By default, Microsoft Word uses Bing as the default search engine to search for a word in Word documents. But if you wish, you can configure or change the default search engine in Microsoft Office from Bing to any other, like say, Google. Word includes a feature that lets you use another search engine and change it to your personal favorite. Here are the steps to configure the default search engine in Microsoft Office apps like Word.
Change default search engine in Office
Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog box and type: regedit and hit OK. Next, navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common\General
Now, in the right pane, create a new String Value and name it SearchProviderName.
Then right-click on it and select Modify. Mention the name of the search provider.
Create another new String Value and name it SearchProviderURI right-click it, and make the Value Data the path to the provider you want to use.
- For Google: http://www.google.com/search?q=.
- To set it as Yahoo use: http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=.
To configure Office.com as the default search engine, use http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/results.aspx?&ex=2&qu= in the Value Data box.
See the screenshot below to check you are on the right track, changing it to Google.
Click OK and close out of Registry Editor. Now, open a Microsoft Office application such as Word, select a word or phrase, right-click it and check if you get “Search with Google” instead of Bing.
Trust this works for you!
