ChatGPT search launched this week and in many ways produces richer results than Google. So much so that you might even want to replace Google with ChatGPT search as the default in your browser of choice.

That is not always possible. Some of the most popular web browsers carefully control which services can act as your default search engine. But here’s how to do it in some of the most popular desktop web browsers out there.

Before we dive in, it’s worth noting that at the time of writing, only ChatGPT Plus subscribers have access to web search; this is not available on the free accounts.

Replace Google with ChatGPT search in Chrome

OpenAI makes it easy to replace Google as the default search engine in Chrome, as it has released a browser extension that does just that. All you have to do is install the browser extension and the rest will be done.

Click here to download the ChatGPT search extension for Google Chrome.

If you don’t want to go all out and replace Google as your default, but still want to make searching easier with ChatGPT, you can add ChatGPT search to Chrome’s search shortcuts on the site. This means you can type a shortcut such as “@chat” into the browser’s address bar, followed by your search term, to search with ChatGPT without having to visit the site first. (Tip to MasterSnipes on Reddit for posting the following solution.)

To do this:

1. Open Chrome Settings
2. Select Search Engine from the left menu
3. Click Manage search engines and site searches
4. Under Site Search, click Add
5. Change the name to “ChatGPT” (without the quotes)
6. Change the shortcut to “@chatgpt” or a shortcut of your choice
7. Change the URL to “https://chatgpt.com/?q=%s” and then click Add

For example, now you can type queries like “@chatgpt today’s weather in Chicago” into Chrome’s address bar and the search will be performed using ChatGPT. You should see the address bar change to “Search with ChatGPT” after you type the shortcut and press the spacebar.

Replace Google with ChatGPT search In Rand

Microsoft Edge is based on the same Chromium engine as the Google Chrome browser, so it can also load the ChatGPT search extension.

However, Microsoft being Microsoft, it won’t make life easy for people who want to switch their default from a Microsoft service, in this case Bing. So when you try to install the ChatGPT search extension, it will initially be blocked and you will see this warning pop-up message:

Click the gray Enable button to make ChatGPT search the default.

Edge also has a similar feature to Chrome that lets you add search engines, without replacing the default. To find this:

1. Open settings
2. Select Privacy, Search and Services from the left menu
3. Scroll down to the address bar and find and click on it
4. Click Manage Search Engines
5. Click Add and follow steps 5, 6 and 7 for Chrome above

Replace Google with ChatGPT Search Safari, Firefox and other browsers

With some other popular browsers, your options are more limited.

In Safari you can switch to the default engine, but only to one of five different providers, not including ChatGPT. Also, the ChatGPT search doesn’t seem to work with Safari’s Quick Website feature, which lets you search sites from the address bar without visiting them first.

Firefox also allows users to change their default search engine, but this requires the search engine to create an extension for the browser. It doesn’t seem like OpenAI has made one for Firefox yet.

Vivaldi is my favorite browser. It is also based on the Chromium engine and also allows you to install extensions from the Chrome Web Store. However, when I tried to install the ChatGPT search extension, the default engine did not change.

However, you can add ChatGPT to Vivaldi’s list of search engines using the same process described above for Chrome (navigate to Settings > Search > Search Engines in Vivaldi). Once it’s added as a search engine, you can make it the default.

The big question is: now that you’ve learned how to replace Google with ChatGPT search, will you ever go back?