Can't get Private TOR windows to use DuckDuckGo instead of Google for searches

@mk7z,
Profile menu --> Settings icon --> More options menu --> Remove profile
image

@Mattches Thanks, but I don’t see a ‘More options menu’ anywhere.

All that’s displayed is the following (with several additional rows of colored icons)

image

Mac OS Mojave 10.14.3
Brave Release version

Brave delete profiles video

@megaspaz Thanks, something must be needed to play that video that I don’t have. The screen comes up, but clicking on the ‘Play’ arrow has no effect.

BTW, is what you sent ‘how to’ for a Mac? From what @Mattches included in his reply, it appears that Mac operation, including what’s displayed on-screen, differs from that on Windows (assuming the procedure he included referenced the Windows version of Brave).

oh… go to google drive and mess with shields up…

matchess instructions might be the developer’s version… I don’t really know though…

@megaspaz OK thanks, figured that out, but…

I can’t make out the icon you clicked on, but I went out of the Private window I was in (which doesn’t display a Profile icon) and clicked on the Profile icon in a regular window.

I was then able to see the ‘Manage Profiles’ menu entry. However, I can’t get any ‘manage profile’ options to open.

When I click on the Manage Profiles menu entry, a screen with both existing profiles comes up. When I click on one of those, all that happens is that a ‘New tab’ opens – no ‘manage’ options.

OK, never mind, I see it now. The 3 vertical dots are almost invisible even when the mouse pointer is over the Profile icon, and when it isn’t, you don’t see them at all.

Thanks.

@Mattches

> I’ll ask around some more to see if I can get fresh eyes on it.

Any likelihood of a resolution of this issue? I’m continuously stymied by Google’s interference in searches, and even just pulling up websites it apparently doesn’t approve of. (If I try to just bypass its ‘warnings’ it then seeks to waste more of my time with Cloudflare, captchas, etc.)

So I’d really like to get DDG in as my default in those TOR windows and not have to deal with all that on a continuous basis.

Thanks.

@mk7z,
While I apologize for the inconvenience, the issue is filed as a P4 issue – not the highest priority as there are more pressing and/or impactful updates we’re making at this time.

That said, in the interim, it may be a good solution to setup your keyword searches to your liking, as they will work in tor windows.

@Mattches Thanks, confused by your reply though, since the issue is that though DDG is my default search engine, searches in Private TOR windows default to Google. (I’ve also tried making other search engines the default, with the same result.)

What did you mean by “setup your keyword searches to your liking”? The main issue is Google’s interference with website navigation, not its handling of keyword searches.

Google’s bizarre political stance has led to all manner of harmless websites being treated as allegedly ‘suspicious,’ etc. – so I’m constantly faced with Cloudflare screens and their captchas, error messages such as the one below, etc.

image

I can avoid that by using Startpage and then running the same searches, but as with DDG, Qwant, etc., selecting any other search engine than Google as the default has to date not led to its being used when in a Private TOR window. Google always takes over those searches instead. (Searches in the two other window types do use the designated default.)

What Matt mean is, while this is an issue on your end and the team is investigating it, you can use the keyword search as a workaround when you trying to search in PW with Tor. This way, the selected SE via keyword will be used instead of Google.

See Using Keyword Searches section in the help article linked above.

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@eljuno Thanks but what I meant to clarify in my prior post is that the main issue isn’t keyword searches but actual URL’s that are being blocked with the results I mentioned. They won’t be blocked if run from Startpage (which runs them through Google). So it’s Google’s gatekeeping that’s interfering.

As a separate but related issue, most YouTube videos (regardless of content, far as I can tell) won’t play in a Private TOR tab/window, returning the following:

image

That doesn’t happen in a regular Private tab/window.

Since none of the above-mentioned ‘reasons’ apply, my assumption is that Google is just intent on tracking all (or most) use of YouTube & therefore refuses access when TOR is active, thereby preventing tracking.

Why it doesn’t object to access from a regular Private window, even with Shields up, I don’t know.

@mk7z,
Lets say your keyword searches are configured to the following:
Duckduckgo = :d
Startpage = :sp

Now, open a Private window w/Tor. In the addressbar, type the desired search engine keyword in, for example, :d to search with duckduckgo. Hit tab or space which should show:

Now enter your search terms. They will be done in ddg or whatever keyword search you entered and will bypass the fact that it defaults to google for the time being. The team will hopefully get in a fix for that particular issue in time, but for now this should get the job done.

@mattches Thanks, but I think the main issue is being misunderstood. It’s about URL’s being blocked, not keyword searches. And it happens in particular (though not only) with YouTube videos, I’m sure because Google, intent on being true to its valiant ethos, “Do No Harm,” just wants to make sure we only watch what is not harmful.

For some reason this ‘blockage’ only occurs in Private TOR windows, which I assume means that Google can still get some degree of information out of normal Private windows, or at least thinks it can. Perhaps Brave’s shields block it but Google doesn’t recognize that, or perhaps Google has figured out a way to outsmart the shields that Brave isn’t aware of.

In any event, it refuses access to URL’s in Private TOR windows, and that’s the main reason I hope those windows can be ‘fixed’ in the sense of preventing the situation described from happening.

This may be completely separate from the search engine issue.

I hope I’ve clarified things.

@Mattches This appears to be a previously-noted issue dating back a year-and-a-half, apparently not since resolved:

"General settings should have three separate search engine preferences: for regular windows, for private windows, and for private windows with Tor."

Opened at Github on by Tom Lowenthal (still at Brave?) on Nov. 15, 2018.

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Yes, this is planned functionality.

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