Change your search engine in three steps

Microsoft Edge starts with Bing as your default search engine, but you can switch to Google, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, or several others in about a minute. The setting lives in Edge's privacy and search menu, and the change takes effect immediately — your next search from the address bar will use whichever engine you pick.

You do not need to reinstall Edge or restart your computer. The change affects only searches you run from the address bar at the top of the window. Searches you run directly on a website (like searching within Google.com itself) are not affected by this setting.

Key Takeaways

  • Open Edge settings, go to Privacy, search, and services, then scroll to Search engine and change the default from Bing to your choice.
  • Edge offers Google, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, Ecosia, and Bing as built-in options — you do not need to download anything.
  • The change takes effect immediately and applies only to searches from the address bar, not searches within websites themselves.
  • If your preferred search engine does not appear in the list, you can add it manually by entering its search URL.

Open Edge settings and find the search menu

Click the three-dot menu in the top right corner of Edge. It looks like three horizontal dots stacked on top of each other. From the dropdown menu that appears, click Settings.

On the left side of the settings window, click Privacy, search, and services. This is the third option down in the left menu. Edge will load a new page with privacy and search options.

Select your new default search engine

Scroll down the page until you see the Search engine section. You will see a dropdown menu showing your current default — usually Bing. Click that dropdown to see all available options.

Edge offers five built-in search engines: Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, and Ecosia. Click whichever one you want to use. The change saves automatically — you do not need to click a confirm button or restart Edge.

If you switch your mind later, you can return to this same menu and pick a different engine. There is no limit to how many times you can change it.

Add a search engine that is not on the list

If your preferred search engine does not appear in the dropdown, you can add it manually. Scroll down past the search engine dropdown until you see Manage search engines. Click that option.

A new window opens showing all available search engines. At the bottom, you will see Add with a text field next to it. Click in that field and type the name of your search engine — for example, "StartPage" or "Qwant".

Below the name field, you will see another field labeled Search engine (with %s in place of query). This is where you enter the search URL. For most search engines, you can find this by going to their website, searching for any word, and copying the URL from your address bar. Replace the word you searched for with %s — for example, if the URL is https://www.example-search.com/?q=test, you would enter https://www.example-search.com/?q=%s.

Click Add to save it. The search engine now appears in your dropdown list and you can set it as your default.

Verify the change worked

Close the settings window and return to the main Edge window. Click the address bar at the top and type any search term — for example, "weather" or "news". Press Enter.

Edge will search using your new default engine. If you see results from the engine you selected, the change worked. If you see Bing results instead, go back to settings and confirm you clicked the correct engine in the dropdown.

What happens to your old search history

Changing your default search engine does not delete your search history or affect any searches you have already run. Your browsing history stays the same regardless of which search engine you use going forward.

If you want to clear your search history, you can do that separately in Edge settings under Clear browsing data. That is a different setting from changing your default search engine.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will changing my search engine affect my bookmarks or passwords?

No. Your bookmarks, saved passwords, and all other Edge data remain unchanged. Only future searches from the address bar will use your new search engine.

Can I use different search engines for different searches?

Not automatically from the address bar. However, you can always go directly to any search engine's website and search there instead. For example, you could use Google for some searches and DuckDuckGo for others by visiting their websites directly.

What if I want to switch back to Bing?

Open settings, go to Privacy, search, and services, find the search engine dropdown, and select Bing. You can switch back and forth as many times as you want.

Does this change affect searches on other browsers like Chrome?

No. This setting only affects Microsoft Edge. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and other browsers have their own separate default search engine settings that you would need to change independently.

Why does Edge keep suggesting Bing even after I changed my default?

Edge sometimes shows search suggestions from Bing in the dropdown below the address bar, even if your default is set to a different engine. This is normal. When you press Enter, your search will use your chosen default engine, not Bing.