How to Make Google Your Default Search Engine in Chrome

When you type a question like “weather in London” directly into the address bar at the top of Google Chrome and press Enter, you expect to see Google search results. However, you might press Enter and suddenly find yourself looking at search results from Yahoo, Bing, or even a strange, unfamiliar website packed with advertisements. This usually happens because you accidentally downloaded a bundled software program that installed a malicious browser extension, actively hijacking your traffic to generate ad revenue. It is jarring, inefficient, and potentially dangerous. To restore your browser’s core functionality, you must dive into the settings and explicitly make Google your default search engine once again.

Step-by-Step: Changing the Default Engine

The setting that controls what happens when you type in the address bar (the “Omnibox”) is easily accessible.

1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Click the three vertical dots in the extreme top-right corner to open the More menu.
3. Select Settings from the drop-down list.
4. Look at the navigation sidebar on the left side of the screen. Click on Search engine.
5. In the main window on the right, you will see a setting labeled: Search engine used in the address bar.
6. Next to this setting is a drop-down menu (which currently probably says Yahoo or Bing). Click that drop-down menu.
7. Select Google from the list.

This action immediately restores Google as the primary engine for your address bar searches.

Crucial Step: Purging Rogue Search Engines

Simply changing the drop-down menu fixes the immediate problem, but if a malicious extension added the bad search engine, it might try to switch it back later. You must permanently delete the rogue engines from Chrome’s memory.

1. Stay on the Search engine settings page (from step 4 above).
2. Click the row directly below the drop-down menu labeled Manage search engines and site search.
3. Scroll down to the Search engines list. This list contains every engine Chrome knows about.
4. Look through the list for Yahoo, Bing, or any suspicious URLs you do not recognize (like “search-safe.com”).
5. When you find an engine you want to remove, click the three vertical dots next to it.
6. Select Delete from the menu.

What if it Keeps Changing Back?

If you set Google as your default, delete the rogue engines, but the next day your browser is hijacked again, you have a persistent malware infection. You must immediately click on the Extensions icon (the puzzle piece in the top right) and click Manage Extensions. Turn off or remove absolutely every extension you do not explicitly recognize, as one of them is actively hijacking your browser.