Search engine choices in this drop-down menu include Bing, Yahoo, Google, and DuckDuckGo. If none of these choices appeal to you, click on the “Manage Search Engines” link and navigate to a page that will allow you to add any alternative search engine you want.

It’s important to note that this change to the default search engine in Edge only applies to searches made from the Edge address bar. To force Edge to use your new search engine choice even when you enter your search terms in the default search box, change the setting titled “Search in new tabs uses search box or address bar “to say the address bar as shown in Figure F.

Figure F

Now, no matter where you start your search in Microsoft Edge, the browser will use your chosen search engine and not the default Bing.

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