How to Change from Bing to Google on Windows 11

To change from Bing to Google on Windows 11, open Microsoft Edge and go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Address bar and search, and set Search engine used in the address bar to Google. That covers searches you type in Edge. Bing also powers the search box on the taskbar and Edge’s new tab page. Windows doesn’t offer a setting to switch the taskbar search to Google, but you can turn off its web results so you search from your browser instead. Here’s how to change each one.

Where Bing shows up on Windows 11

Place	Can you switch to Google?	How
Edge address bar	Yes	Edge search engine setting
Edge new tab page search box	Partly	Make it use the address bar
Taskbar / Start menu search	No	Turn off web results, or search in your browser
Other browsers	Yes	Each browser’s own setting

Make Google the search engine in Edge

1. Open Microsoft Edge.
2. Click the … menu at the top right and choose Settings.
3. Click Privacy, search, and services in the left pane.
4. Scroll down and click Address bar and search. In newer versions, it may be under a Search and connected experiences heading.
5. Open the Search engine used in the address bar list and choose Google.

Type a search in the address bar to check that the results come from Google. If Google isn’t in the list, visit google.com once in Edge, then return to Manage search engines. Google should now appear, and you can choose Make default.

Make the new tab search box use Google too

On the same Address bar and search page, set Search on new tabs uses search box or address bar to Address bar. Typing in the new tab page’s search box then moves you to the address bar, which uses Google.

If you’d also like a cleaner new tab page, click the gear icon on a new tab and turn off the content or news feed.

Optional: Use a different default browser

Chrome uses Google by default, and you can set Google as the search engine in Firefox under Settings > Search. To make another browser your default:

1. Install the browser from its official website.
2. Go to Settings > Apps > Default apps and select the browser.
3. Click Set default at the top.

Links you click in email and other apps then open in that browser. There are more options for changing the default browser in Windows 11, including per file type.

The taskbar search box

The search box on the taskbar (and in the Start menu) shows web results from Bing, and Windows 11 doesn’t have a setting to change it to Google. In some regions, including the European Economic Area, recent Windows versions give more choice over web search providers and open web results in your default browser. Elsewhere, you have two practical options.

Option A: Search the web from your browser instead

Use Windows Search for apps, settings and files, and type web searches into your browser. Pin your browser to the taskbar for quick access.

Option B: Turn off web results in Windows Search

This makes the taskbar search show only local results. It involves editing the registry, so back it up first.

1. Press Windows + R, type regedit and press Enter.
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows.
3. Right-click Windows, choose New > Key, and name it Explorer (skip this if it already exists).
4. Right-click Explorer, choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it DisableSearchBoxSuggestions.
5. Double-click it, set the value to 1 and click OK.
6. Restart the PC.

To undo this, delete the value or set it to 0. Microsoft can change how this policy behaves in Windows updates, so check after major updates.

Turn off Bing features you don’t use

• Search highlights: Go to Settings > Privacy & security > Search permissions and turn off Show search highlights.
• Widgets news feed: Right-click the taskbar, choose Taskbar settings, and turn off Widgets.
• Copilot: You can turn off Copilot in Windows 11 as well.

Troubleshooting

Edge keeps switching back to Bing

An extension or unwanted program may be changing it. Check Settings > Extensions in Edge, and remove anything you don’t recognize. An unknown search site that keeps coming back usually needs removing too, as with getting rid of Searching.com. On a work PC, your organization may have set the search engine for you.

Search results look wrong after switching

Clear Edge’s cached data under Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Clear browsing data. Old results can also linger in the Windows cache, which you can clear in Windows 11 too.

Frequently asked questions

Will changing the search engine affect Windows updates or Microsoft apps?

No. The search engine setting only affects what Edge uses when you search from the address bar.

Can I uninstall Edge to get rid of Bing?

Edge is part of Windows 11, and in most regions it can’t be fully removed. Making another browser your default is the supported way to use something else.

Does this work on Windows 10?

Yes. The Edge steps are the same on Windows 10, and the taskbar search box there also uses Bing.

Summary

1. In Edge, set Search engine used in the address bar to Google.
2. Set new tabs to search with the address bar.
3. Optionally, make Chrome or Firefox your default browser.
4. Use your browser for web searches, or turn off web results in the taskbar search.