At our November seminar, I briefly answered the question: Should you use the DuckDuckGo browser? In this post, I’d like to expand on that question. Also, I want to share some setting suggestions should you decide to use it.

Privacy

DuckDuckGo’s claim to fame is that searches are more private. Therefore, when you search for an item, you won’t suddenly see ads and pop-ups related to the subject of your search. They do this by blocking tracking attempts. If you look at the image above, you’ll see that when I used the DuckDuckGo browser to visit my own site – www.4kcc.com – 3 tracking attempts were blocked. (Yes, we use some tracking on our site. You can read how we use them by visiting our Privacy page HERE.)

Their Search Results vs. Google or Bing

Like most things online (and in life), there is a trade-off for having more privacy. I’ve found that DuckDuckGo’s search results are not always as thorough or focused as what I find in Google or Bing search. If you’re concerned about privacy and tired of being followed around online, give the DuckDuckGo browser a try. Perhaps you’ll find their search results suit you just fine. Then, you’ll have good results and more privacy, too. You can download the DuckDuckGo browser for Windows HERE. You can download it for Mac HERE.

Email Protection

Another feature of the DuckDuckGo browser is that you can set up email protection. This is a whole other topic and I’ll cover it in another post.

Settings Changes If You Decide To Use The DuckDuckGo Browser

Should you decide to use the DuckDuckGo browser, there are some settings you should change and others you should consider changing. Let’s explore them.

Locate The Settings Menu

The first thing you need to do is locate the settings. You’ll find them in the upper right-hand corner of the browser. Just click on the three horizontal dots.

Choose Settings

On the menu that appears, click or tap the Settings item.

The following menu appears:

Setting Changes You Should Make

Here are some setting changes you should make before you start to use the DuckDuckGo browser:

• Under “Appearance” – Put a checkmark in “Show full website address.” This is especially important when you want to share a website.
• Remove the checkmark from the “Ask To Save” box under Autofill. As for all browsers, you should not be saving passwords in DuckDuckGo.

Consider Making These Setting Changes

• On the “General” tab – Consider removing the checkmark from “restore windows and tabs from previous session.” Not only can this be annoying, but it can kill your Internet speed if a lot of windows and tabs are opening for no reason.
• “Appearance” – Under “Zoom,” change to a higher percentage if the text in the browser is too small for you.
• Under “Downloads” – Make sure the location to save files is where you want it. Change the location if needed.

Should You Use The DuckDuckGo Browser? – Conclusion

People often ask me how I’ve gotten my computing-related knowledge. My answer is always the same – “I try things.” If you don’t have the DuckDuckGo browser yet, download it, make the settings changes I’ve listed, and try it! If you like the search results, you can have more privacy online by using it.