Google Redirects Your Search To Https? Change It!

Martin Brinkmann
Oct 23, 2011
Updated • Oct 27, 2015
Google, Search
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37

Logged in Google users who do not follow the news as closely as the majority of Ghacks visitors may have noticed that Google started to redirect their searches on google.com from http to https automatically.

While that is certainly not a issue on most systems, it could lead to issues on some. If you are experiencing pages that do not load, broken applications or other issues you may want to fix or reverse the change.

Before I'm showing you how this is done I'd like to explain what's happening.

Google recently announced that they would enable https, also known as encrypted, search for all logged in users that visit the main search engine google.com.

Logged in users who load http://www.google.com/ are automatically redirected to https://www.google.com/. Encrypted search can be beneficial as it encrypts the traffic that is send to and received from Google. This means that no one in your computer network (e.g. admins, your boss, your ISP) can see what you are doing on the Google website. They still see that you are on Google, and will see the sites that you click on though.

Using secure connections is an optional feature. On my PC, it is already enabled in the Chrome web browser but not in Firefox. Google has added a preference in the Global Search preferences to enable or disable the secure connection feature.

Google users who notice automatic redirects can prevent this from happening in the search settings. To do that they need to click on the options icon in the upper right corner of the screen (next to the profile name) and select Search Settings from the context menu that opens up.

They then need to scroll down until they find the Secure Connection setting.

Secure connections are enabled if the box is checked. To disable simply remove the check mark and click Save Preferences. This puts an end to redirects to the https version of search.

Update: It appears as if Google has removed the option to disable the redirection to https in the search options. There is no option available anymore to force your Google connections to use http instead of https.

Update 2: There is still one option left to run HTTP searches on Google.

Summary
Google Redirects Your Search To Https? Change It!
Article Name
Google Redirects Your Search To Https? Change It!
Description
Find out how to run searches on Google using HTTP instead of HTTPS.
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Comments

  1. GuyOxford said on June 2, 2014 at 9:09 pm
    Reply
  2. Rob said on December 29, 2013 at 6:20 am
    Reply

    To all those who think https is desirable over http – to misquote the B-52’s:
    WELL IT ISN”T!

    I am tethered to a Verizon phone in my parents’ internet-less home. I am on an UNLIMITED
    4G plan (yes that one month when 4G was out and unlimited data plans were available).

    Verizon HATES (font size inadequate) unlimited data plans, so they crippled the capability by preventing https connections – they just crp out. These old eyes would prefer using my 15″ Macintosh laptop instead of my puny phone. In the final analysis, NOTHING is safe and secure, unless you use a one-time pad – and when you do, safe & secure communication will be a capital offense. So Google has forced me to use Bing! Hope they are happy…

  3. Jason said on October 29, 2013 at 2:29 pm
    Reply

    I don’t want it simply because whenever I use Google’s ‘search by image’ Firefox add-on I get a security warning popup before every page-load. I don’t give a monkeys if it’s, perhaps, more secure – from a purely web-browsing experience it’s damn intrusive and annoying.

  4. HelloBing said on September 13, 2013 at 4:53 am
    Reply

    Logged in or not since google decided to change, and since they THINK they can control my browser hello bing.com

    It is my browser and my computer, so since they do not want my traffic, hello bing.com

    1. Jon said on October 30, 2013 at 5:07 pm
      Reply

      Agreed, just started using bing.com for the first time on a consistent basis.

  5. Aerin_S said on August 31, 2013 at 4:16 pm
    Reply

    What’s really annoying is that, in addition to slowing things down, “Redirecting” now shows up in my search history! This just started happening two days ago (using Safari).

  6. Mad said on August 16, 2013 at 2:40 pm
    Reply

    google sucks. only 30 words?? like really wth???

    https?? i didnt ask for that. its slow. i know i didnt want it, why take choices away from people. im happy to let the world know what im looking for.

    great big F**** you to google. seems your doing this on the mac’s only. bye bye chrome. too bad you gotta screw it up for everyone google.

  7. Kharekhaze said on March 16, 2013 at 8:35 am
    Reply

    Put the update at the beginning of the article. :/

  8. Razib said on November 20, 2012 at 5:12 am
    Reply

    HTTPs makes slow browsing sometimes. I just tried to disable HTTPs (before noticing your update); yes, you are right … they have disabled those options. Now, we are forced to use HTTPs :(

  9. aditya said on October 22, 2012 at 9:09 pm
    Reply

    good article about https redirect..

  10. NoNeed4Name said on October 3, 2012 at 4:27 pm
    Reply

    SOLVED!

    settings – manage search engines – Add New Search Engine: Google NCR; keyword: google.com.ncr; URL: http://www.google.com/search?q=%s

    Works for me..!

    1. Josh said on March 29, 2013 at 2:11 pm
      Reply

      Thanks! My employer MITMs all https traffic. Rather than install their bogus cert (thus allowing all https sites to load) this quick work-arround makes my day a little less miserable.

  11. Mike said on October 1, 2012 at 11:40 pm
    Reply

    So which would we rather?

    People regarding HTTPS as mega-important for banking sites, e-shopping payments etc, or people getting so used to seeing HTTPS that they begin to assume that it’s ubiquitous, and stop thinking about it?

  12. Wow. Just wow. said on August 23, 2012 at 4:10 am
    Reply

    “There is no option available anymore to force your Google connections to use http instead of https.” This happened because preferring HTTP over HTTPS is pure idiocy unless you live in a country that blocks all HTTPS traffic (there are ways around this). Thank you google for helping prevent users from doing stupid things.

    For those who prefer not to use HTTPS, please tell me what coffee shop you visit so I can steal the rest of your traffic, MiTM you, and send you to sites with nothing but cat pictures. I would assume your home WiFi is not encrypted as well. I like people like you. It gives me slides to add to presentations.

    Encouraging NOT using HTTP should be illegal, or get you put in an insane asylum if you actually believe it’s a good idea. There’s a reason all major websites are moving to 100% SSL: it’s the right thing to do. It’s like giving everyone plastic safety scissors for the internet.

    Br.Bill got it right.

    “How to leave your door unlocked before you leave for the day, to enable trouble-free entry when you return home in the dark evening with your arms full of grocery bags.

    How to use strcpy() to make your C code easier to read and write.

    How to speed up your Windows PC by uninstalling those pesky anti-malware programs.”

    1. Arck said on February 13, 2015 at 3:38 pm
      Reply

      I personaly work at a location where if it is a personal computer(as opposed to one owned by the company) it sends all the trafic through a filter. if it is https and cant see where you are going (wich i dont care about because it is at work) it assumes you are trying to go to a bad site and blocks it. lather rince repeat with every search query i put in. leaving me with the options of not browsing(cant do because i need to do my work) or using bing(because they dont force https) i dont care if you think people are retarded but there are many use cases like this where https causes more issues than it is worth. and fyi it does nothing to secure your searches all i need is a packet sniffer and i will still know where the trafic is going. so for me it is a waste of time to begin with.

  13. Vicki said on August 4, 2012 at 7:05 pm
    Reply

    Several commenters have asked “Why disable https?” My answer: Because I can’t get to a website that I need to see! I am using a private computer, in my home office; the only other person sharing the network is my husband, and I don’t care what he sees. I’m on IE 8.

    I first set Facebook to use https, because so many friends found their accounts hacked. Now, since Google has made https its default search protocol (? correct use of the word?), everything goes through https, or it doesn’t go, at all. In some things, I am “pro-choice,” and this is one of them!

  14. Jorge said on February 9, 2012 at 2:45 pm
    Reply

    Martin,

    I do not see the option you discuss either, running:
    Chrome v 16.0.912.77 m
    FireFox v 10.0
    Internet Explorer v 8.0.6001.18702

    Would you please retest this article under a few different browsers?

    Jorge

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on February 9, 2012 at 3:09 pm
      Reply

      It appears as if Google has removed the option from search settings. I update the article right away.

  15. Terri M. said on January 29, 2012 at 4:52 am
    Reply

    Same as Claudia, no option to check. Just going to google and searching, it’s really a pain to have to close 2 popup windows and get redirected from http://www.google.com to https://. I’m not the only one here in town starting to see this silly popup. Using IE 8 and windows 7.
    This just started withing the last month. I thought it was my machine, until someone else asked me why they were getting 2 popups.

  16. Claudia Thompson said on November 19, 2011 at 1:32 pm
    Reply

    Hello, when I click on the Secure Settings link, there is no Secure Connection Setting. I have Internet Explorer Version: 8.0.6001.18702 if that makes any difference. So could you be able to tell me what other way I can change this https feature please?

  17. TagalogLines said on November 14, 2011 at 1:30 am
    Reply

    I cannot find that checkbox in the google search settings :| Awkward.

    1. unfounded said on November 14, 2011 at 11:12 pm
      Reply

      neither can I. switching from ie to firefox I guess…

  18. Br.Bill said on October 24, 2011 at 7:50 pm
    Reply

    Other related how-tos:

    How to leave your door unlocked before you leave for the day, to enable trouble-free entry when you return home in the dark evening with your arms full of grocery bags.

    How to use strcpy() to make your C code easier to read and write.

    How to speed up your Windows PC by uninstalling those pesky anti-malware programs.

  19. Yoshiyah said on October 24, 2011 at 12:27 pm
    Reply

    Searching with HTTP is a bit more secure. Especially when encountering phishing sites.

    1. Bill said on October 26, 2011 at 1:34 am
      Reply

      No, it does very little to make things “more secure”. The only thing that is encrypted is the search string sent to Google; the links that you subsequently click-on will usually *not* specify use of https so you are back to square one.

      The only thing that “secure” Google searching prevents is the monitoring of your search activity by an intermediate entity (e.g. your ISP, your company IT department). But even they might be able to figure it out once you start clicking on links returned by the Google search engine.

    2. ilev said on October 24, 2011 at 5:01 pm
      Reply

      “Searching with HTTP is a bit more secure” ? where exactly did you learn this ?

  20. Gregg said on October 24, 2011 at 12:36 am
    Reply

    I… I don’t get it.. why would you disable HTTPS??????

  21. Mushaf said on October 23, 2011 at 9:02 pm
    Reply

    I wish other Google services that use SSL (Docs, Picasa, Bookmarks) had this option to disable HTTPS too. It makes my browsing slower.

    1. ilev said on October 24, 2011 at 9:38 am
      Reply

      Than replace the browser , but don’t disable https.

  22. ilev said on October 23, 2011 at 8:29 pm
    Reply

    Why would you use un-secure (none https) searches with Firefox ? do you remember Firesheep ?
    I use HTTPS Everywhere addon on FF.

    1. Bad_Attitude said on October 25, 2011 at 8:26 pm
      Reply

      Use https on public networks? Absolutely! If it slows down your connection at home I don’t see any reason to not use http if your connection is secured. Firesheep……could care less on a private secured network!!!

    2. Martin Brinkmann said on October 23, 2011 at 8:51 pm
      Reply

      Maybe it breaks one of your add-ons?

      1. ilev said on October 24, 2011 at 9:37 am
        Reply

        If HTTPS breaks an addon, remove the addon as it is not secure.

  23. Jojo said on October 23, 2011 at 7:17 pm
    Reply

    From FF 3.6.23, my Goggle searches come up in HTTP (not HTTPS). I cannot find the “Secured Connections anywhere in my settings.

    1. Martin Brinkmann said on October 23, 2011 at 7:19 pm
      Reply

      Jojo it is not activated for everyone yet. I for instance see it in Chrome but not in Firefox (logged in).

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