How to Change the Search Engine in Microsoft Edge Chromium

Microsoft Edge Chromium loads better than the old Edge browser. It is noticeably faster, makes sites properly and is fun to surf with. But if you just migrated from Google Chrome or Firefox Quantum, you will notice that the default search engine is set to Bing. We will show you how to change the search engine to your preferred engine in Microsoft Edge Chromium.

I'm fine with healthy competition between the search engines. But let's admit. Bing fears when it comes to generating appropriate search results. I find that Google is much more competent in this area. Or DuckDuckGo when it comes to preserving my privacy.

But whatever your preferred search engine, Microsoft Edge Chromium doesn't make it easier to exit Bing. For starters, the option to change the default search engine in the address bar is hidden, well out of sight.

In addition, there is also a huge Bing search bar that hits you every time you launch a new tab. But don't worry – let's see what you can do to change your search engine for the address bar and new tabs.

Change the default search engine in the address bar

Microsoft Edge Chromium's address bar plays a huge role when it comes to searching. While the default search engine is set to Bing, you can change it to Google or any other search engine as long as you know where to go in the browser's Settings panel.

Step 1: Open the Edge menu (click the three-dot icon in the upper-right corner of the window), then click Settings.

2nd step: Click on Privacy and Services in the left navigation pane.

Step 3: Scroll down the Privacy & Services screen until you come across the section titled Services. Below, click on the option titled Address Bar.

Step 4: Do you want to make Google or Yahoo your default search engine? If so, use the drop-down menu next to Search engine used in the address bar, then select Google or Yahoo. If you want to use another search engine, go to the next step.

Step 5: Click on Manage Search Engines.

Step 6: Is the search engine you want to switch listed on the Manage Search Engines screen? If this is the case, go to step 8. Otherwise, open a new tab.

Step 7: Visit the home page of the search engine you want to set as default and perform a search – it can be anything. Let's say I want to switch to DuckDuckGo – I go to the DuckDuckGo home page and I make a request.

Step 8: Go back to the Settings tab – you should see the search engine listed in. Click the three-dot icon next to the search engine, and then click Set as default.

Note: You can also use the Add button (upper right corner of the screen) to directly add the search engine. However, this requires entering the URL of the search engine's search query, which can be quite difficult to understand.

And that's it. All searches in the address bar that you perform from now on are done via the search engine you just specified as the default.

Use extension to replace new Bing tabs

Changing the default search bar for the address bar in Microsoft Edge Chromium does not change this huge Bing search bar that appears in new tabs. And there is no way to change this behavior via the Edge Settings panel either. In short, you cannot replace new tabs with other search engines or web pages by design. Bummer.

However, I have found a workaround based on the extensions that you can use to have Microsoft Edge Chromium open another page – our preferred search engine in this case – instead of the standard Edge tab. every time you open one. But at the time of this writing, I couldn't find a dedicated Edge extension that could replace new tabs with other pages.

Fortunately, installing Chrome extensions in Edge is more than possible since both browsers are based on the same rendering engine.

Step 1: Open the Edge menu, then click Extensions.

2nd step: Turn on the switch next to Allow extensions to other stores – this option is located in the lower left corner of the screen. You can now install Chrome extensions in Microsoft Edge Chromium!

Step 3: Visit the Chrome Web Store. Find the new tab redirect extension, then click Add to Chrome to install it.

Install new tab redirection

Note: There may be other extensions in the Chrome Web Store that can do the same job as new tab redirection. Don’t hesitate to try them.

Step 4: Click Add Extension to complete the installation of new tab redirection.

Step 5: Click the New Tab Redirection extension icon next to the Microsoft Edge Chromium address bar, and then click Extension Options.

Step 6: Insert the URL of the search engine home page, then click Save. Exit the tab afterwards.

Step 7: Open a new tab and voila! You will see the search engine appear instead of the default Edge tab.

This is not the perfect workaround since you lose access to your shortcuts and other items in the default Edge tabs. But if you want a consistent search engine experience, this should do the trick.

Note: If you want to go back to the default Edge tabs, you need to turn off the new tab redirect extension. To do this, go to the Extensions screen of the browser (Edge menu> Extensions), then deactivate the switch next to New tab redirection.

Start a reseach

Search engines dictate your browsing experience. Now that Microsoft Edge Chromium is equipped with your favorite search engine, it's time to put the browser to the test. S & #39; fun!