Microsoft has changed the default search of their browser starting with version 8 and 9. The default search is performed through Bing search engine from Microsoft. If you`re using Internet Explorer as a browser and the power of Google as a search engine, you`re probably a person like me. However, if you would like to change what search engine is used by Internet Explorer, there is an easy way to do this. Keep in mind that I am going to show you how to do it in Internet Explorer version 9.0
I would probably do the same thing if I were Microsoft, since it`s their browser it sounds logical to use as the default search provider - Bing. But the good news is that we can change it from Bing to a lot of other search providers and that`s great. Let`s get started, open Internet Explorer
You don`t need to open a search engine. You can perform a search by typing what you want directly into the address bar. As you can see, the default search will be through Bing search engine:
Let`s add another search provider and make this the default search. We`re going to replace Bing search engine with Google ( in this example ) but keep in mind that you can choose from a lot of search providers.
Open a new Internet explorer page and expand the options, use the little blue arrow, near the search magnifying glass icon, here`s how I did it:
You should be able to see a small button called ``Add`` ( keep your mouse over this button and you should be able to read - Add search providers ).
If you clicked on the ``Add`` button, you should be redirected to a page called ``Internet Explorer Gallery Add-ons”. From here you will be able to personalize Internet Explorer.
As you can see, there are several search providers and I am going to use Google search engine in this example, so I scrolled to the right with my mouse.
If you don`t want to use your mouse, you can always use the search form. Locate the search option and type ``Google``.
As I said, you can either locate Google search provider manually or using the classic search and the result will be the same in both cases, you should be able to see the Google search. Now, all you have to do is to click on ``Add to Internet Explorer`` button and a new pop-up window will appear:
It will ask you: ``Do you want to add this search provider ?`` Name: ``Google``. Actually, you have to be careful here. For example, I would like to keep Google as my default search provider so I am going to make sure that the box called ``Make this my default search provider`` is checked. Also you have to enable ( by default it`s already enabled ) ``Use search suggestions from this provider`` and the last step is to click on ``Add`` button.
That`s it, open a new Internet Explorer window and there are two ways to verify this, the classic way to expand the main window and you should see Google search logo ( first ) instead of Bing ( second ) or you could directly type something and the results will be through Google search engine.
As I said, my example was Google but you can use any other search provider from that list. You can add more of them such as Wikipedia, eBay or others. Take a good look around the gallery and see if you can find other search providers that you may want to use.