Windows group policy guides
Looking to use Ecosia at your company, school or university? This technical guide explains how IT administrators can set Ecosia as the default search engine across a network of computers.
We’ve found that the best way for a large organization to switch to Ecosia is to use a Windows group policy. This method does not involve people needing to download the Ecosia extension. Instead IT can use their existing infrastructure to set Ecosia as the default search engine, or a search engine option within a browser.
We can track the impact of large organizations using us and provide a regular tree report via email. If you plan to set Ecosia as the default at your organizations with a Windows group policy, please visit this guide to learn how to track your impact with us.
In this guide you will find:
How to configure Ecosia using a Windows group policy
If you already use GPOs to control browser settings, please skip to Step 3
Step 1
Download the relevant ADMX and ADML files for each browser:
Step 2
Copy the ADMX and ADML files to your central store.
Local: %systemroot%\policyDefinitions (normally C:\Windows\policyDefinitions) Domain: %systemroot%\sysvol\domain\policies\PolicyDefinitions (normally C:\Windows\sysvol\domain\policies\PolicyDefinitions)
See here for more information about creating a central store for your browser GPOs.
Step 3
Login to your domain controller and open the Group Policy administration tool. You can start the group policy editor by typing "gpedit.msc" into the Windows command bar.
Step 4
Navigate to the group policy rule that controls the browser you wish to configure, right click and click on “edit”.
Depending on the target of your policy LOCAL_MACHINE OR CURRENT_USER , expand either Computer Configuration OR User Configuration .
Step 5
Scroll to the browser you wish to configure: Edge, Chrome, Firefox
How to configure Ecosia using a Windows group policy Edge
Navigate to Administrative Templates → Microsoft Edge → Default search provider
Configure the following settings:
| Setting | Task |
| “Enable the default search provider” | Set this to "Enabled" |
| “Default search provider keyword” | Set this to "Enabled" and enter the following value:ecosia.org |
| “Default search provider name” | Enter the following value: Ecosia |
| “Default search provider search URL” | Set this to "Enabled" and enter the following value: https://www.ecosia.org/search?q={searchTerms}&addon=edgegpo |
Next, navigate to Start up, Home and New Tab page → New tab page URL
Configure the following settings:
| Setting | Task |
| “New tab page URL” | Set this to "Enabled" and enter the following value:https://ecosia.org/newtab/?&addon=edgegpo |
Tip
Within Edge’s GPO you have the option to set Ecosia as the default search engine and configure a list of alternative search engines for end users to choose from, using the “ManagedSearchEngines” GPO rule.
How to configure Ecosia using a Windows group policy Chrome
Navigate to → Administrative Templates → Google Chrome → Default search provider
| Setting | Task |
| “Enable the default search provider” | Set this to "Enabled" (must be enabled for other options to take effect) |
| “Default search provider icon” | Set this to "Enabled" and enter the following value:https://cdn-static.ecosia.org/static/icons/favicon.ico |
| “Default search provider keyword” | Set this to Enabled and enter the following value:ecosia.org |
| “Default search provider name” | Set this to Enabled and enter the following value:Ecosia |
| “Default search provider search url” | Set this to Enabled and enter the following value:https://www.ecosia.org/search?q={searchTerms}&addon=chromegpo |
| “Default search provider new tab page url” | Set this to Enabled and enter the following value:https://www.ecosia.org/newtab/?&addon=chromegpo |
Disclaimer
The ADMX files provided by Google have limited flexibility. You have the option of switching on/off the default search provider and you can only provide one search engine as the default. It is not possible to offer multiple search engines options using Google’s ADMX file.
How to configure Ecosia using a Windows group policy Firefox
Navigate to → Administrative Templates → Firefox → Search
Configure the following settings:
| Setting | Task |
| "Default search engine" | Set this to "Enabled" and enter the following value:ecosia.org |
| “Search Engine One” | Set this option to "Enabled" and enter the following values: Name: URL Template: Method: Icon URL: Description: |
Tip
Within Firefox’s GPO you have the option to set Ecosia as the default search engine and configure a list of up to 5 alternative search engines for end users to choose from, using the available GPO rules.
Step 6
Ensure that you have the GPO rule linked to your domain and that you have specified the user groups/OU’s that this rule applies to.
In order for the GPO rules to take immediate effect, you may need to open a CMD window and type gpupdate/force to apply the settings on the end users devices. Otherwise the new GPO settings will apply after a reboot.
How to configure Ecosia in Google Workspace
To configure Ecosia as the default browser in managed Chrome browsers there are 2 steps that need to be completed.
- Enrolling managed browsers
- Configuring Ecosia search using policy settings
1. Enroll managed browsers
To complete this step please consult the support documentation from Google: Enroll cloud-managed Chrome browsers and use your preferred deployment method for token enrolment.
Tip: Ensure you enroll browsers to the correct Organisational Unit.
2.Configuring Ecosia search using policy settings
Login to the Google Workspace Admin Console.
Go to Devices → Managed Browser → Settings → User & browser
Select the Organizational Unit in which you have enrolled managed chrome browsers. This ensures the settings & policies you apply are applied to the correct group.
Search for the setting: Omnibox search provider.
Configure the following settings in the applicable fields:
| Setting | Task |
| “Omnibox search provider name” | Enter the following value:Ecosia |
| “Omnibox search provider keyword” | Set this to "Enabled" and enter the following value:ecosia.org |
| “Omnibox search provider search URL” | Set this to "Enabled" and enter the following value:https://www.ecosia.org/search?q={searchTerms}&addon=gsuite |
| “Omnibox search provider icon URL” | https://cdn-static.ecosia.org/static/icons/favicon.ico |
Next search for the setting: Startup
Note: Lock the Omnibox search provider settings to the values below must be set in order for the settings to take effect.
Configure the following settings:
| “Default search provider new tab page URL” | Enter the following value:https://www.ecosia.org/newtab/?&addon=gsuite |
See here for more information on configuring an Omnibox default search provider.
Chrome Disclaimer
The Chrome admin console has limited flexibility. You have the option of switching on/off the default search provider and you can only provide one search engine as the default. It is not possible to offer multiple search engines options using Chrome's admin console.
Measure your impact
Tracking your organization's impact and seeing how your searches help plant trees is a big part of motivating teams to use Ecosia. For companies with over 1,000 employees that implement Ecosia using Microsoft Intune or Windows group policy, we can help you to run a pilot and provide a monthly report via email highlighting your impact.
In order for us to track your impact you’ll need to get in touch so we can create a unique identifier called a typetag for your organization.
Once you receive your reporting typetag, IT must simply add "&tt=" followed by the 8-digit typetag to the end of the URLs used in their deployment policies.
The URLs to use for Edge and Chrome are as follows. Replace “xxxxxxxx” with the 8 digit reporting typetag provided to you by Ecosia.
Edge policy values:
Default search provider name - Ecosia
Default search provider keyword - ecosia.org
Default search provider search URL - https://www.ecosia.org/search?q={searchTerms}&addon=edgegpo&tt=xxxxxxxx
Enable the default search provider - Enabled
Configure the homepage URL - https://www.ecosia.org/?addon=edgeegpo&tt=xxxxxxxx
Configure the new tab page URL - https://www.ecosia.org/newtab/?addon=edgegpo&tt=xxxxxxxx
Chrome policy values:
Default search provider name - Ecosia
Default search provider keyword - ecosia.org
Default search provider search URL - https://www.ecosia.org/search?q={searchTerms}&addon=chromegpo&tt=xxxxxxxx
Enable the default search provider - Enabled
Configure the homepage URL - https://www.ecosia.org/?addon=chromegpo&tt=xxxxxxxx
Configure the new tab page URL - https://www.ecosia.org/newtab/?addon=chromegpo&tt=xxxxxxxx
It’s important that you let us know once your IT team has deployed Ecosia. When we begin to attribute traffic to your organization we can schedule your monthly tree-reports.
Here is an example of the report you can expect to receive. Please note that reports show an estimated number of trees, based on the amount of searches sent to us. Trees cannot be used for carbon reporting or offsetting but it’s a great way to track your impact and to keep employees informed and engaged. For more information, please visit our internal comms support article.
Currently we can only provide reporting to organizations with more than 1,000 employees. If your company is under 1,000 employees please refer to our support materials for SMEs. Have any questions? Get in touch with us today and we’ll be on hand to support. Complete our form or book a call with Fred.