How can I add a new search engine to Safari without any 3rd party add-ons?

Question

I know add-ons such as Glims can do this, but I would rather stay away from them. Any native (or more likely semi-native) way to do so? If it matters, the engine I would like to add is duckduckgo.

score 3 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 07 '12 at 15:36

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No, the only options are Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

If it is of any help, DuckDuckGo have their own extension on the Apple website for Safari extensions.

edited Oct 07 '12 at 15:36

Alex

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answered Jan 17 '12 at 07:12

Graeme Hutchison

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Yeah, it's a shame that such a thing is not configurable without extensions. – gentmatt Jan 17 '12 at 07:18
In one of the recent updates (much more recent than the question), Apple added DuckDuckGo as a search engine. – James Westman Apr 02 '15 at 02:39

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 07 '12 at 15:30

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The Safari Extension anysearch allows you to change the search engine used by the Safari search bar/unibar, without any hack-ish stuff such as changing the hosts file.

answered Oct 07 '12 at 15:30

segiddins

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Here is a [direct link to AnySearch](https://safari-extensions.apple.com/details/?id=com.matt-swain.anysearch-6M853ET88Q). Despite being an extension, it "does not have permission to read or transmit content from any webpages" according to Safari. – Miles Wolbe Sep 08 '17 at 17:31
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This was good, but Safari no longer supports search extensions: there is this message in that AnySearch link since Jan 2020: "DEPRECATED: Safari no longer supports extensions that modify the behaviour of the address bar. " – Martin Oct 07 '20 at 09:42

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Jan 20 '12 at 03:05

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MacHints just did a post on this. The basic premise is that you redirect Yahoo! Search via the hosts file to the search engine of your choice. It works like a charm.

edited Jan 20 '12 at 03:05

Tuesday

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answered Jan 20 '12 at 02:55

segiddins

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 16 '21 at 20:47

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For DuckDuck&Go, close Safari, and open the Terminal and enter:

defaults write com.apple.Safari SearchProviderIdentifier "com.duckduckgo"

answered Feb 16 '21 at 20:47

MJ Walsh

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score 0 · Answer 5 · edited Jul 11 '13 at 18:44

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in your /etc/hosts file, add this line:

184.72.115.86 search.yahoo.com

then choose Yahoo as your default search.

edited Jul 11 '13 at 18:44

nohillside

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answered Jul 11 '13 at 18:14

Sahil

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score -1 · Answer 6 · answered May 02 '16 at 17:52

This works with Safari 5.1.10 on Mac OS 10.6.8

To get Safari to open with duckduckgo (or any other) as search engine with no add ons or hacking type >https://duckduckgo.com/< (without the ><) into the Safari Preferences "Homepage" then set "New windows open with" to "Homepage" and "New tabs open with" "Homepage". This keeps the 3 default search engines as they were, at the top. OR just make the search engine of your choice a bookmark in the Bookmark bar and just click it/them.

Yeah, but that doesn't actually add it as a search engine, just changes what page windows/tabs open with. — JMY1000, May 02 '16 at 19:06

How can I add a new search engine to Safari without any 3rd party add-ons?

6 Answers6

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