How to change the default search engine in the most popular Android browsers

Android browsers come with a specific search engine set as the default. Google Search is the most popular in most of these browsers. It’s convenient for most people, but what if you want to switch to a different search engine?

Changing your default search engine in any browser is easy. In this guide, we will show you how to change your default search engine in the most popular Android browsers.

1. Change the default search engine in Chrome

Chrome’s default search engine is Google Search, which is also the largest search engine on the Internet. However, there are many other search engines with fewer privacy concerns than Google.

To change your default search engine in Chrome, follow these steps:

1. Open Chrome and tap the three dots icon.
2. Gonna Settings and touch Seeker.
3. Choose your preferred search engine from Yahoo, Bing, Yandex and DuckDuckGo options.
4. You will be limited to only the options provided. If you want to use any other search engine, you must manually enter its address in the URL bar.

2. Change the default search engine on Samsung Internet

Samsung Internet is the default browser on Galaxy smartphones. Its default search engine is Google Search. Here’s how to switch to a different search engine on Samsung Internet:

1. Open Samsung Internet and touch the hamburger icon on the taskbar (the three horizontal lines).
2. Tap Settings And go to Search in the address bar.
3. Select your preferred search engine from the given options.
4. If your preferred search engine is not available, touch Add search engine for more options.
5. In case you can’t find the search engine you want, you will need to access it by entering its address in the URL bar or adding it to your browser’s home page for quick access.

3. Use a different default search engine in Firefox

One of the best things about the Firefox browser on Android is that you can manually add the search engine of your choice if it is not among the available options. Here’s how to change your default search engine in Firefox:

1. Open Firefox and tap the three dots icon on the taskbar.
2. Tap Settings And go to Look for.
3. Select your preferred search engine from the given options.
4. Tap Add search engine if you can’t find what you’re looking for.
5. Select Other and write the name of the search engine in the Name field.
6. In it Search string to use field, type your search engine URL (such as https://duckduckgo.com) followed by /find?q=%s.
7. Save your settings and return to the browser’s home page to start using your new search engine.

4. Change the default search engine in Brave

Brave is a privacy-focused browser and uses its own proprietary search engine. The problem with most non-Google search engines is their unreliability when it comes to finding some types of information. If you want to go back to Google Search or any other search engine in Brave, follow these steps:

1. Launch Brave and tap the three dots icon on the taskbar.
2. Gonna Settings and touch search engines in it General section.
3. Tap standard tab either private tab to select a search engine for your main tabs and private tabs respectively.
4. Select the search engine you want to use from the available options.
5. Go back to your browser tabs to start using your new search engine.

5. How to use a different default search engine in Microsoft Edge

Being from Microsoft, Edge’s default search engine is Bing. If you want to switch to Google Search or a privacy-focused search engine like DuckDuckGo, here’s how to do it:

1. Launch Edge and tap the three dots icon in the center of the taskbar.
2. Tap Settings And go to General.
3. Tap Select search engine to access the available options.
4. Select the search engine you want to use from the five options: Bing, Yahoo, Google, Yandex and DuckDuckGo.
5. Go back to your browser tabs to start using the selected search engine.

6. Change the default search engine in Opera

Opera comes with Google Search as its default search engine. You can change the default search engine to any of the following options offered by Opera if you wish: Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Startpage, Amazon, eBay, or Wikipedia. Follow these steps:

1. Launch Opera and tap the button Profile icon on the taskbar.
2. Tap on the Settings icon to access the browser configuration options.
3. Gonna Default search engines in it Look for section.
4. Choose a different search engine from the available options.
5. Return to your home page or navigation tab to use the new settings.

7. How to use a different search engine in Opera Mini

Opera Mini is a lightweight mobile version of Opera Browser that you can use if your device has network or performance issues. Unfortunately, you have to deal with Google and Wikipedia as the only default search engine options available in Opera Mini. To switch to Wikipedia, tap the search engine icon to the left of the URL bar and select Wikipedia.

To use any other search engine, you can manually enter it in the URL bar or add it to Opera Mini. speed dial on the home page.

To do this:

1. Launch Opera Mini and tap the + icon on the speed dial on the home page of the browser.
2. Enter the URL of your preferred search engine to access it every time you launch Opera Mini.

8. Change the default search engine in UC Browser

UC Browser comes with eight default search engine options. Switching from one to the other is easy:

1. Open UC Browser and tap on the URL bar at the top.
2. Tap on the Seeker icon to the left of the URL bar.
3. The browser will present you with the available search engine options: Google, MySearch, Yahoo, Wolfram, Bing, Wikipedia, DuckDuckGo, YouTube, and Ask.
4. Select your preferred search engine and start searching every time you use UC Browser.

Explore the Internet with your favorite search engine on Android

Most browsers on Android will allow you to change your default search engine, but with limited options. Firefox would be the best in this department because it allows you to enter your own custom search engine in case you miss it from the options provided. Samsung Internet has the most default search engine options.

Some specialized browsers, like the popular privacy-focused DuckDuckGo, will restrict you to a search engine. In this case, you can only use DuckDuckGo’s proprietary search engine if it is your primary browser.