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Change your default engine

How to make Google your default search engine

It is a browser setting, not a Google one. Each browser keeps its own, and iPhone and iPad keep one more in Settings.

By Bill Hartzer ·

The short answer

Making Google your default search engine is a setting inside each browser you use, not something you switch on at Google: in Chrome it is Settings > Search engine, in Safari on a Mac Safari > Settings > Search, in Edge Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Search and connected services > Address bar and search, and in Firefox Settings > Search > Default search engine. On iPhone and iPad the primary control is in the Settings app under Search > Search Engine, and each browser on each device is changed separately.

The default engine (the one that receives whatever you type into the address bar) is a different setting from the homepage (the page that opens when the browser starts). Setting one does not set the other, and confusing them is the most common reason people think the change failed.

Every path below was checked against the browser makers' own help pages in October 2026. Where Google's instructions and a browser maker's disagree, this page follows the browser maker; Google's general help article still carries Internet Explorer steps and outdated Safari and Firefox methods. This page explains the setting rather than recommending Google: the same steps set any other engine, as covered in how to change your default search engine.

Google Chrome

On a computer

  1. Open Chrome.
  2. At the top right, open More (the three dots), then Settings. Typing chrome://settings into the address bar opens the same page.
  3. Select Search engine.
  4. Under Search engine, select Change.
  5. Choose Google.

The steps are the same on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS. On a work or school device, Google notes that the network administrator may choose the default engine, in which case the control is locked and only the administrator can change it.

On Android

  1. Open Chrome and tap More at the top right, then Settings.
  2. Under Basics, tap Search engine.
  3. Select Google.

Recently visited engines are added to this list automatically.

On iPhone and iPad

  1. Open Chrome and tap More, then Settings.
  2. Tap Search engine and select Google.

Chrome on iOS keeps its own setting. Changing it does not change Safari's engine, and changing Safari's does not change Chrome's.

In some regions, Chrome shows a engine choice screen during setup or after a restart because local law requires one; Google says the providers listed vary by country and that the choice can be changed in Chrome settings at any time.

Safari on a Mac

  1. In Safari, choose Safari > Settings, then click Search.
  2. From the Search engine menu, choose Google.
  3. If you also want Google in private windows, set the separate Private Browsing search engine option on the same pane.

Apple's current Safari User Guide covers macOS releases from High Sierra through macOS 27. Older guides, including Google's own, still say Preferences; macOS now labels that menu item Settings.

Safari on iPhone and iPad

Apple currently documents two routes to this control, and both appear on Apple's own pages as of October 2026.

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Search, then tap Search Engine.
  3. Tap Google.

That is the route in Apple's dedicated article on changing the default engine for iOS 18.2 and later, including iOS 26 and iOS 27, and the matching iPad article. Apple's Safari chapter also documents a second route: Settings > Apps > Safari > Search Engine. Apple does not say whether these are one setting reached two ways or two separate settings, so if a change does not appear to hold, check both. On iOS 17 and earlier the path was Settings > Safari > Search Engine, without the Apps level.

The European Union's browser choice screen on iPhone and iPad selects a default browser, not a default engine. Picking Safari there leaves Safari's engine setting exactly where it was.

Microsoft Edge

On Windows and Mac

  1. Go to google.com and run one query in Edge. Microsoft's instruction begins here because Edge only lists engines it has seen you use.
  2. Select Settings and more (the … button), then Settings.
  3. Select Privacy, search, and services.
  4. Select Search and connected services, then Address bar and search.
  5. From Search engine used in the address bar, choose Google.

Google's own instructions add one step that Microsoft's page does not mention: set Search on new tabs uses search box or address bar to Address bar. Without it, Google says, the search box on Edge's new tab page keeps sending queries to Bing.

The default matters more here than anywhere. In its 2024 opinion in United States v. Google, the federal district court in Washington, DC, recorded Bing's share of searches on Edge at roughly 80 percent and Google's at about 20 percent, the reverse of Google's position almost everywhere else. That judgment is on appeal.

On Android and iPhone

  • Android: open the menu (…), then Settings > General > Default search engine, and select Google.
  • iPhone and iPad: open the menu (…), then Settings > Advanced settings > Search engine > Others, select Google and tap Done.

Firefox

On a computer

  1. Click the menu button (or Firefox in the macOS menu bar) and select Settings.
  2. Select Search in the left pane.
  3. Under Default search engine, choose Google.

On Android

  1. Tap the engine icon in the address bar.
  2. Tap the settings icon, then Search settings at the bottom of the panel.
  3. Tap Default search engine and select Google.

Mozilla notes two ways the default can move without you: an extension added to Firefox can set a new default engine, and Mozilla itself may change which engines are available or default in specific regions, notifying users when it does. Default placement is also Firefox's main income. Mozilla's 2024 audited financial statements show that about 86 percent of its revenue from contracted customers came from a single customer; the statements do not name that customer.

Samsung Browser

Samsung renamed Samsung Internet to Samsung Browser in March 2026.

  1. Open Samsung Browser and open the Tools menu.
  2. Tap Settings, then Address bar search.
  3. Choose Google.

Samsung's own support page confirms only that the address-bar engine setting sits under Tools > Settings. The menu name in step 2 comes from DuckDuckGo's help pages, a secondary source.

Search boxes your browser does not control

Changing a browser's engine changes that browser and nothing else. Two other boxes catch people out.

  • Windows Search. The taskbar search box uses Bing, and outside the European Economic Area (EEA) Microsoft offers no way to change that. Inside the EEA, Windows lets users install and order third-party web search provider apps; Microsoft's documentation does not say which providers exist, and no Google provider was confirmed for this page. To reach Google from a Windows desktop, use the browser.
  • The Android home-screen search bar. It belongs to the Google app, not to Chrome, and ignores Chrome's setting. On Pixel phones in the EEA and Japan only, touch and hold the bar, then Settings > Search engine; elsewhere the only option is a different widget. A user in the EEA who chose another engine on the setup choice screen can switch back in the Google app: profile picture > Settings > Search widget > Switch to Google.

That Android choice screen appears once, during setup, on new EEA devices distributed since 7 August 2024 that come with the Google Search app; a factory reset brings it back. Choice screens on their own move few users: in an NBER working-paper field experiment, only 1.2 percent of Google users shown an active choice screen switched to Bing, though its 2,354 desktop users, recruited through Prolific, skew younger and more technical than the general population.

The default search engine is not the homepage

The default search engine handles text typed into the address bar, and on iPhone and iPad system search as well. The homepage is only the page that opens at launch, in a new window, or from the Home button. Setting google.com as your homepage does not change the address-bar engine, and choosing Google as the default engine does not change the homepage.

Safari on a Mac makes the distinction concrete: the engine lives in the Search pane, while the homepage is a field in the General pane. In Chrome the homepage sits under Settings > Appearance > Show home button. Unwanted software can change either or both, and fixing one leaves the other untouched.

When the change will not stick

Chrome's help page is direct: unexpected engine changes can mean malware, and a change that does not hold calls for restoring Chrome's settings. The most common pattern, an engine that keeps returning to Yahoo, has its own causes and fix, covered in why your search engine keeps changing to Yahoo. A locked control with a managed-browser notice means an employer or school administers the device, or something installed a policy that behaves as if one does.

Once the setting holds, the better question is what it points to. Google crawls and ranks its own index; many alternatives in the same dropdown resell another company's results under their own brand.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make Google my default search engine?

Change the default search engine setting in each browser you use. In Chrome it is Settings, then Search engine; in Safari on a Mac, Safari, then Settings, then Search; in Edge, Settings, then Privacy, search, and services, then Search and connected services, then Address bar and search; in Firefox, Settings, then Search. On iPhone and iPad, open the Settings app and tap Search, then Search Engine.

Is setting Google as my homepage the same as making it my default search engine?

No. The homepage is the page that opens when the browser starts or the Home button is pressed. The default search engine is what receives text typed into the address bar. They are separate settings, often on different screens: in Safari on a Mac, the engine is in the Search pane and the homepage in the General pane. Changing one leaves the other as it was.

How do I make Google the default search engine on my iPhone?

Open the Settings app, tap Search, then Search Engine, and choose Google. Apple documents that route for iOS 18.2 and later, including iOS 26 and 27. Its Safari chapter also lists Settings, then Apps, then Safari, then Search Engine; check both if the change appears not to hold. Chrome on iPhone keeps its own separate setting inside Chrome.

Why is Google not in my list of search engines in Edge?

Edge lists engines it has seen you use, so Microsoft's instructions begin with running a search on the site first. Go to google.com in Edge, search for anything, then return to Settings, Privacy, search, and services, Search and connected services, and Address bar and search. Google should then appear in the Search engine used in the address bar list.

Does changing Chrome's search engine change the Google search bar on my Android home screen?

No. The home-screen bar belongs to the Google app, not to Chrome, and it ignores Chrome's setting. On Pixel phones in the EEA and Japan, touching and holding the bar opens a search engine setting. In the EEA, the Google app's Search widget setting can switch the bar back to Google after another engine was chosen at setup.

Why does my search engine change back after I set it to Google?

Something is re-applying a different engine. The usual causes are a browser extension that sets its own search provider, a bundled program that changed the setting, a policy or profile that locks it, or sync bringing an old value back from another device. Chrome's help page says unexpected changes can indicate malware and suggests restoring Chrome's settings if a change does not stick.

Sources

Search engines discussed here

Major global search engines

Google

Crawls the web itself with Googlebot and ranks its own index. The engine most other engines are measured against.

Own index
Major global search engines

Microsoft Bing

Crawls the web itself with bingbot. The wholesale index behind Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and much of non-Google search.

Own index
Major global search engines

Yahoo! Search

No crawler of its own since 2010. Web results come from Microsoft Bing under the 2009 Search Alliance.

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