Solved Issues with changing the default search engine after update

[WFred]

@WildEnte said in Issues with changing the default search engine after update:

the problem as well as the solution has been posted for the umpteenth time.

kind of hard to disable/enable extensions when you don't even have ANY extensions installed in the first place. That's the issue many of us have.

[Pathduck]

@WFred Hi, have you tried to use the "Default Search Engine" dropdown to select another engine? What happens if you do?

Have you tried clicking "Restore Defaults"? Or "Reset Search Settings to Default" at the bottom of the settings page?

[WFred]

@Pathduck
Thanks for the response. Yep, I've tried changing from the drop box and resetting to default. The search engine is stuck on Bing.
All of the solutions say to disable/enable extensions, but I don't have any extensions installed, never have.

[Pathduck]

@WFred That's too bad. A screenshot of the search engines settings page might help others understand the problem.

Please post your version and system info from Help > About (use </> icon in editor).

[WFred]

@Pathduck
Reinstalled the latest update (#6?), but the problem is still there. Cannot change search from Bing.
Can select a different search, but it won't change from Bing. Reset to default doesn't change anything. No extensions installed. I do >90% of my searches from the address bar so this is a real problem for me.

[guigirl]

@WFred Atm this thread has

posts, & i don't have time right now to go back & re-read them all. So. please forgive me if someone's already suggested this & if you've already tried it.

Does it work for you in a new clean test profile?
vivaldi-stable --profile-directory="NewTestProfile"

Oh groan, you're a windozer; so you'll need to use an equivalent windozie terminal command to my Linux one above [which iirc @Pathduck has provided elsewhere in recent weeks, but i don't remember it].

[Pathduck]

@WFred OK desperate times call for desperate measures I guess...

Note your Vivaldi profile path:
C:\Users\wfred\AppData\Local\Vivaldi\User Data\Default

Then:

• Close Vivaldi
• Open File Explorer (Win+E)
• In the File Explorer address field, paste in your profile path from above, press Enter
• Find the two files:
  Web Data
Web Data-journal
• Delete these files (select and press Del key)
• Start Vivaldi

Hopefully this will reset your search settings. Note that this will also delete any custom engines you have set, as well as any autofill data in case you have that.

By the way - when taking screenshots, there's no need to take an actual photo of your screen, Windows is capable of taking screenshots directly:
https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/7-ways-to-take-screenshots-in-windows-10-and-11/
https://www.howtogeek.com/226280/how-to-take-screenshots-in-windows-10/

[WFred]

@Pathduck I'll give that a try when I get home.

Thanks for the reminder, but I'm well aware of how to take a screenshot on Windows. I was getting ready to leave for work and was going to be responding later on my phone so it was quicker & easier to just take the pics

[WFred]

@Pathduck
I tried your suggestion, but to no avail. I still can't change the search engine to anything other than Bing

There is another odd thing happening.
Since one of the solutions is to disable/enable search extensions I thought I'd install then enable/disable DDG essentials and see if that took care of it.

But it looks like the Chrome Store doesn't recognize my Vivaldi as a compatible browser because I don't get an Install To Chrome button on any extensions (see photos - the button is there for my Chrome browser)

Any idea at all what might be causing this?

[karllangercroager]

Mac user here, I wasn't even able to change the default search engine from Bing. And I couldn't delete Bing, either—maybe because it was the default. So I just took the "bing" search and put new url data into it, changed the name. It's a workaround, but might help others.

[SanderG]

@Ruarí For me vivaldi still keeps resetting search settings every time I restart. And I don't have extensions which influence my browser settings. Anybody else still having these issues in 2025?

[Pesala]

@SanderG This is an old thread for Vivaldi version 5.3 and is tagged as Solved.

I think you should start a new topic if you are experiencing this issue on the latest build.