6 Tips to Improve Search Results on the Dark Web

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Searching on the dark web can seem confusing at first because of its decentralized nature. Since these onion links are not available on Google, you can’t easily find what you need. Additionally, because these sites are anonymous, there is no way to verify their credibility. If you’re looking for tips on how to search the dark web, check out this guide.

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1. Utilize Specialized Search Engines

Once you launch the Tor browser, you can access all kinds of dark web onion sites. To find them, you need to use specialized search engines. You’ll find many search engines for the deep web, but some, like DuckDuckGo and The Hidden Wiki, are mainly used for finding dark websites.

When DuckDuckGo opens in Tor, you’ll see an option to onionize the search results. If you don’t see it, click the New Identity button at the top right. Now enter your search query as you normally would with Google.

Tip: To always get the “Onionize” option, type about:preferences#home in the Tor address bar. Then set your New Windows and Tabs to Tor Browser Home.

The Hidden Wiki is, in more ways than one, the starting point of the dark web. Since the dark web has many peer-to-peer networks, there isn’t just one link for The Hidden Wiki. There are hundreds of them!

From any location of The Hidden Wiki, you can gradually explore many different dark websites according to your interest. These onion links are impossible to remember though. That’s why bookmarking them is necessary.

Tor browser lets you save bookmarks, but to stay fully anonymous, consider creating an account with “My Onion Bookmarks.” (7fc532c5lvbky6lxlt3gxnbj67gqmpzym2rowtekllgypyprbjxfiiad.onion.) It doesn’t need an email address, but make sure you store your username and password safely. This way, you can access your favorite sites from any device or place.

If you need a website that only gives you .onion search results, there is ‘Onion Engine,’ which you can open on a regular browser. When you launch it on Tor, it will help open onion-specific results. The good thing about Onion Engine is that it filters out any illegal content you don’t want to access by accident. It also works with Boolean search operators.

Warning: The above sites contain all the useful dark web links you would ever need. There are a few illegal onion search engines on the dark web that can lead to illegal content or malware. Such sites are visited by FBI agents and law enforcement officers of different countries. It’s best to avoid most of these onion search engines.

Also check: new to the dark web? Learn to access it properly in our guide.

2. Use Advanced Search Techniques

Using special search techniques can help you find what you need quickly and accurately. You might know how to use basic Boolean operators on Google. You can use the same commands on DuckDuckGo.

For example, if you want to find onion links for comic books, put “.onion” in quotation marks next to your search words, also in quotation marks. This will show only those websites which contain onion links.

There are advanced search operators you can use to find what you need. Here are some useful ones:

  • Squiggly line/tilde: use the operator ~ to find sites similar to the one you’re looking for.
  • Site: the site operator, site: is extremely useful to search for a specific thing on a website.
  • Minus sign: the operator - helps you exclude unwanted sites from search results. For example, to exclude both Quora and Reddit from search results, type “search query -quora.com -reddit.com.”
  • Inurl sign: the operator inurl: is helpful to find something within a domain.

Related: check out the most useful dark web websites that Google won’t find.

3. Search With a Dark Web Scanner

Dark web scanners are primarily used to search for personal data breaches on the dark web. However, they can also be used to obtain onion search results based on your predetermined search parameters. For instance, Google’s Dark Web Monitoring tool, available with a Google One subscription, lets you know where your information was found in a data breach.

If you want more details, you can opt for a reputable dark web scanner such as Flare, which covers up to 200 identifiers. Once you set up your parameters, you will get search results directly on the Flare dashboard

Did you know? The deep web and the dark web aren’t the same thing.

4. Explore Databases and Directories 

The dark web has a wealth of information you can’t find on the regular web without paying. After you begin searching on The Hidden Wiki, you will encounter many good options in different niche categories. If you’re researching as an academic or student, you can quickly find useful databases or directories.

  • Just Another Library: Check out this free library with an exhaustive collection of books. (libraryfyuybp7oyidyya3ah5xvwgyx6weauoini7zyz555litmmumad.onion)
  • The Anarchist Library: This is a huge database for independent ideas and banned books. In other words, a lot of freethinkers hang out on this site. (libraryqxxiqakubqv3dc2bend2koqsndbwox2johfywcatxie26bsad.onion/special/index)
  • Comic Book Library: Comic book fans will find free access to a wealth of comic books on every topic and genre. nv3x2jozywh63fkohn5mwp2d73vasusjixn3im3ueof52fmbjsigw6ad.onion

  • The Tor Times: This is a single website that lets you find out what’s happening on the Tor network. (tortimeswqlzti2aqbjoieisne4ubyuoeiiugel2layyudcfrwln76qd.onion)
  • ProPublica: On ProPublica, investigative journalists can find important news stories that mainstream media outlets often hesitate to cover. (p53lf57qovyuvwsc6xnrppyply3vtqm7l6pcobkmyqsiofyeznfu5uqd.onion)

Another Warning: just like there are illegal onion search engines, the dark web also has illegal onion directories which you must avoid.

5. Register for Sites with Archives

There are some Internet archive websites that let you see old versions of web pages. It is pretty helpful if some links get deleted or blocked. A good example is the “Wayback Machine,” which has almost a trillion web pages.

If an ISP or government blocks the original Wayback Machine web link, you can use the onion link instead, available at archive6zg5vrdwm4ljllgxleekeoj43lqayscd4d4kmhnyblq4h3ead.onion/. It will work just fine.

Also read: Tor is not the only browser that lets you search the dark web. There are many alternatives which give you deeper access to the invisible Internet.

6. Use a VPN

It is not safe enough to use Tor alone to search the dark web. Although Tor leads to traceless browsing activity, it is not always safe. That’s why it’s a good idea to use Tor on top of a secure VPN service.

What a VPN does is protect your Tor exit nodes from exposure to the ISP. Unfortunately, that can also lead to a slower Internet connection at times. This is why VPN providers are fine-tuning their offerings to fix that. For example, NordVPN has an ‘onion over VPN’ connection which is very fast and smooth to work with.

As far as dark web search engines go, Tor opens all of them successfully. But sometimes, you may experience slower speeds and connection dropouts. We have the fixes for them so that you get a faster Tor network.

Image Credit: DALL-E 3. All screenshots by Sayak Boral.

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Sayak Boral –
Staff Writer

Sayak Boral is a technology writer with over eleven years of experience working in different industries including semiconductors, IoT, enterprise IT, telecommunications OSS/BSS, and network security. He has been writing for MakeTechEasier on a wide range of technical topics including Windows, Android, Internet, Hardware Guides, Browsers, Software Tools, and Product Reviews.

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