Change web search engine for Spotlight

Question

Search the web from Spotlight (⌘ CommandSpace) by entering search text and pressing ⌘ CommandB. The expected result of opening the default web browser (Firefox) and completing the web search occurs. However, the web search engine uses Google rather than the default (DuckDuckGo).

How can I set it so the search is done with my chosen search provider?

macOS 10.15.7

Answer 1

This issue has been resolved on macOS 11!

Answer 2

You can't change this.

It used to be Bing was the default search for Spotlight, but doing some research I found that of recent, Google has been paying Apple a significant sum of money to be the default search engine.

• Apple Doesn’t Truly Let You Change Search Engines

• Apple switches from Bing to Google for Siri web search results on iOS and Spotlight on Mac

While using Spotlight for web searching is a nice feature, until the ability to change the engine becomes a reality, the only workaround is to search from your browser.