The fast route
Type or paste chrome://settings/search into Chrome's address bar, press Enter, and set the dropdown labelled Search engine used in the address bar. That single control governs every query you type into the address bar, the search box on the new-tab page, and the right-click Search … for item.
These paths describe Chrome on desktop and mobile as of August 2026 — Chrome's settings layout for search has been stable across recent releases, and the chrome://settings/search address works even when the menu labels around it shift.
Chrome on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS
- Click the three-dot menu at the top right of the window — its tooltip reads Customize and control Google Chrome.
- Choose Settings.
- In the left sidebar, click Search engine.
- Open the dropdown marked Search engine used in the address bar and choose the engine you want.
The change applies immediately; there is no Save button and no restart. If the engine you want is not in the list, click Manage search engines and site search on the same screen. That page separates Your search engines from Site search — the second group is for searching within a single site by typing a shortcut first, not for setting a default. Use Add to enter a name, a keyword shortcut, and the engine's query URL with %s standing in for the search term. Once added, the engine appears in the address-bar dropdown and can be promoted with the three-dot control beside its row.
Engines that appear without you adding them come from two places: Chrome ships a per-country list of prepopulated engines, and any site you have used that publishes a search description can turn up under inactive shortcuts. Neither becomes your default on its own.
Chrome on Android
- Open Chrome and tap the three-dot menu.
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Search engine.
- Select an engine from the list.
One thing to know on Android: this setting changes Chrome only. The Google search widget on the home screen, the search bar inside the Google app, and any assistant surface are separate products with their own behaviour, and none of them follow Chrome's dropdown. If searches you thought you had redirected still land on Google, check which app you actually typed into.
In the European Economic Area, Chrome and Android have shown a search-engine choice screen rather than a silent pre-selection. That screen sets the value once; the Settings dropdown remains the way to change it afterwards.
Chrome on iPhone and iPad
- Open Chrome and tap the three-dot menu — bottom right on iPhone, top right on iPad.
- Tap Settings.
- Tap Search Engine.
- Choose an engine.
This affects Chrome and nothing else on the device. Safari keeps a completely separate engine setting of its own, and links opened from Mail, Messages or any other app go to whichever browser is set as the system default. Changing Chrome's engine while Safari remains the default browser will feel like the change did not take, because most of your taps are never reaching Chrome.
What changes on the new-tab page
Chrome does not keep a separate engine for the new-tab page, but it does change the page itself. With Google as the default you get Google's new-tab page: the wordmark, a search box, shortcut tiles and whatever Discover content your account and region receive. Select any other engine and Chrome replaces it with a plain new-tab page carrying a search box that hands queries to your chosen engine, along with your shortcuts.
People frequently read that swap as something breaking. It is the expected behaviour, and it is also the quickest confirmation that the change actually applied. If the Google new-tab page is still there after you switched, the setting did not save — which usually means something else is holding it.
Why the setting reverts
Chrome does not spontaneously reset the search engine. When it comes back, one of four things is doing it.
- An extension controls it. Extensions may legitimately declare a search provider. When one has, Chrome says so on the settings page and the dropdown is locked. Open
chrome://extensions, remove the extension responsible, and the control unlocks. Removing it is the fix; changing the dropdown while it is installed is not. - Sync brought the old value back. A signed-in Chrome profile synchronises preferences. If another device still holds the previous engine, it can be pushed back to this one. Change it everywhere, or check what is being synced under Chrome's sync settings.
- An enterprise policy is setting it. Managed work and school devices commonly pin the default. So do policy keys left behind by bundled software. Open
chrome://policyand look for policies with names beginning DefaultSearchProvider. If they are present on a personal machine you did not enrol, that is not a normal configuration. - The profile was rebuilt. A repaired, recreated or freshly installed profile takes Chrome's shipped default for your country.
As a last resort, Reset settings in Chrome's settings restores the search engine, homepage, new-tab page and pinned tabs to defaults and disables extensions without deleting bookmarks or passwords. That undoes the symptom. If whatever changed the setting is still installed, it will simply apply again.
Telling a preference change from a hijack
A change you made looks like this: you opened Settings, you can name the engine, and it stays. A hijack looks like at least one of the following.
- The engine changed after installing free software, a converter, a media downloader or a theme — not after you opened Settings.
- The dropdown is greyed out, or Chrome reports that the browser is managed by an organisation on a machine nobody manages.
- Searches pass through an unfamiliar domain before arriving at a mainstream results page. The redirect is the business model: the operator earns a partner fee on traffic handed to a real engine.
- Your homepage and new-tab page changed at the same moment. Selecting a different search engine does not touch either.
The distinction matters because the repair is different. A preference is fixed with the dropdown. A hijack is fixed by finding the extension, policy key or modified shortcut that keeps re-applying it.
After the mechanics, the choice
The dropdown is the easy part. The consequential question is whose index Chrome is about to start querying on your behalf, because a great many alternatives are front ends over somebody else's crawl rather than independent ones. Startpage serves Google's results with the identifying data stripped out and is explicit about it; DuckDuckGo and Ecosia layer their own handling over a partner's results; Brave Search and Mojeek crawl and rank their own index. Changing the default from Google to a Google reseller changes who holds the query, not which pages come back — which may be exactly what you want, provided it is what you think you are getting.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the search engine setting in Chrome?
It is at chrome://settings/search, reachable through the three-dot menu, then Settings, then Search engine in the left sidebar. The control is a dropdown labelled Search engine used in the address bar. On Android and iOS it is the three-dot menu, then Settings, then Search engine. The change takes effect immediately with no restart.
Why does Chrome keep changing my search engine back to Google?
Because something is re-applying it. The usual causes are an installed extension that declares a search provider, profile sync pushing an older value back from another signed-in device, or an enterprise policy pinning the default. Check chrome://extensions and chrome://policy. A managed-browser notice on a personal computer is a strong sign something was installed alongside other software.
Does changing Chrome's search engine change the new tab page?
Yes, visibly. With Google as the default, Chrome shows Google's own new-tab page. Choose any other engine and Chrome swaps in a plain new-tab page whose search box uses your chosen engine. That swap is expected behaviour rather than a fault, and it is the quickest way to confirm the setting saved.
How do I add a search engine that is not in Chrome's list?
On the Search engine settings screen, open Manage search engines and site search, then use Add under Your search engines. Enter a name, a keyword shortcut, and the engine's query URL with %s where the search term belongs. The added engine then becomes selectable in the address-bar dropdown alongside the prepopulated ones.
Does changing Chrome's engine on my phone change it on my laptop?
Only if sync is on and carrying preferences between them. Otherwise each installation keeps its own setting. Sync also works in the other direction, which is why a device you have not updated can push the previous engine back to one you just changed. Chrome on iOS also leaves Safari's own setting completely untouched.
What is the difference between search engines and site search in Chrome?
Site search entries let you search within one website by typing a shortcut in the address bar first, then your query. They are not defaults and never take over the address bar on their own. Only the engine chosen in the Search engine used in the address bar dropdown handles a plain query typed without a shortcut.
Does resetting Chrome settings remove a hijacked search engine?
Reset settings restores the default engine, homepage, new-tab page and pinned tabs and disables extensions, keeping bookmarks and saved passwords. It clears the symptom, not the cause. If an extension, a policy key or a modified desktop shortcut is still in place, the same engine reappears the next time the browser starts.