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MaverickSteele's avatar
MaverickSteele
Iron Contributor
Aug 13, 2026

How do I change the default browser used by Windows 11 Search?

I want to change the way Windows Search opens web results. For example, when I search for keywords like “Fortnite” from the Start menu, clicking on a search result always opens Bing in Microsoft Edg...
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Emily2002's avatar
Emily2002
Tin Contributor
Aug 17, 2026

Windows 11 does not currently provide a general setting for choosing the browser or search engine used by Start menu web results. That part of Windows Search is controlled by Microsoft and uses Bing; on many Windows installations, it may also open through an Edge-specific system link instead of following the normal default-browser setting.

The default browser can still be changed for ordinary web links:

  1. Open Settings > Apps > Default apps.
  2. Select the preferred browser.
  3. Choose Set default.
  4. Test it by opening a normal https:// link.

This changes regular links from apps and documents, but it may not affect the Bing results shown in Windows Search. Regional Windows versions may behave differently, but there is still no standard setting that replaces Bing with Google or another provider inside Start search.

The supported workaround is:

  1. Open the preferred browser.
  2. Set the desired search engine in that browser.
  3. Enter web searches in its address bar instead of using the Start menu.
  4. Pin the browser to the taskbar for quicker access.

Organizations can use policy to hide or restrict web results in Windows Search, but policy can disable the feature rather than replace Bing with another search provider. Third-party redirecting tools exist, but they are unsupported, can stop working after Windows updates and require permission to intercept system links.