Firefox users have a few options to add new search engines to the browser. The entire process is not as straightforward as it could be though, especially when you compare it to how search engines are added to Chromium-based browsers such as Google Chrome.
The two main options are to add the new search engine from the address bar or search bar of the browser, or by installing it. The settings, for instance, are a place that that you can’t add new search engines from.
With Firefox 140 comes a change that adds two new option to the process.
The first allows you you to right-click on any search field to add that search engine to Firefox. Some users may find this new option more natural, especially when compared to the current status quo regarding search engines in the open source browser.
So, simply right-click the search field and select “add search engine” . This opens a prompt that gives you the option to change the name of the search engine and assign a keyword to it. Activate the “add engine” button to add it to Firefox.
The search engine is available now in Firefox. You still need to go to the Settings to make it the default, but you can select it right away when running searches in the browser.
Search Engines in Settings
The second option is available right in Settings. Open the Settings in Firefox and switch to the Search group to get started.
There you find the new Add option to add a new search engine to Firefox. You do need the search URL for this one and use the %s placeholder for your search terms. The two other options let you pick a custom name for the search engine and add an optional keyword.
There you have it, two new options to add search engines to Firefox. This improves the feature significantly.
Now You: how do you add new search engines to your browser of choice? Feel free to leave a comment down below.
I’ve always used a dedicated extension for the Firefox browser, ‘Add custom search engine’,
[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/add-custom-search-engine/] to precisely add a new search engine to Firefox’s default list, all of which I disable. I also use smart keywords quite extensively, handy, and smarter IMO then referring to !bangs, namely those of DuckDuckGo, which proceed in the same way except that the process is managed by the search engine (privacy, again & again).
I often evoke my wondering on the true improvements of latest Firefox versions and perhaps this particular one, that is the possibility to add a new search engine without having to use a dedicated extension, is of the lot, one of the very few nevertheless IMO.
Finally, a Firefox change that’s actually useful. I’ve also been using the “Add Custom Search Engine” add-on up to this point (and will continue to until this change trickles down to the ESR release), but it makes total sense for this to be incorporated into the browser.