# Search preferences

One of the most effective way of finding the information you are looking for on the Net, is to use one of many available search engines. Opera provides access to some of the best search engines in the world directly. You don't have to go to the search engine page; simply type in your search in the user interface and click a button.

You can search in the following different places:

1. Enter your search phrase in the search fields on the personal bar
2. Enter your search phrase in the search field next to the address field
3. Enter a keyword plus your search phrase in the address field (to the left of the search field)

For example, entering "a Opera" in the address field will search for the phrase "Opera" using the AllTheWeb search engine. This is extremely handy as it allows searches even with the search field disabled.

All the search engines supported are listed in the Search preferences. You can choose a default search engine by clicking on one of the search engines in the list. Note: You cannot customize your search keywords, nor add or remove search types from the list. This box is largely there to show you which keywords are associated with which search types.

Tip: You can bookmark your searches. Simply create a bookmark which contains a keyword and a search phrase. When you open this bookmark, it will work exactly as if you had typed the search phrase into the address field.

You can also specify a preferred number of hits on each search results page by clicking the Search preferences drop-down. Note: Some search engines may not adhere to this setting.

Copyright © 1995 - 2002 Opera Software ASA. All rights reserved.