Industry guru Dave Taylor offers free tech support on a wide variety of technical and business topics, including HTML, Apple iPhone, online advertising, Cascading Style Sheets, Web design, management, Unix, Linux, search engine optimization, online dating, Mac OS X, shell script programming and Microsoft Windows.

How do I change the default search engine in Internet Explorer 7 (IE7)?

I've been running Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 7.0 web browser and really like it overall, except for one problem: by default searches in the search box go to MSN Search, and I want to use Google. How do I change it?

Dave's Answer:

If you're lucky, you simply got the following prompt the very first time you ran IE7 on your computer:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7: Search Defaults

But it sounds like you've already got your system running and have MSN Search locked in. Fortunately, it's not really locked in, as you can find out by going to Tools > Internet Options

Now you'll see this:

See 2/3 of the way down the section "change search defaults"? That's what you want. Click on the button "Settings" right next to that and you'll see:

Click on the small text link "find more providers" on the lower left corner (funny how they don't make it a big visible button) and you'll go to this page: Add Search Providers to Internet Explorer 7. The page looks like this:

You can't see it, but most of the work is done behind the scenes. Indeed, all the URLs are the same. Open up the source and you'll find that, for example, you add Google search to your copy of IE7 with the following code;

<a href="#" onClick="window.external.AddSearchProvider("http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/3/C/A3C89D63- E2F0-460D-9F5F-23B51EA52B5E/Google.xml");">Google</a><br>Google Web Search

Yow. Not for the faint of heart, I'd say!

Fortunately, you can just click away and add as many of the search engines listed on this page to your copy of IE7 as your heart desires. Each time, you'll get the following confirmation:

Click on "Add Provider" if you just want to add it to your options list, or check the box labeled "Make this my default search provider" if you want to go ahead and change the default at the same time.

One very cool feature is that you can specify ANY search engine, so you can even add Ask Dave Taylor to your IE7 search toolbar. You just do a search on the site you desire for the pattern TEST then cut and paste the resultant URL. On my site it'd be:

http://limbo1.intercast-media.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=7&Template=linksearch&search=TEST

Finally, once you add a bunch of choices, you can now go to that same option in Internet Options and see lots of choices:

What's really cool is that you can now click the tiny downward triangle button on the far, far right and instantly switch which search engine you're using:

Now that's a genuinely valuable capability and one well worth learning how to configure if you're going to be using Internet Explorer 7.0.

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Categorized: Windows Help (Article 7046)
Tagged: default search engine, microsoft internet explorer 7, msie7, search engines
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Comments

How can you remove the default search entirely? For example suppose you enter a URL and mistype it - previously you would get an error message and you could easily click back into the URL and change it. Now with search you can't do that any more, you have to type the whole URL out all over again.

Posted by: fred fish at January 15, 2007 1:10 AM

Hey Dave...how do I change the default email program to Yahoo mail or G mail? - I only see MS choices in the programs tab. Is there a reg change that can be made?

you rock as always

Posted by: Rion at May 11, 2007 11:25 PM

Dave
Your site was recommended by Microsoft, although they disavow any responsibility. I see where you have many Google ads on your page. May I assume that although you start out this page with Google, you are not owned by them? Anyway, I want to keep GoodSearch as my default setting for search engine. I have added GoodSearch to the list in the search pull down, made it my default and eliminated Google, however Google has a strangle hold on the page and each time I re-enter my home page, which is msn, Google is back as the default setting. Is there any way I can defeat Google permanently? Or have they paid Microsoft too much to stay there as the default? When I contacted Microsoft with the message seen below, they misunderstood my question and thought I wanted Google as the default. I don’t. I want the permanent default to be GoodSearch – Help!
The message I sent Microsoft that got me to your site is as follows:
In the upper right hand corner of the home page (msn) is the search engine to be used - the default is ALWAYS Google, even when I change the default setting. It has done me no good to try making the default some other engine, Google has some how been cemented permanently into the guts of the explorer so that if I wish to use someone else as the default I have to go in each time I access the home page and change the engine.
Why haven't you allowed me to keep a different engine in as a default - what is a default anyway if it isn't a default?
Thank you
Pierre

Posted by: Pierre at May 23, 2007 12:45 AM

everything was fine until I clicked find more providers. I get sent to a Google search page. http://www.google.com/search?q={searchTerms}&rls=com.microsoft:{language}:{referrer:source?}&ie={inputEncoding}&oe={outputEncoding}&sourceid=ie7. I do not want anything related to google, but google won't let me change it. How do I force another search provider around the evil google? :)

Posted by: Ron Reale at May 24, 2007 6:42 PM

I would like to remove Internet explorer and switch to Google/Firefox.Is this possible since IE is tied to so many programs ?

Posted by: Trude at February 15, 2008 5:25 AM

Can you tell me if it is possible to "change" windows live search to google? Whem I am in my MSN email and I click on the magnifying glass I would like to have google come up. Any help appreciated.
KC

I have Google listed as the IE 7 choice already

Posted by: KC at February 22, 2008 8:08 AM

I am trying to get rid of msn livesearch page, but my xp internet connection page is different from your example. Mine has same tab headers above, but only Home Page, Temporary Internet Files, and History sections below. In other words, I don't have the critical Search section on which I could change search defaults as your tutorial suggests.

Any other way? Is my Windows XP just strange? (It came with Dell computer in 2003)
thanks
Jean

Posted by: Jean Zaniewski at May 6, 2008 8:03 AM

I think you did not deserve that Chai yet Dave, I did EXACTLY what you instructed... leaving now with no result. I still get that crappy MSN 'cannot be found' page with the address http://www.msn.com/404.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/runonce2.aspx in the address bar. So still have to look somewhere else... sorry, Bas

Posted by: Bas at August 24, 2008 5:41 PM

Dear sir:

How do I remove the cover picture that appears when I click on the Internet? I would love to see the original picture in which I believe would be a news article. I need to remove the picture I accidently clicked on. Nothing personal, just want my original news which was on the monitor to begin with. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Kathy
stitrali@yahoo.com

Posted by: kathy at October 28, 2008 6:48 AM

I already knew how to change my default search engine, but my question now is what might be changing it. I set Google as my search engine. Now every time I boot the computer, something changes it to ASK. I have even deleted ASK as an option on the list. I suspect it might be Webshots or the recently installed Roboform password program. Yet I don't see any options in either to do this.

Posted by: Terry at December 11, 2008 12:33 AM

Terry I have the same problem as you do - As.com keeps changing my default search engine. I have both the programs you mention installed. I'm going to say its more likely Webshots - as I had roboform on my computer long before I upgraded webshots to the most current version. Now I have this issue. Webshots was recently bought by another company (AGI) and that might be part of it (it use to be owned by CNet Networks, Inc) - I've always like webshots but if they are the reason for ask.com I'll just uninstall the program.

Posted by: Tammy at December 19, 2008 7:30 PM

The method does not work for Toorgle, and I don't know how to make it work. Can you help ?

Posted by: Joseph PHILIPPA at December 29, 2008 10:44 PM

Following your instructions does nothing to prevent Ask.com from spontaneously assigning itself as the default search engine no matter what default the user has selected.

Posted by: Marilyn Hilliard at January 10, 2009 1:55 PM

I saw your site, while frantically searching to remove ask.com toolbar. I can only "disable" it. Otherwise I cannot even use the computer.IE will not open with it enabled. I have followed the directions, but it WILL NOT UNINSTALL. HELP PLEASE

Posted by: Jeannine at January 18, 2009 12:24 PM

In using ie7 (i have xp on my computer)I get ask.com whenever I enter a website (no www or http) in the address line.

It's annoying.

I know that I can type in www. first, but it causes me problems with my work email. We use a microsoft exchange server, and I cannot get into it because of this ask.com issues.

The alternative, firefox, only allows me to use outlook light for work, which is problematic.

So, how do I get rid of it? It's not on the list of search engines, so I cannot delete it there. I even used hijack this, but it didn't find it.

Thank you.

Posted by: Nathaniel at February 21, 2009 7:26 PM

ok so like i always go to this website to watch anime but then my computer goes to a blank page and says default click, do a test or whatever and i dont know wat to do and its getting on my nerves.

Posted by: christina at May 11, 2009 6:04 PM

ive just had enough of not getting free downloads,and no solutions

Posted by: terence harrison at May 28, 2009 9:42 AM

How do I put Google on my intranet opition for email provider

Posted by: Keith Wilde at June 8, 2009 12:52 PM

I'm trying to change the search engine which has defaulted to live search. I've followed the instructions to change it & when I click on google, the page simple says, Error on Page, and won't let me change anything. I'd like to do what you suggest but it won't let me add anything. Any suggestions to fix this problem?
Thank you!

Posted by: bonnie at August 26, 2009 3:54 PM

hi, i am not highly technical here so i don't know if you can help me. i have ie7 (i think) and bing was the default search engine. i have a good wireless connection to the internet and can get to a page if i type the exact address (target.com etc), but when i try to search for anything it says internet explorer cannot display the page and to check connection problems. my wireless is good and my other laptop works fine. can you help? does any of this make sense? thanks

Posted by: tina at January 21, 2010 5:06 PM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!