Undoubtedly Google and Bing are among the more popular search engines in the world of the internet. Along with Google, every other search engine is evolving and implementing new features and techniques to serve at its best. In this race, there is one more upstart search engine called DuckDuckGo is making a unique presence. As we all know, every search engine we use tracks us and shows the results based on that. But, DuckDuckGo does not track you and maintains privacy. Not only that, but you can also do a lot more using DuckDuckGo which is not possible using other search engines. In this article, we will take a look at some of the best DuckDuckGo search tips, tricks & features.
DuckDuckGo Search Tips and Tricks
As mentioned earlier, I will let you know how to make the best use of DuckDuckGo to get the most out of it. You will also get to know what all it can do, which cannot be achieved by Google. If you need to see the larger version of the images, just click on the image.
1. Search directly in Sites from Address Bar using !Bangs
Bangs in DuckDuckGo allows you to search for what you want on the website directly. Let us say, if you want to search for ‘mobiles’ in Amazon, then just type ‘!a mobiles’ in the search box of DuckDuckGo and it would take you to the mobile section on Amazon website.
There are Bangs available for various websites like ‘!yt’ for ‘YouTube’, ‘!w’ for ‘Wikipedia’, and a lot more. This is really one of the best DuckDuckGo search tips and tricks. You can find the entire list of available Bangs. You can also create a bang for your website.
2. See the Social Media Information directly in the Results
DuckDuckGo shows social media information directly in the search results. Let us say, I searched with the Twitter handle of TWC as ‘@thewindowsclub’ and hit enter. It would show the profile information and what is it in the search result itself. You are not supposed to click on any link.
This is really done smartly by DuckDuckGo. To find Google Plus and Gravatar profiles, you need to use ‘G+’ and ‘Gravatar’ follows by the username respectively.
3. Easy to find Cheatsheets
DuckDuckGo makes it easy for us to find Cheatsheets of the popular app, services, operating systems and more. Just type the word followed by the keyword ‘cheat sheet’ for which you want to find the cheat sheet. Here is the Windows 10 cheat sheet.
It is always better to be specific while looking for a cheat sheet, as a Windows cheat sheet would differ from Windows 10 cheat sheet.
4. Shortening URLs is easier with DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo allows you to shorten and expand URLs and we do not need any more services to do so. Just type ‘shorten’ followed by URL in DuckDuckGo and it would give you the shortened URL as the result.
5. Use DuckDuckGo as a Password Generator
If you are looking for a strong password, then DuckDuckGo makes it easy for you to do so. Just type ‘password’ followed by a number of characters. Let us say, I just typed ‘password 10’ in DuckDuckGo and it has generated my strong password of 10 characters. Why don’t you try?
6. Check whether a Website is Down or Not
Want to know whether any website is down? Then, you can ask DuckDuckGo and it would let you know.
DuckDuckGo uses the instant answers feature it has. Apart from just showing us the instant answers, it would help us in avoiding clicking through different links. If you do not see instant answers in DuckDuckGo, make sure that you enabled ‘instant answers’ feature under Settings > General.
7. Generate QR Codes
DuckDuckGo allows you to generate QR Codes for any things. Say, you want to generate QR Code for one web page, then head over to DuckDuckGo and type ‘qr’ followed by the link. Just hit enter and it would generate the QR Code.
You can just scan it using your mobile to open that specific web page without typing it all again. Interesting, right?
8. Change Case of the Text
If you want to change the case of the text, then you can do it easily using DuckDuckGo. If you want to change the text to lowercase, then type ‘lowercase [text]’ and to convert the text to uppercase type ‘uppercase [text]’.
Use ‘title’ keyword followed by the text, to get the title case. By appending or prepending ’chars’ keyword, you could even find the number of characters in the text.
9. Search for Any Calendar
DuckDuckGo shows the calendar as an instant answer. Go and search for ‘calendar’ in DuckDuckGo and it would show you the present calendar with the current date highlighted.
You can even see the calendar of any year by searching like ‘calendar 21st March 1989’. It would show the calendar as specified in the search.
10. Generate Random Text
Every one of us knows how to generate Lorem Ipsum random text in Microsoft Word. If you want to get random text using DuckDuckGo, then it is easy.
Just type ‘10 paragraphs of lorem ipsum’ and you will see the 10 paragraphs of lorem ipsum random text got generated.
11. Encode URL
If you want your URL to be encoded for some purpose, then DuckDuckGo comes handy. Just type ‘url encode’ followed by the URL and it would generate the encoded URL.
Now, you can copy and share the encoded URL.
12. Easy to Find Color Codes
Among 256 RGB Colors, it is not easy to find the color code we want. Now, using DuckDuckGo it is easy to find the color code. Just type ‘color codes’, hit enter and it would show you the charts containing all color codes.
No more confusion from now on!
13. Find HTML Codes easily
If you want to find an HTML code of any special character, then it would be a tidy task. But, with DuckDuckGo, just type ‘HTML chars’ and it would show you the list of HTML codes for all special characters. Just copy the code you want and use it as it is.
You can also HTML code for the specific special character as shown in the image below.
This is said to be the best DuckDuckGo search tips and tricks for developers.
14. Generate Random Passphrase
If you want to set random passphrase as a password, then you can use DuckDuckGo to generate that. Just type ‘random passphrase’ and you could see the random phrase being generated.
These are some of the DuckDuckGo.com search tips and tricks which are not possible even in Google Search. If you have anything to add, please do share it with us through comments.
Google Search lover? Take a look at these Google Search Tricks. Users of Wolfram Alpha may want to learn how to use Wolfram Alpha knowledge engine effectively.
