So, you want to deploy the search engine that doesn’t track you as the default search engine for your users. Here is a quick How-To make DuckDuckGo Chrome’s default search engine using GPO in your Windows (7/8/10) PC or domain environment.
To make DuckDuckGo the default search engine in Google Chrome using GPO follow these instructions:
First and foremost, do yourself a favor and download Google Chrome policy templates. Unzip it to the Central Store for Group Policy Administrative Template in your environment or to a folder in your computer.
Open either Group Policy Management (Start > Run: gpmc.msc) or the Local Group Policy Editor (Start > Run: gpedit.msc) depending on your environment.
Group Policy Management GPO
In Group Policy Management, create a new policy and edit it. In the console tree, navigate to Group Policy object/User Configuration (or Computer Configuration) > Policies > Administrative Templates > Google > Google Chrome > Default search provider
Enable the following policies:
- Enable the default search provider: Enabled
– Default search provider icon: Enabled > https://duckduckgo.com/favicon.ico
– Default search provider instant URL: Enabled > https://duckduckgo.com?q=%s
- Default search provider keyword: Enabled > duckduckgo.com
– Default search provider name: Enabled > DuckDuckGo
– Default search provider search URL: Enabled > https://duckduckgo.com?q={searchTerms}
Apply this policy to the desired OU and reboot client machines or force/push a group policy refresh.
Local Group Policy Editor GPO
Browse to User Configuration (or Computer Configuration) > Policies > Administrative Templates. Right-click Administrative Templates and select Add/Remove Templates.
Browse to the location containing Google Chrome’s unzipped policy templates and add the chrome.adm x template. E.g.: C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\chrome.adm x (assumes the template has been unzipped to this location)
Once the new template is installed, in the console tree, navigate to Group Policy object/User Configuration (or Computer Configuration) > Policies > Administrative Templates > Google > Google Chrome > Default search provider
Enable the following policies:
- Enable the default search provider: Enabled
– Default search provider icon: Enabled > https://duckduckgo.com/favicon.ico
– Default search provider instant URL: Enabled > https://duckduckgo.com?q=%s
- Default search provider keyword: Enabled > duckduckgo.com
– Default search provider name: Enabled > DuckDuckGo
– Default search provider search URL: Enabled > https://duckduckgo.com?q={searchTerms}
Reboot your computer for changes to take effect.
Cheers!
