Unless you need to be extra careful about your searches’ privacy, Google is still the most effective service. It’s useful for saving your past search queries for optimized performance and rarely lets you down, whether you’re searching for adorable cat videos or treatments for whatever dire ailment you might be suffering from at the moment. While Google Chrome and Firefox automatically set Google as your search engine by default, we know pesky add-ons or malware have a knack for hijacking those search engines. Then they offer up a few of their own search engine recommendations(we’re looking at you, Babylon Search Toolbar). The good news is that all you need is less than a minute to change your browser search engine default to Google, quickly completing this simple task with a few clicks under browser preferences.

Here is our guide on how to make Google your default search engine so you can stop looking at Bing, Yahoo!, or, worse, Babylon. Even if your search engine might one day randomly revert back to an alternative search engine, you’ll be prepared to change it back to Google all over again.

Step 1: Open Google Chrome. Then, click on the three dots icon in the top-right corner. In the menu that pops up, select .

Step 2: On the left side of the Chrome menu, choose .

Step 3: Click on the drop-down menu next to the phrase Search Engine Used in the Address Bar. Choose Google from the drop-down menu.

Step 1: Open Firefox and then click on the three stacked horizontal lines Menu icon in the top-right corner. In the menu that appears, choose Options.

Step 2: On the left side of the Options menu, select Search.

Step 3: Under Default Search Engine, choose Google from the drop-down menu.

Google should automatically be your default search engine, but here’s a quick way to check and change it if you need to.

Step 1: Open Safari, move your mouse over the Safari tab and select Preferences, or type the keyboard shortcut Command +. 

Step 2: Select the Search tab, and the first option you should see is for the search engine. If Google is not already set, select the drop-down menu, and choose it.

Step 3: Close the preferences and double-check to make sure it worked.

If you want to change the options on Safari for iOS or iPadOS, that is a different process.

Step 1: Go to the Settings app and search for Safari.

Step 2: The first option is for the search engine. Change it accordingly if Google is not already set.

Step 1: Run Microsoft Edge and select the icon (which looks like three dots) in the top-right corner. From there, a menu will appear on the screen— select .

Step 2: In your , along the left side of the screen, choose . Then you’ll have to scroll until you find the tab. 

Step 3: After clicking that tab, select the drop-down menu next to the phrase . From that drop-down list, tap .

Step 1: Run Opera and select the icon (which is in the lower left-hand corner of the screen). That icon will lead to the menu.

Step 2: Once you’re in , scroll all the way down to the tab .

Step 3: In the section, find the phrase and select the drop-down menu next to it. Then click from the subsequent menu.