Free Search Switcher by Captain Ratax

Free Search Switcher makes it easy to continue the same submitted search with another provider.

The extension adds compact switching controls beside the search bar on supported search homepages and results pages. Choose a destination to navigate in the current tab while preserving the submitted query. If no search has been submitted, it opens the selected provider's homepage instead.

Unfinished typing is never transferred: text entered into a search box but not submitted is not carried to another website.

MAIN FEATURES

• Quick switching: Choose a first preferred engine and an optional second engine. Both can be built-in or custom destinations.
• Complete destination menu: Open the full menu whenever you want to choose another search engine.
• Desktop popup: Enable or disable Free Search Switcher, change preferred engines, and open Settings from the toolbar. Popup changes save immediately.
• Global and per-site controls: Choose where the switching controls appear. Disabling controls on a website does not remove that engine as a destination or preferred choice.
• Reload feedback: Global and site controls apply when a page loads. The popup offers Reload page when an open supported page needs to apply changed settings. Reverting the change before reloading clears an unnecessary warning.
• Save and Cancel: Full Settings keeps changes in a draft until Save changes. Cancel restores saved settings, including custom-engine edits and deletions. Unsaved edits are protected when leaving the page or receiving external settings changes.
• Browser-native sync: Configuration can synchronize through the browser's own service where supported and enabled. No Free Search Switcher account or sync server is involved.
• Custom engines: Add an HTTPS homepage and search URL template containing exactly one {query} placeholder. Optionally provide an HTTPS Icon URL. Missing or unavailable images fall back to a first-letter icon.
• Submitted-query preservation: Transfer spaces, accents, quotation marks, operators, ampersands, and other Unicode characters without double encoding.
• Search-mode preservation: Images, Videos, News, Maps, and Shopping searches use the destination's equivalent mode when supported, or fall back to a normal web search.
• Accessible interface: Keyboard navigation, visible focus indicators, accessible labels, Escape-to-close menus, and light/dark styling.
• Dynamic-page support: Active switching controls can recover when a supported website replaces its search bar.

BUILT-IN SUPPORT

Ecosia, Startpage, DuckDuckGo, Qwant, Bing, Brave Search, and Google.

Controls run only on the seven supported HTTPS origins. Regional domains, alternate subdomains, and some special layouts may not be supported.

Custom engines are navigation destinations only. Adding one does not expand the websites where controls are injected.

PREFERRED ENGINES

Use no preferred engine for menu-only switching, one preferred engine for quick navigation, or two different preferred engines for convenient switching between them.

The second preference requires a first. Change preferences immediately in the popup, or edit them as part of a Settings draft.

PRIVACY AND SYNC

Configuration uses browser-native extension sync where available. Sync availability depends on the browser, platform, account, and browser settings. Firefox and Chromium use separate sync ecosystems. Configuration remains usable when synchronization is unavailable.

Only configuration is synchronized: enabled state, site switches, preferred engines, custom engine definitions, ordering, and icon URL strings.

Free Search Switcher temporarily processes the current supported page URL and limited submitted-query metadata to provide search switching. It does not store or log search queries, current-page URLs, or browsing history. A submitted query is sent directly to the search provider you explicitly select as part of its HTTPS navigation URL.

Custom icon images are not uploaded, stored, or proxied by Free Search Switcher. Only their URL strings are saved. When displaying an icon, the browser may contact the external image host, which may receive ordinary connection information such as your IP address.

There are no analytics, telemetry, tracking, advertisements, Free Search Switcher accounts, developer-operated servers, or remotely executed code. The developer does not receive synchronized settings.

PERMISSIONS

The storage permission saves configuration using browser-native sync, with local storage for onboarding, migration, and fallback when needed.

Content-script access is limited to the seven supported search origins. It allows the extension to identify the current engine, read the submitted query and search mode, locate the search bar, and display enabled switching controls.

The extension does not request browsing-history, bookmarks, cookies, downloads, clipboard, broad tabs, or arbitrary custom-website permissions.

UPGRADING FROM VERSION 1

Preferred engines, custom engines, and their order are preserved. Global and site controls default to enabled.

Uploaded custom icons are no longer supported. Their engines remain available with first-letter icons; add an HTTPS Icon URL to replace them.

LIMITATIONS

The extension transfers the submitted textual query and supported search mode. It does not transfer filters, pagination, SafeSearch preferences, dates, regions, or other provider-specific settings.

Free Search Switcher does not replace Chrome's default search provider, new-tab page, or address-bar search. Search switching is initiated by the user.