Get Cortana to search Google instead of Bing

Windows 10’s Cortana uses Bing, but there are ways to get Google instead. Ian Paul reports

Windows 10’s Cortana provides a great way to quickly launch a web search, though you may not appreciate that Microsoft’s digital assistant defaults to Bing – and there’s no built-in way to get Cortana to switch to Google instead.

The lack of multi-search engine integration makes a certain amount of sense since Cortana’s cloud-based brains are powered by Bing. That works out fine for tracking flights, getting directions or getting a weather forecast for the next few days. But when it comes to displaying search results, many people prefer Google to Microsoft’s search engine. Fortunately, there are a few solutions that can redirect your Cortana web searches from Bing to Google.

The downside is that these solutions work only with Chrome or Firefox. That means if Microsoft Edge, Opera or Internet Explorer is your browser of choice you’ll have to make due with Bing or switch your default browser. If you’re not big on Google, these solutions also work with DuckDuckGo and Yahoo.

Firefox

Firefox is the simplest of the two to get working as it has the ability to switch your Cortana search engine automatically and without any third-party add-ons. All you have to do is set the most recent version of Firefox as your default web browser.

Once you’ve done this, try searching with Cortana. You’ll notice that Firefox displays your search results using the browser’s default search engine. If you haven’t used Firefox before that means your Cortana searches will show results from Yahoo. Switching to Google, however, is easy.

Open Firefox and click on the magnifying glass icon in the search bar. Next, a drop-down menu appears where you can Chrome won’t natively redirect your Cortana searches in Firefoxlike fashion, but there is a third-party extension that offers the same effect: Chrometana (see opening image).

After you’ve installed Chrometana from the Chrome Web Store, type into the address bar. Scroll down until you see Chrometana and click Options.

A new page will open, allowing you to choose Google, DuckDuckGo or Yahoo as your preferred search engine for Cortana. Click the search engine of your choice, close the tab, and then do a search via Cortana. Just as before, the results will open up in Google instead of Bing.