How to make Firefox use DuckDuckGo

Don’t like Google’s new privacy policy?
Want to change the search engine Firefox uses when you type something in the location bar?

Here’s how to make Firefox use DuckDuckGo:

  1. In the Firefox location bar, type about:config and press Enter.
  2. Click I’ll be careful, I Promise!
  3. Search for the preference: keyword.URL

  4. Double-click on it, and set the value to: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=

  5. Click OK.

For more information, read the Location bar search article in Firefox Help.

8 Responses

  1. Bryant March 10, 2012 / 5:10 pm

    I’d recommend using the SSL version of DuckDuckGo if you’re actually worried enough about privacy to want to switch from Google, which uses the following URL: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=

  2. Nigelle October 3, 2012 / 8:10 am

    Apparently this just replace Google by the new URL as default search engine.
    Is there a trick to just add an URL and the name in the list of engines other than the “Add to Search Bar” extension ?

  3. Jeroen De Dauw August 14, 2013 / 9:27 am

    I’d appriciate it if the blog post was updated to have https rather then http. Right now the advice is not fully solid.

  4. Nostromov July 27, 2014 / 9:13 pm

    @Fred R it’s spelled: ‘useful’, even though you’re getting a full-use from it. 😉

Comments are closed.