Learn how to change the default Safari search engine on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac from Google to Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, or Ecosia.
Google pays billions of dollars every year to Apple (or splits revenue 64/36) to remain the default search engine in Safari on iOS and macOS. But if you want to use alternative search algorithms or reduce your reliance on Google, you can easily change the default Safari search engine in browser settings.
On iPhone or iPad
Go to iOS Settings, tap Apps from the bottom, and select Safari from the list of applications. Then, tap Search Engine and select Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, or Ecosia.
From now on, entering a search term in Safari’s Smart Search field will take you to the search results page provided by your selected search engine. When typing a search term, you’ll also see suggested search terms from your preferred search engine.
It’s worth mentioning that typing a query in the Smart Search field helps the search engine understand what you’re interested in, even if you don’t hit the return key to submit the search terms.
On Mac
Open Safari and click Safari > Settings or Preferences from the top menu bar. Then, go to the Search tab and select the desired search engine.
Tip: Desktop Safari has a neat shortcut for changing your preferred search engine without needing to visit browser settings. Just delete all text in Safari’s Smart Search field, then click the magnifying glass and select a search engine from the drop-down menu.
Change the search engine for private browsing
If you like Google for normal searches but want something else for your incognito windows, you can use a different search engine just for Safari’s private browsing mode.
Additionally, you can also use ChatGPT as your default Safari search engine to get answers straight from it, bypassing all traditional search engines.