How to enable search scope dropdown in SharePoint 2010? Example All Site Search, Current Site and People Search as a dropdown.
By default when you create sites in SharePoint 2010, your search will only allow you to search current site
To enable search scope dropdown in SharePoint 2010, please follow the instructions.
1. Go to Site Actions | Site Settings | Site Collection Administration | Search Settings |
2. By default it will say Do not use custom scope. Use only contextual scopes (such as “This Site”). Display results in the site collection
search results page configured below. This is the reason we are not able to see the search scope dropdown in SharePoint 2010 sites.
3. To enable custom search scope, check “ Enable Custom Search Scope” and enter the search URL. Your search URL should be
/search/pages/default.aspx and specify the dropdown mode for search boxes. Click ok and go back to your site
4. Now you will see a drop down list in SharePoint 2010 sites
Aryan Nava 
Excellent, Thank You
Thanks. It was really helpful.
Thank you! It’s useful for me!
It was great. You don’t need default.aspx at the end of the url otherwise search doesn’t work. Url should be /search/pages/ not /search/pages/default.aspx. Thanks again for the article.