Search smarter with Safari

Free extensions enable you to switch search engines more easily

Searching in Safari is easy enough, but by installing a few extensions you can make it more interesting and productive as well. Extensions are available from a variety of sources, but Apple’s Safari Extensions Gallery is the best place to get them – all the ones featured there have been certified by Apple as being safe.

The extensions we look at here add new features to Safari. SearchPreview adds thumbnail images to search results pages, AnySearch increases the number of search engines from four to more than a dozen, and Ultralink turns text on web pages into information links, making it easier to learn.

Bear in mind that while it can be useful to have some extra extensions running, it’s not a good idea to add too many because they can slow down browsing and use up memory. Keep them to a minimum and use just those you find most helpful. You can go to Safari > Preferences > Extensions to disable or uninstall any that you no longer find useful. Choose Safari > Extensions to visit Apple’s gallery.