Google as default Address Bar Search Engine

[stevied]

I might be wrong and please forgive me if I am but as I see it Google is the default Address Bar engine in Vivaldi and can not be removed/replaced by a users preferred Search Engine.

As a user who is concerned about Privacy and antics used by the giants of tech to track users, it is certainly not a good place to start any search. The user should have full control over choice of Address Bar search engine and not be subjected to a locked Google Address Bar.

By all means let me know if I have misunderstood this feature because I delved into the settings and found no way to change it ... if there is a way I would like to know and in the meantime I am making a habit to avoid the address bar for any direct kind of search until it becomes clear to me that I have a choice that I have made, not one made by somebody else.

[Ayespy]

@stevied Go into the search settings, highlight any other search engine you wish, select it as "default," and then scroll to the bottom and save the new setting.

If you don't see any search engine you like, you can add others.

[stevied]

@Ayespy Thanks! .. I am aware of that and have set my choice of default Search Engine in place .. But however, if you go to vivaldi://settings and scroll to the heading "Search engine" you will see within the section "Search engine used in the address bar" .. which is LOCKED on Google and cannot be altered or replaced. This is the feature I am talking about and work around it by searching in the web page address bar of my default search engine home page as opposed to the url Address Bar Search Engine which is set to google whether you like it or not. Greyed out URL with %s in place of query prevents the user from making their own choice and also has no delete option. Sure you can add another Address Bar Search engine of your choice but the google one always takes precedence.

[Ayespy]

@stevied There is no heading "Search Engines" at the address vivaldi://settings. There is one at chrome://settings, but a) it's not frozen there for me and b) one should not be using that page to manage settings anyway, as it's a Chromium page, not a Vivaldi page.

Now: If your setting in the Settings/Search dialog is not controlling the default search setting for the URL field on the address bar, then something else is wrong. Some extension or malware is hijacking the setting, or your profile is corrupt.

Edit: caveat - everything I'm telling you here applies to Windows and Linux. I don't have a Mac. BUT - it should work exactly the same across platforms.

[xyzzy]

@Ayespy Yes, Vivaldi search settings work the same way on macOS.

caveat - everything I'm telling you here applies to Windows and Linux. I don't have a Mac. BUT - it should work exactly the same across platforms.

@stevied Vivaldi also has a help page on how to configure search settings: https://help.vivaldi.com/article/search/

[stevied]

It might just be a thing on a Mac but here are the successive screenshots to show what I mean ...

Remember too that I have also set another default Search Engine in "Vivaldi Settings Search" that image is the default search Engine BUT google is the default Address Bar Search Engine .. Two entirely different points of reference in Settings .. Well on a Mac anyway!

Dont know about a PC which is why I have raised the issue here in topic Vivaldi Browser for Mac

[Ayespy]

@stevied When you enter chrome://settings, the URL bar reads vivaldi://settings. When you enter vivaldi://settings, you are supposed to get the VIVALDI settings page, not the Chromium one, which you are seeing. That is wrong. Something about your Vivaldi version is broken if you get that page by typing vivaldi://settings into the URL bar. It should never happen.

WHATEVER your setting is in the normal Vivaldi settings/search dialog, should always be reflected in the chrome://settings page. There is, in theory at least, no way for them to be different. Again - something is broken. This is not a Vivaldi bug. This is breakage.

I'm going to recommend that you refresh your profile.

[luetage]

@Ayespy Take a look at my chrome settings…

The point is the chrome settings for search seem to have nothing to do with the actual reality of Vivaldi search settings.

@stevied Access Vivaldi settings by clicking on Vivaldi on your menu bar and then "Preferences":

Then access search and edit default search engine. For this pick or input the engine you want to use as default, then tick "Set as Default engine" and don't forget to hit "Save" on bottom. If this doesn't work for you, your profile might be really broken…

Anyway, the bottomline is we really need to get rid of the chrome settings, it should be a priority to combine the settings into one. It's just confusing for users.

[Ayespy]

@luetage User reports he has done this to no good effect. That's why I suggested he refresh his profile. I did specify you have to scroll down and press "Save."

[Firas515]

@Ayespy said in Google as default Address Bar Search Engine:

vivaldi://settings

I removed all search engines and left only google

https://prntscr.com/mken7v

[Ayespy]

@Firas515 Why?

[stevied]

The methods you have suggested and offered have been followed to the "T" ... many even before they were suggested but it is comforting to know I basically followed the same principles ...

A vivaldi/chrome settings anomaly has been frustrating me but after repeatedly trying the URL Search Address Bar whilst on a page independent of DuckDuckGo (my search default engine)... the search DOES go to a full page of DuckDuckGo Search results with a proper certificate to authenticate it as being DuckDuckGo in the URL Address bar

I am grateful of that and feel less threatened to use the address bar after some thorough testing and feel reassured of proper privacy being in place.

Thank you to all those who offered assistance and Vivaldi is and has been my browser of choice for a long time now and will continue to be!

Have an excellent day wherever you are!

[Ayespy]

@stevied Glad it's sorted!