diff --git a/docs/admin/settings/settings_search.rst b/docs/admin/settings/settings_search.rst
index 2aaa4795d..5e11fc810 100644
--- a/docs/admin/settings/settings_search.rst
+++ b/docs/admin/settings/settings_search.rst
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
    search:
      safe_search: 0
-     autocomplete: ""
+     autocomplete: "duckduckgo"
      favicon_resolver: ""
      default_lang: ""
      ban_time_on_fail: 5
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
   - ``2``: Strict
 
 ``autocomplete``:
-  Existing autocomplete backends, leave blank to turn it off.
+  Existing autocomplete backends, set blank to turn it off.
 
   - ``360search``
   - ``baidu``
diff --git a/docs/admin/settings/settings_server.rst b/docs/admin/settings/settings_server.rst
index dabfc259c..7b677d695 100644
--- a/docs/admin/settings/settings_server.rst
+++ b/docs/admin/settings/settings_server.rst
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
        limiter: false
        public_instance: false
        image_proxy: false
-       method: "POST"
+       method: "GET"
        default_http_headers:
          X-Content-Type-Options : nosniff
          X-Download-Options : noopen
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@
 
 ``method`` : ``GET`` | ``POST``
 
-  HTTP method.  By defaults ``POST`` is used / The ``POST`` method has the
-  advantage with some WEB browsers that the history is not easy to read, but
+  HTTP method.  By default, ``GET`` is used / The ``POST`` method has the
+  advantage with some browsers that the history is not saved, but
   there are also various disadvantages that sometimes **severely restrict the
   ease of use for the end user** (e.g. back button to jump back to the previous
   search page and drag & drop of search term to new tabs do not work as
diff --git a/searx/settings.yml b/searx/settings.yml
index 1650a484d..7acb40bc2 100644
--- a/searx/settings.yml
+++ b/searx/settings.yml
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@ search:
   # Filter results. 0: None, 1: Moderate, 2: Strict
   safe_search: 0
   # Existing autocomplete backends: "360search", "baidu", "bing", "brave", "dbpedia", "duckduckgo", "google",
-  # "kagi", "yandex", "privacywall", "mwmbl", "naver", "seznam", "sogou", "startpage", "swisscows", "quark",
-  # "qwant", "wikipedia" - leave blank to turn it off by default.
-  autocomplete: ""
+  # "yandex", "privacywall", "mwmbl", "naver", "seznam", "sogou", "startpage", "swisscows", "quark", "qwant",
+  # "wikipedia" - set blank to turn it off by default.
+  autocomplete: "duckduckgo"
   # minimun characters to type before autocompleter starts
   autocomplete_min: 4
   # backend for the favicon near URL in search results.
@@ -107,11 +107,10 @@ server:
   image_proxy: false
   # 1.0 and 1.1 are supported
   http_protocol_version: "1.0"
-  # POST queries are "more secure!" but are also the source of hard-to-locate
-  # annoyances, which is why GET may be better for end users and their browsers.
+  # POST keeps search queries out of the browsers history, but causes UX issues.
   # see https://github.com/searxng/searxng/pull/3619
   # Is overwritten by ${SEARXNG_METHOD}
-  method: "POST"
+  method: "GET"
   default_http_headers:
     X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
     X-Download-Options: noopen
diff --git a/searx/settings_defaults.py b/searx/settings_defaults.py
index c23ebd956..5fed08b68 100644
--- a/searx/settings_defaults.py
+++ b/searx/settings_defaults.py
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ SCHEMA: dict[str, t.Any] = {
     'brand': SettingsBrand,
     'search': {
         'safe_search': SettingsValue((0, 1, 2), 0),
-        'autocomplete': SettingsValue(str, ''),
+        'autocomplete': SettingsValue(str, 'duckduckgo'),
         'autocomplete_min': SettingsValue(int, 4),
         'favicon_resolver': SettingsValue(str, ''),
         'default_lang': SettingsValue(tuple(SXNG_LOCALE_TAGS + ['']), ''),
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ SCHEMA: dict[str, t.Any] = {
         'base_url': SettingsValue((False, str), False, 'SEARXNG_BASE_URL'),
         'image_proxy': SettingsValue(bool, False, 'SEARXNG_IMAGE_PROXY'),
         'http_protocol_version': SettingsValue(('1.0', '1.1'), '1.0'),
-        'method': SettingsValue(('POST', 'GET'), 'POST', 'SEARXNG_METHOD'),
+        'method': SettingsValue(('POST', 'GET'), 'GET', 'SEARXNG_METHOD'),
         'default_http_headers': SettingsValue(dict, {}),
     },
     # redis is deprecated ..
diff --git a/searx/templates/simple/elements/apis.html b/searx/templates/simple/elements/apis.html
index d1d5ec60d..d09fa758d 100644
--- a/searx/templates/simple/elements/apis.html
+++ b/searx/templates/simple/elements/apis.html
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     <div class="wrapper">
       {%- for output_type in search_formats -%}
         <div class="left">
-          <form method="{{ method or 'POST' }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}">
+          <form method="{{ method }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}">
             <input type="hidden" name="q" value="{{ q|e }}">
             {%- for category in selected_categories -%}
               <input type="hidden" name="category_{{ category }}" value="1">
diff --git a/searx/templates/simple/elements/corrections.html b/searx/templates/simple/elements/corrections.html
index 57556b43f..570fb76e1 100644
--- a/searx/templates/simple/elements/corrections.html
+++ b/searx/templates/simple/elements/corrections.html
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
       <h4 id="corrections-title">{{ _('Try searching for:') }}</h4>
       {% for correction in corrections %}
       <div class="left">
-	      <form method="{{ method or 'POST' }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}" role="navigation">
+	      <form method="{{ method }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}" role="navigation">
           {% for category in selected_categories %}
           <input type="hidden" name="category_{{ category }}" value="1">
           {% endfor %}
diff --git a/searx/templates/simple/elements/infobox.html b/searx/templates/simple/elements/infobox.html
index 4d75ad802..f8e02ad9d 100644
--- a/searx/templates/simple/elements/infobox.html
+++ b/searx/templates/simple/elements/infobox.html
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
         <div>
           <h3><bdi>{{ topic.name }}</bdi></h3>
           {%- for suggestion in topic.suggestions -%}
-            <form method="{{ method or 'POST' }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}">
+            <form method="{{ method }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}">
               <input type="hidden" name="q" value="{{ suggestion }}">
               <input type="hidden" name="time_range" value="{{ time_range }}">
               <input type="hidden" name="language" value="{{ current_language }}">
diff --git a/searx/templates/simple/elements/suggestions.html b/searx/templates/simple/elements/suggestions.html
index e847578d7..7ad6f7061 100644
--- a/searx/templates/simple/elements/suggestions.html
+++ b/searx/templates/simple/elements/suggestions.html
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
     <summary class="title" id="suggestions-title">{{ _('Suggestions') }}</summary>
     <ul class="wrapper">
       {%- for suggestion in suggestions -%}
-      <li><form method="{{ method or 'POST' }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}">
+      <li><form method="{{ method }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}">
           <input type="hidden" name="q" value="{{ suggestion.url }}">
           {%- for category in selected_categories -%}
             <input type="hidden" name="category_{{ category }}" value="1">
diff --git a/searx/templates/simple/results.html b/searx/templates/simple/results.html
index 18a6c6bfa..d40b69bfb 100644
--- a/searx/templates/simple/results.html
+++ b/searx/templates/simple/results.html
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
     {% if paging %}
     <nav id="pagination" role="navigation">
         {% if pageno > 1 %}
-            <form method="{{ method or 'POST' }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}" class="previous_page">
+            <form method="{{ method }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}" class="previous_page">
                 <div class="{% if rtl %}right{% else %}left{% endif %}">
                   <input type="hidden" name="q" value="{{ q|e }}" >
                   {% for category in selected_categories %}
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@
             </form>
         {% endif %}
         {%- if results | count > 0 -%}
-          <form method="{{ method or 'POST' }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}" class="next_page">
+          <form method="{{ method }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}" class="next_page">
               <div class="{% if rtl %}left{% else %}right{% endif %}">
                 <input type="hidden" name="q" value="{{ q|e }}" >
                 {% for category in selected_categories %}
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@
 
         <div class="numbered_pagination">
         {% for x in range(pstart, pend) %}
-            <form method="{{ method or 'POST' }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}" class="page_number">
+            <form method="{{ method }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}" class="page_number">
                 <input type="hidden" name="q" value="{{ q|e }}" >
                 {% for category in selected_categories %}
                 <input type="hidden" name="category_{{ category }}" value="1" >
diff --git a/searx/templates/simple/search.html b/searx/templates/simple/search.html
index 180c56160..a91a0a54b 100644
--- a/searx/templates/simple/search.html
+++ b/searx/templates/simple/search.html
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<form id="search" method="{{ method or 'POST' }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}" role="search">
+<form id="search" method="{{ method }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}" role="search">
   <div id="search_header">
     <a id="search_logo" href="{{ url_for('index') }}" tabindex="0" title="{{ _('Display the front page') }}">
       <span hidden>SearXNG</span>
diff --git a/searx/templates/simple/simple_search.html b/searx/templates/simple/simple_search.html
index af533e6e0..0d95daa28 100644
--- a/searx/templates/simple/simple_search.html
+++ b/searx/templates/simple/simple_search.html
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-<form id="search" method="{{ method or 'POST' }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}" role="search">
+<form id="search" method="{{ method }}" action="{{ url_for('search') }}" role="search">
   <div id="search_header">
     <div id="search_view">
       <div class="search_box">
diff --git a/searx/webapp.py b/searx/webapp.py
index 07ef06078..3be042ba5 100755
--- a/searx/webapp.py
+++ b/searx/webapp.py
@@ -1195,7 +1195,7 @@ def opensearch():
         method = 'GET'
 
     if method not in ('POST', 'GET'):
-        method = 'POST'
+        method = 'GET'
 
     ret = render('opensearch.xml', opensearch_method=method, autocomplete=autocomplete)
     resp = Response(response=ret, status=200, mimetype="application/opensearchdescription+xml")