How to Change the Search Engine in Chrome on a Computer

Typing a query and getting results from the wrong provider usually means one Chrome setting needs a nudge. You can swap the default, review every engine Chrome knows about, and add a corporate search service without touching the rest of the browser.

Open the Search engine page in Chrome Settings, pick a new default with Change, and use Manage search engines and site search to add or remove entries. Run one test search afterward.

In this guide, I have covered:

Where Chrome Keeps Its Search Engine Setting

You type in the address bar, press Enter, and Chrome sends that query to whichever provider is set as default. Change the setting once and every address-bar search after it goes somewhere else.

To change the search engine in Chrome on a computer, open the Search engine page in Settings. In current desktop Chrome that page sits in the left sidebar, not farther down the main Settings panel where older guides pointed you.

The video below covers the same task. The written steps here use the current Settings labels, so a few names may not match an older recording.

Watch the Video Tutorial

Change the Default Search Engine in Chrome

Chrome keeps sending your queries to Google until you tell it to stop. The Search engine controls in Settings handle that, and the steps below both pick a new address-bar default and clear the Yahoo entries out of the management list.

Want to keep Yahoo instead? Select it with the Change button and stop before the cleanup steps.

1. Click the three dots menu at the top right of Chrome and choose Settings.
2. In the left sidebar, click Search engine.
3. Next to "Search engine used in the address bar," click Change and pick Google (or another trusted engine).
4. Click Manage search engines and site search to open the full list.
5. Find any entry mentioning Yahoo, click the three dots next to it, and choose Delete.
6. Repeat for every Yahoo entry, then close the tab.

You’ll know it worked when a test query typed in the address bar comes back from the provider you picked. Yahoo should also be gone as a separate list entry, if you finished the cleanup.

Manage Chrome’s Search Engines and Site Search

Sometimes you need the whole list, not just the current default. Manage search engines and site search is the page for that. It is a different control from the Change button, which only swaps the provider used for address-bar searches.

Chrome groups its built-in providers under Search engine and places shortcuts or custom services under Site search. The built-in list varies by country, so one installation may offer an engine that another does not.

Site-search shortcuts are for querying one particular service over and over. Custom entries you add also land in this area, which makes it the page to return to when you want to check or remove one.

TIP: A shortcut word is enough to reach a custom engine from the address bar. You don’t have to make it your default to use it.

Add a Custom Search Engine to Chrome

Your organization runs its own intranet search and it isn’t in Chrome’s preset list. You can add the service by URL instead of settling for one of the built-in providers.

The entry then appears in Chrome’s search management list and can be selected for address-bar queries, either as the default or through its shortcut.

1. Open Google Chrome on your computer.
2. Click the menu.
3. Select Settings.
4. Select Search engine in the left sidebar.
5. Select Manage search engines and site search.
6. In the Site search section, click Add.
7. Enter a display name in the Search engine field.
8. Enter a shortcut word in the Shortcut field.
9. Enter the address in the URL with %s in place of query field, placing %s where your search text belongs.
10. Click Add to save the new entry.

For an intranet service, the URL might look like https://intranet.example.com/search?q=%s. Swap in the host and path your organization actually uses, and leave the %s placeholder exactly where it is.

You’ll know it worked when the new name appears under Site search the next time you open the management list.

Make the Custom Engine the Default

Adding an engine does not make it the default. If you want every address-bar query to go there, select it explicitly.

1. Return to the Search engine page in Settings.
2. Click Change next to Search engine used in the address bar.
3. Select the newly added engine.

Your next address-bar query should reach the custom service. If it still lands on the old provider, check that the entry’s URL kept its %s placeholder.

Check That Chrome Uses the New Search Engine

One test search settles whether the change took. It confirms both the default provider setting and any custom URL you added.

1. Open a new tab.
2. Click the address bar.
3. Type a test phrase.
4. Press Enter.
5. Confirm the results open on the selected provider’s website.

The old provider showing up instead? Go back to Settings and check what is listed next to Search engine used in the address bar. If your provider isn’t in the Change list at all, add it as a custom engine and pick it there.

Chrome Search Engine Settings on Other Devices

Chrome on your phone keeps its own search setting. Changing the default on your computer won’t touch it, and the menus look nothing alike.

On Android, the setting lives in Chrome’s own settings menu and the labels differ from the desktop ones. See Change Search Engine in Google Chrome on Android for the exact taps.

RELATED: Change Default Search Engine in Chrome on iPhone & iPad