How to Manage Search Engines on Google Chrome

Google Chrome has many novel and impressive features and one of them is the ability to use multiple search engines or search different websites right from the address bar. Consequently, it does not have an accessory search bar like is found on other web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera or Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Google calls this versatile search bar the Omnibox. If you are new to Google Chrome or have not taken the time to learn the many tricks that it offers or just prefer to search the old way, then you need to read the following:

Searching From the Address Bar

This feature allows you to search using any search engine or to search a website without having to visit the website first. To search from the Google Chrome address bar, you simply type in your search term (as long as it is not a web address) and press enter. The default search engine is set to Google when Chrome is first installed. You may change the default search engine at any time as shown below.

Using other non-default search engines or websites from the address bar is also simple. Type in the URL of the search engine or website such as "www.bing.com" and then press Tab when the prompt appears in the address bar. Go ahead and type in your search term and results from that search engine will be displayed.

Managing Search Engines in Google Chrome

Viewing Available Search Engines

To see which search engines or sites can be searched in the manner described above (i.e. from the address bar), right-click inside the address bar and select "Edit search engines". This will display a smaller window where you can see the search engines that have been captured on Google Chrome.

Choosing a Default Search Engine

To use another search engine such as Yahoo! Search, Bing, or Wikipedia (or any website's search engine that you prefer) instead of Google as your default search engine, do the following:

- Follow either of the steps mentioned above under Viewing Available Search Engines.

- Hover with your mouse cursor over the search engine of your choice and click on the Make Default button that appears.

Adding or Removing Search Engines

- Follow either of the steps mentioned above under Viewing Available Search Engines.

- To add a search engine, scroll the end of the page and fill in the required fields. These fields include the name, keyword and URL of the search engine. To determine a search engine's URL, click here for a detailed guide on how to add search engines to Google Chrome.

- To remove a search engine, hover over the search engine listing with your cursor and click on the "X" that appears at the end of the line.

Tip: The keyword is the word that causes the Tab prompt to appear when you type in the name of the search engine. It can be any word but should be one that is related to the search engine. It is usual and advisable to simply use the site's URL such as "amazon.com".

Editing Search Engines

- Follow either of the steps mentioned above under Viewing Available Search Engines.

- Highlight the search engine you would like to edit. Make your changes and click on Done at the end of the page to save.