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How to enable DuckDuckGo, Bing or Yahoo as the default search engine in Safari

Google is the default search engine in Mac OS X Safari. However, you can change it to Bing, Yahoo or DuckDuckGo. Of these three choices, DuckDuckGo is the most unique.

DuckDuckGo is a web browser “that doesn’t track you.” It lets you surf the web without your searches being saved or your info shared with advertisers. 

With other search engines, when you do a search and then click on a link, your search terms are sent to that site you clicked on. In addition, when you visit a site, your computer automatically sends information about it to that site. DuckDuckGo doesn’t profile those using it. 

The search engine deliberately shows all users the same search results for a given search term. That said, it isn’t always as thorough as Google. The question you’ll have to answer is: can I sacrifice a little convenience for more privacy?

To set DuckDuckGo as your default search engine in Safari, select Safari in the menu bar and click on Preferences -> Search, then select DuckDuckGo under the “Search engine” option.  (You can also choose, as mentioned, Bing or Yahoo if you wish.)

Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.