I want to force my Google Chrome web browser (version 21.0.1180.89, 64-bit) to use non-localized search (thus Google in English) through address bar, using the default Google search engine.
To achieve that, I have to change value of the property last_known_google_url to http://www.google.com/search?hl=en& in Local State file (for instance on Linux, the full path to the file is ~/.config/google-chrome/Local State).
In that file, there should be the property:
"browser": {
"last_known_google_url":
but it is not.
Even if I add the property there, it has no impact on search—Google Chrome does not use the property and still searches in localized version.
Another option is to put the property to Preferences file (for instance on Linux, the full path to the file is ~/.config/google-chrome/Default/Preferences) – which works perfectly when I start Google Chrome and do some search – but just after that, the property (actually the whole Preferences file) is overriden, so "the most important" trailing part ?hl=en& of the property value is removed—and without it, the non-localized search does not work anymore.
Why does Google Chrome ignore last_known_google_url property in Local State file?
Best Answer
Google Search selects the localized version based on a few factors such as your geographical location (IP address) as well as your Google search preferences. Google Chrome settings actually does not impact which localized version of Google Search.
You can change it by going to http://www.google.com (you should be redirected to the localized version), and clicking on
Google.comat the bottom right corner of the webpage. You should see the non-localized version in future searches.Another alternative is to use the URL http://www.google.com/ncr (ncr = no country redirect), which will redirect you to google.com.
Finally, selecting the display language as well as search result to English will also get Google to return international results.