How to Make DuckDuckGo the Default Search Engine in Chrome

Last Updated: August 17, 2020 Tested

DuckDuckGo is a search engine popular among people who are concerned about privacy and do not want their search history used to personalize results or shared with advertisers. This wikiHow teaches you how to make DuckDuckGo your default web browser in Google Chrome.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using a Smartphone or Tablet (iOS & Android)

1
Open Google Chrome. It has an icon that resembles a red, green, and yellow wheel with a blue dot in the middle. You'll find it on your home screen, in the app drawer, or by searching.
2
Tap the menu icon ⋮ or …. It's the icon with three vertical dots (Android) or three horizontal dots (iPhone and iPad) in the upper-right corner of Google Chrome. This opens the menu.

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3
Tap Settings. It's in the menu that appears when you tap the icon with three dots in the upper-right corner.
4
Tap Search engine. It's the first option at the top of the Settings menu. This displays a list of search engines you can choose as your default search engine.
5
Tap DuckDuckGo. It's in the list of search engines. This makes DuckDuckGo as your default search engine.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using PC & Mac

1
Open Google Chrome
. It has an icon that resembles a red, green, and yellow wheel with a blue dot in the middle. On Windows, click the Google Chrome icon on your desktop or Windows menu. On Mac, click the Google Chrome icon in the Dock or your Applications folder.
2
Click the menu icon ⋮. It's the icon with three vertical dots in the upper-right corner. This displays the menu.
3
Click Settings. It's in the menu that appears when you click the icon with three vertical dots in the upper-right corner. This opens the Settings menu.
4
Scroll down and click Manage search Engines. It's below the "Search engine" header. This displays a list of search engines along with a list of default search engines you can select from.
- Alternatively, you can use the drop-down menu next to "Search engine used in address bar" in the Settings menu to select DuckDuckGo as your default search engine.
5
Click ⋮ next to "DuckDuckGo". DuckDuckGo is listed below the "Default search engines" list at the top along with Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Ecosia. DuckDuckGo has an orange icon with an image of a duck.
- If you don't see this DuckDuckGo in the list of default search engines, click Add below "Default search engines. Enter "DuckDuckGo" in the search engine and keyword spaces. Then enter "https://duckduckgo.com" as the URL and click Add.
6
Click Make Default. It's the first option in the menu that appears when you click the icon with three dots next to "DuckDuckGo" in the list of default search engines. This makes DuckDuckGo your default search engine.

Community Q&A

Question

How do I do this on an Android phone?

PorkeyPihg

Community Answer

On the Google Play Store, there is a dedicated DuckDuckGo browser. As far as I know, it is impossible to change the default browser on the Android Browser.