When using a web browser to view pages from the internet there are times when it becomes clear that you may prefer the browser to work in a slightly different way. It is possible to customise the browser to operate in a way that may better suit your needs.
For most browsers it is possible to:
- Choose your preferred search engine
- Add or remove toolbars
- Set up so that the browser starts 'clean' OR where you left off last time
- Modify Pages like: Start Page, Home Page and New Tab page.
- Add Extensions, which are enhancements, to your Browser
Settings in an Internet Browser
To see an example of adjusting the settings using Edge Browser click here.
Most web browsers will have a settings menu that can be accessed from the top right of the browser with a symbol of three dots or three lines.
Choose a Web Browser
Windows computers now come with supplied with the Microsoft Edge browser
Apple computers supply the Safari browser.
Mobile devices are usually supplied with Safari (iPhone and iPad) or Google Chrome (Android).
You can choose to change any of these to a web browser that you prefer but why change?
There are considerable differences between browsers for such things as privacy, security and ad blocking features.
Although Google Chrome is very popular it is not particularly good for privacy as Google makes a lot of money from using customer data for advertising.
If you are interested in privacy particularly, prefer an alternative browser but beware that not all offer full privacy.
Alternative web browsers include:
- Mozilla Firefox
- Brave
- Vivaldi
- MS Edge
- Opera
You can download a summary comparison of browsers and search engines click here
Default Browser
You can have more than one browser installed on computers and mobile devices.
There is a setting to make any of these the 'default'.
That means that it will be the one that opens whenever you click on a link in an email or other source that will access the internet.
You can still open any of the other browsers on your device whenever you wish.
Preferred Search Engine
You should be able to find a setting that allows the choice of a particular search engine.
Why change search engine?
The main reason is personal privacy but there are some other issues that relate to the 'balance' of the information that is returned by a search engine.
You can download a summary comparison of browsers and search engines click here
It may be that you will have to open that search engine in the browser before any other than the current search engine can be seen in a selection list.
Here are the search engine locations:
Google: https://www.google.com.au
Safari: Only on Apple products (see https://www.apple.com/au/safari/)
Bing: https://www.bing.com
Duck Duck Go: https://duckduckgo.com/
Other search engines include:
- Yahoo
- Yandex
- Baidu
- Qwant
- Swisscows
You may wish to set the search engine as the new tab page, home page or start page.
To do this see below.
Toolbars
Browsers have additional toolbars that can be shown or hidden.
The settings menu will provide options to set or hide toolbars that could relate to browser functions, bookmarks or security.
This section of the settings may allow optional toolbars from other providers to be hidden if not required.
Browser Start Condition
Most browsers can now be set to start with a desired format which includes a chosen start page, a blank page or to remember what tabs were open when the browser was last used.
Customise Default Pages
Default pages are those that are set and continue to be available unless the user resets to another preference.
These include new tab page, home page or start page. It should be possible to set these to blank or a personally preferred site.
You will need the URL for the preferred site to place a copy in the settings box.
Extensions
An extension is a small addition to the browser that can enhance or add features to the browser.
There are a wide range of extensions from language translators to advertising blockers.
Each browser manages extensions slightly differently but all can download and install extensions from the browser extensions site.
Extensions should be used with care, selecting only those that are really useful and have good reviews. This is because there have been security problems with some extensions in the past.
Note:
With extensions it is important to realise that many browsers run on a set of basic code called Chromium which is also used by Google in their Chrome browser. This means that the extensions in the Chromium shop are valid for many different browsers.
Examples are: (Google) Chrome, Vivaldi, Brave, Opera, Yandex and Microsoft Edge.
This means that many extensions will be common to all these browsers and should work properly.
Other browsers such as Mozilla Firefox will have their own extensions library.