Customize searching in Safari on Mac

Searching the web is a powerful way to find information, and in Safari you can choose which search engine you wish to use.

Choose a search engine

Go to the Safari app on your Mac.
Delete all text in the Smart Search field.
Click to the left of the Smart Search field, then choose a search engine from the list.
When you search, you also give information about yourself to the search engine. For example, if you enter “Golden Retriever” in the Smart Search field, the search engine learns that you’re interested in information about Golden Retriever dogs, even if you don’t press Return to submit the search terms. Search engines have different policies for what they do with search data they collect from you.

Go to the Safari app on your Mac.
Choose Safari > Settings, then click Search.
Deselect “Include search engine suggestions.”
Safari stops sending the search engine your partial search terms as you type them, and the search engine doesn’t send Safari search suggestions to show in the results list below the search and address field.

Go to the Safari app on your Mac.
Choose Safari > Settings, then click Search.
Deselect “Preload Top Hit in the background.”
While you’re typing in the Smart Search field, Safari no longer starts to load a webpage it determines to be the top hit based on your bookmarks and browsing history.

Helpful?