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How to get back to Safari being my chosen search engine

Why has my iPad and iMac suddenly switched from searching in Safari to wanting to search in Google? I did clear all my history on iPad yesterday. Pls how can I get Safari working again?


iPad, iOS 9

Posted on Nov 11, 2021 6:47 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 11, 2021 2:33 PM

Hi gill249,

Welcome to the Apple Community,

where some of us do our best to help each other.


Umm ... Safari is a web-browser.

Safari uses any of the search engines (Google, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, Bing etc.) that you choose for searching.

(Seems like Google "elbowed" its way into being the preferred search engine ?)


Wondering which search engine you were using in Safari previously ?


Read on for how to change the search engine you use in Safari.


On your iMac:

With a Safari window open:

  • Click on "Safari" on the left, in the top menu bar.
  • Choose "Preferences" from the drop-down menu that opens.
  • From the top of the small window that opens, click on "Search".



* Beside "Search Engine" click on the small, blue up/down arrows,

  • click whichever search engine you wish to use, from the drop-down list.

Close the small window, when you are done.


For iPad:

The Apple Suppart article:

"Search for websites using Safari on iPad"

Says:

Choose a search engine

Go to Settings  > Safari > Search Engine.

Complete article: https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/ipad/ipadb180ef4b/ipados


Hope this works for you :-)

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 11, 2021 2:33 PM in response to gill249

Hi gill249,

Welcome to the Apple Community,

where some of us do our best to help each other.


Umm ... Safari is a web-browser.

Safari uses any of the search engines (Google, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, Bing etc.) that you choose for searching.

(Seems like Google "elbowed" its way into being the preferred search engine ?)


Wondering which search engine you were using in Safari previously ?


Read on for how to change the search engine you use in Safari.


On your iMac:

With a Safari window open:

  • Click on "Safari" on the left, in the top menu bar.
  • Choose "Preferences" from the drop-down menu that opens.
  • From the top of the small window that opens, click on "Search".



* Beside "Search Engine" click on the small, blue up/down arrows,

  • click whichever search engine you wish to use, from the drop-down list.

Close the small window, when you are done.


For iPad:

The Apple Suppart article:

"Search for websites using Safari on iPad"

Says:

Choose a search engine

Go to Settings  > Safari > Search Engine.

Complete article: https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/ipad/ipadb180ef4b/ipados


Hope this works for you :-)

Nov 11, 2021 8:53 PM in response to gill249

Do you mean you want to get back to Safari being your default web browser?


If so, just go to the menu at the top of your screen, then click on System Preferences... --> General --> click the "Default web browser" popup and select "Safari.app" from the list of options. After that, next time you click a web link in any app it should open in Safari.

How to get back to Safari being my chosen search engine

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