Making search private on Brave Browser takes under a minute. The default engine on Brave was chosen for you, often because someone paid for the spot. Here is how to replace it with one that does not track you.

Step by step on Brave

  1. Open the menu and click Settings.
  2. Click Search engine in the sidebar.
  3. Pick your engine from the dropdown, or use Manage search engines to add one.
  4. Set it as the default for both normal and private windows.
good to know
Brave lets you choose a separate engine for private and Tor windows under the same Search settings.

What to set it to

For the switch to actually mean something, point the default at an engine that keeps no account and stores no history. Bare is built for exactly this: your query passes through our server only to fetch results, so the index sees our network rather than your address, and nothing is kept once the page loads. Set it once, and every search from Brave on your Brave Browser is private by default.

If you change your mind

There is no risk. Brave lets you switch back through the same menu in seconds, and nothing about your bookmarks or history is affected. Try a private default for a week, most people never switch back.