Check your Google Search preferences if you made any changes in the last 2 weeks

Summary

• Some users recently experienced a bug where their Google Search settings reverted to their defaults.
• Google took action to restore affected users’ settings to how they were on April 15.
• As a result, users may need to reapply any changes made to their Search settings since April 15.

Google is the most used search engine and is usually the default when finding information on all subjects. If you have kids, you may set up Safe Search so they don’t see images they’re not old enough to see. You may also adjust the overall Search settings from time to time. However, due to technical difficulties, your Search settings won’t be won’t be the way you left them if those changes were made in the last two weeks. Google did have something to say on the subject but was not specific on the cause.Google addressed a recent issue users experienced in Search settings, where any changes made were reverted to a default state. The problem began on April 15, but Google quickly identified and fixed the issue. However, in the meantime, users found themselves with default settings and having to make the same search adjustments. Google also mentioned in its statement that if users want to adjust Search settings, they can visit google.com/preferences.

The problem is resolved, but your settings may have been changed

The impacted settings included Dark mode, SafeSearch, Results language filter, Results in a new window, Auto-play video previews, Auto-complete with trending searches, and Show Discover on home page. Today, Google took action and set the settings of those affected users to match what they were on April 15, 2024. This means that if you changed your Search settings at any point from April 15 through today, you may need to go and reapply those changes again starting today.

Google hopes that its action will mitigate the issues while using its Search platform. If you’re not happy with how Google left your settings, it’s now safe to go into your settings and make all the necessary changes again. Unfortunately, these types of issues can happen at any time, and all we can hope is that there will be as little loss of settings or data as possible. Google has not given any more information on the subject, such as what the issue was or what may have led to users experiencing the problem. Time will tell if or when something like this will happen again.