Working with search tools in Microsoft Edge

Did you know that you can use search tools in Edge to search your favorite sites right in the address bar of your browser? We’ll show you how to make it easier for yourself with search tools in Microsoft Edge. If you’re frequently chasing a search through YouTube or regularly browsing eBay for fun items, it can be helpful to drop your search terms directly into Edge’s address bar. Microsoft has built in a useful function for this. Let’s explore that option.

Step 1: Open the settings

First we open the settings of Microsoft Edge. We can find it under ‘the three dots’ at the top right. Click on it and proceed to Settings (the fourth last item). You will immediately see Your Profile. We’ll ignore that for now. In the main menu on the left, choose Privacy, search and services. If the menu is not (yet) visible to you, click the ‘hamburger icon’ (the three lines) at the top left for Settings to expand the full menu. Scroll all the way down (or press the End key) and choose Address bar and search. Then click again on Manage Search Programs at the bottom.

Step 2: Manage Search Tools

Now we come to the menu that is all about. If you have already searched other sites in Microsoft Edge with their search function, chances are that they have already been automatically added to this list. If your desired search engine is listed, skip step 3. To quickly activate a search engine in the address bar, you need to set up a shortcut. Click the three dots next to the search engine and choose Edit. For convenience we use a few letters. Let’s take TechPulse as an example, with ‘tp’ as a shortcut.

Step 3: Add search engine manually

Has your favorite search tool (actually the search function of the website in question) not appeared in the list after you already used it? Then click on Add to set it manually. Enter the name of the search engine, the shortcut you want to use and the URL. We will help you with the latter. For example, go to the website you want to search and search for something. On the results page, copy the URL and paste it into the third field on the screenshot. Replace the keyword as Edge indicates with a % sign. Click Add. We took Clickx.be as an example.

Step 4: Test the shortcut in the address bar

There you go. Actually, you’re done now. We then have nothing left but to test the shortcut. Click in the Microsoft Edge address bar and type the shortcut followed by a space. You will see the website appear in the address bar, with the message ‘Search in…’ Type the search term (in our example ‘windows’) and press enter. You can now search your favorite website without having to surf to it first. Has the list of search programs become too long? Then return to step 2. Click on the three dots next to the search engine that can be removed and on Remove.