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How do I set safe search (safesearch) preferences for Google?

I'm wondering if there is a way to save the google safesearch preferences for users in a mac os x server environment. We have kids that we would love to have search using only the "strict" filtering. Is there a way to set that preference in os x server? Thank you very much!


Dave's Answer:

You can set the Google SafeSearch preferences on a specific browser, but you can't set it across an enterprise. Fortunately, sounds like you just need to set the preferences on a specific Mac computer, and that's easy to do and does persist across reboots.

To set SafeSearch in Google, to ensure that your children only see kid-safe content, simply go to the Google home page and click on "Preferences":

Google Search Box: Preferences

Next, scroll down a bit, and you'll see where you can set the SafeSearch preferences for future searches:

Google Search Box: Preferences: SafeSearch (safe search) Filtering

Once you make the change you desire, make sure you click on "Save Preferences" so that it's saved on your computer. Now you can quit and restart your browser and even your computer, and SafeSearch will remain set, as you can quickly see in the search results.

Here, I did a quick search for "butterflies" and this is what I see in the top right:

Google Search Results: SafeSearch ON

A really important observation is that you need to set this for each and every browser on your Mac and if you have multiple user accounts, it also means that you might have to do that for each user account on your computer too. Make sure it's set for everyone on your system.

Once it's set for all, you can temporarily disable SafeSearch by simply clicking on the "Advanced Search" link adjacent to your search results, then turning off SafeSearch on the subsequent page and redoing the search. It's still set for subsequent searches, as you'd want, but your search can now include unsafe content.


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Categorized: Computer and Internet Basics   (Article 7347, Written by )
Tagged: content filtering, google safesearch, google search, privacy
Previous: Can I capture Google searches on my site?
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Reader Comments To Date: 3

dave said, on December 11, 2007 7:37 PM:

There are also sites that have google safesearch activated by default... eg, www.safe-google.com

MA said, on January 10, 2008 9:57 AM:

I can't seem to save Google preferences -

Anonymous said, on June 9, 2010 4:07 AM:

good it was..........continu suggesting people

Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

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











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