Windows group policy guides
Switch your company’s search engine to Ecosia and help reforest the planet!
This guide explains the different options that IT has for using Window group policies to configure Ecosia in Edge, Chrome and Firefox at a company, school or university.
If your organization is considering using Ecosia, let us know so we can support you through the process. We’re on hand to help!
In this guide you will find:
- Step 1 - Creating a Windows group policy
- Step 2 - Setting up Ecosia with the GPO
- Step 3 - Configuring Ecosia using a Windows group policy (Edge)
- Optional: Allow users to change their search engine
- Step 3 - Configuring Ecosia using a Windows group policy (Chrome)
- Optional: Allow users to change their search engine
- Step 3 - Configuring Ecosia using a Windows group policy (Firefox)
- Step 4 - Linking your GPO
- Step 5 - Measure your impact
Step 1 - Creating a Windows group policy
If you already use GPOs to control browser settings, please skip to Step 2
- Download the relevant ADMX and ADML files for each browser:
- 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 2 - Setting up Ecosia with the GPO
- 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.
- 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 3 - Configuring 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 |
Optional: If you wish to give employees the option to change their search engine in Edge, please consider the following options:
Option 1 - Managed search engine policy
This Edge policy allows an IT administrator to configure up to 10 search engines. You can set Ecosia as the default and people can change to any other search engine on the defined list.
We have created a .txt file that contains the policy value to set Ecosia as the default and to have Bing and Google as alternative options. It is up to the IT administrator which other search engines or web crawlers to enable here.
Copy and paste the information directly into the policy as follows.
More information on this policy can be found on the Microsoft website.
Option 2 - PowerShell script
You can use a PowerShell script to create an application in your internal software store so employees can opt-in and out of the default search provider policy in Edge and Chrome.
Follow the steps outlined above in Configuring Ecosia using a Windows group policy (Edge) and download the PowerShell script to create an application in your central store.
Option 3 - Users can override policies
Follow the steps outlined above in Configuring Ecosia using a Windows group policy (Edge) but instead use the “users can override” versions of the policies.
By using the “users can override” policies it means that people can change their search engine from within Edge’s settings if they do not wish to use Ecosia.
Note: if someone changes away from Ecosia it then disappears from the list of possible search engines. For this reason we recommend using the PowerShell script or the “Manage Search Engines policy instead.
Step 3 - Configuring 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 |
Optional: If you wish to give employees the option to change their search engine in Chrome, please consider the following options:
Option 1 - PowerShell script
You can use a PowerShell script to create an application in your internal software store so employees can opt-in and out of the default search provider policy in Edge and Chrome.
Follow the steps outlined above in Configuring Ecosia using a Windows group policy (Chrome) and download the PowerShell script to create an application in your central store.
Option 2 - Users can override policies
Follow the steps outlined above in Configuring Ecosia using a Windows group policy (Chrome) but instead use the “users can override” versions of the policies.
By using the “users can override” policies it means that people can change their search engine from within Chrome’s settings if they do not wish to use Ecosia.
Note: if someone changes away from Ecosia it then disappears from the list of possible search engines. For this reason we recommend considering the PowerShell script option.
Step 3 - Configuring Ecosia using a Windows group policy (Firefox)
Note: This guide only applies to the Firefox Enterprise version
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 4 - Linking your GPO
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.
Step 5 - 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 Windows group policies, 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 are as follow. 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
Firefox 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=firefoxgpo&tt=xxxxxxxx
Enable the default search provider - Enabled
Configure the homepage URL - https://www.ecosia.org/?addon=firefoxgpo&tt=xxxxxxxx
Configure the new tab page URL - https://www.ecosia.org/newtab/?addon=firefoxgpo&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 company support material.
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 guide 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.