Chrome keeps switching your search to Yahoo
Why does my search engine keep changing to yahoo in chrome?
Written by The CommonFixes team · fact checked by CommonFixes review desk
Last updated
Short answer
Yahoo itself is not doing this. A browser hijacker, usually an extension that arrived bundled with a free download, keeps putting the setting back. The stubborn ones also add a policy that locks the setting, change the target of your Chrome shortcut, or leave a scheduled task that reapplies everything after a restart. That is why changing the setting alone never sticks. The quickest thing to try first: remove the extension that is doing it — Open chrome://extensions and turn off every extension you do not recognise or have not used this month. Search shopping helpers, coupon finders, PDF converters and video downloaders are the usual culprits. Remove them rather than only disabling them, then restart Chrome and check the setting again. Most people are done in about 20 minutes.
Full walkthrough below: 6 steps for Windows and Mac, rated easy.
Sounds like this
- •You set Google, and Yahoo comes back after a restart
- •Searches pass through an odd address before landing on Yahoo
- •Chrome says managed by your organisation at the bottom of Settings
Why it happens
Yahoo itself is not doing this. A browser hijacker, usually an extension that arrived bundled with a free download, keeps putting the setting back. The stubborn ones also add a policy that locks the setting, change the target of your Chrome shortcut, or leave a scheduled task that reapplies everything after a restart. That is why changing the setting alone never sticks.
Work through these in order
0% done- 1
Remove the extension that is doing it
Open chrome://extensions and turn off every extension you do not recognise or have not used this month. Search shopping helpers, coupon finders, PDF converters and video downloaders are the usual culprits. Remove them rather than only disabling them, then restart Chrome and check the setting again.
- 2
Check for managed by your organisation
Open chrome://management. On a personal laptop there should be nothing there. If Chrome says it is managed and you do not work for a company that set it up, a hijacker has installed a policy. On Windows open chrome://policy to see which one. On a Mac, open System Settings, General, Device Management and remove any profile you did not add.
- 3
Clear the leftover policy on Windows
Open Terminal as administrator and run RD /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy" then gpupdate /force. If Chrome policies persist, open Registry Editor and delete the Chrome key under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google. Export the key first so you can put it back, then restart the computer.
- 4
Check the Chrome shortcut
Right click your Chrome shortcut, choose Properties and look at the Target box. It must end in chrome.exe and nothing more. Delete any web address typed after it, and check the shortcuts pinned to the taskbar and in the Start menu too, because each one is separate.
- 5
Run Chrome's own clean up and reset
Open Settings, Reset settings, and choose Restore settings to their original defaults. On Windows also try chrome://settings/cleanup to search for harmful software. Your bookmarks and saved passwords are kept. Then set your search engine again under Settings, Search engine, and delete the Yahoo style entries listed under Manage search engines.
- 6
Scan with a dedicated tool
Install the free version of Malwarebytes, run a scan and remove what it finds. It picks up the leftover scheduled tasks and installers that antivirus often ignores because they are classed as unwanted rather than dangerous. Restart afterwards and check the setting one final time.
If none of that worked
Check your other browsers as well, because these things usually change Edge, Firefox and Safari at the same time. If it returns yet again, create a fresh Windows user account or a new Chrome profile and set it up there. Signing in to Chrome and syncing can also carry the bad setting back, so make the changes while signed out, then sign in again.
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This guide was last updated on 10 August 2026. If a step no longer matches what you see on screen, tell us on the contact page and we will test it again.
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