Add new search provider in Internet Explorer

Typically when you want to search on internet you open a search engine web site like Google, Yahoo! or Bing and then search for anything you want to search. But in Internet Explorer, you can search using the search box on the top-right of Internet Explorer as shown.

Search Provider in Internet Explorer

You can type in this search box and press Enter and the search results would be shown in the window. The default search provider for Internet Explorer is Bing. If you do not like Bing, you can choose one from a number of search providers. Here is how :

  1. Open Internet Explorer.
  2. Click on the drop-down arrow on the right of the search box as shown. Select Find more providers…

    Search Provider in Internet Explorer

    Alternatively, you can browse to http://www.ieaddons.com/us/searchproviders.

  3. This would open the Microsoft’s search provider web page. Because of competition, major search engines might not be present at the main page except the Bing search. If you want to add Google, then type Google in the addon search box as shown and press Enter. This would list all the search engines related to Google.

    Search Provider in Internet Explorer

  4. Click on the button Add to Internet Explorer to add the selected search provider to Internet Explorer as shown.

    Search Provider in Internet Explorer

  5. Internet Explorer would confirm, if you want to add the selected search provider. You can also choose to make it the default search provider by checking the check-box labeled Make this my default search provider. Click Add button to add the selected search provider.

    Search Provider in Internet Explorer

Now that we have added a new search provider in Internet Explorer, we would be able to search now using the new selected default search provider (in this case we selected Google) using these methods :

#1 : You can search using the top-right search box in the Internet Explorer. Type in a word or phrase to search for and Google would enlist suggestions in form of a drop down list as shown. You can click on one of the suggestions or you can press Enter to open the Google search results.

Search Provider in Internet Explorer

#2 : You can type a word or phrase you want to search for in the address bar and press Enter. The Google search results page would open in the main window.