diff --git a/searx/preferences.py b/searx/preferences.py
index 92fe3853..d10f4ffc 100644
--- a/searx/preferences.py
+++ b/searx/preferences.py
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
+from base64 import urlsafe_b64encode, urlsafe_b64decode
+from zlib import compress, decompress
+from sys import version
+
 from searx import settings, autocomplete
 from searx.languages import language_codes as languages
-from searx.url_utils import urlencode
+from searx.url_utils import parse_qs, urlencode
+
+if version[0] == '3':
+    unicode = str
 
 
 COOKIE_MAX_AGE = 60 * 60 * 24 * 365 * 5  # 5 years
@@ -279,7 +286,11 @@ class Preferences(object):
         settings_kv['disabled_plugins'] = ','.join(self.plugins.disabled)
         settings_kv['enabled_plugins'] = ','.join(self.plugins.enabled)
 
-        return urlencode(settings_kv)
+        return urlsafe_b64encode(compress(urlencode(settings_kv).encode('utf-8'))).decode('utf-8')
+
+    def parse_encoded_data(self, input_data):
+        decoded_data = decompress(urlsafe_b64decode(input_data.encode('utf-8')))
+        self.parse_dict({x: y[0] for x,y in parse_qs(unicode(decoded_data)).items()})
 
     def parse_dict(self, input_data):
         for user_setting_name, user_setting in input_data.items():
diff --git a/searx/templates/oscar/preferences.html b/searx/templates/oscar/preferences.html
index 64706b06..f4b2c63e 100644
--- a/searx/templates/oscar/preferences.html
+++ b/searx/templates/oscar/preferences.html
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@
         {{ _("These cookies serve your sole convenience, we don't use these cookies to track you.") }}
         </p>
         <p style="margin:20px 0;">{{ _('Search URL of the currently saved preferences') }} <small class="text-muted">({{ _('Note: specifying custom settings in the search URL can reduce privacy by leaking data to the clicked result sites.') }})</small>:<br/>
-          <input readonly="" class="form-control select-all-on-click cursor-text" type="url" value="{{ url_for('index', _external=True) }}?{{ preferences_url_params|e }}{% raw %}&amp;q=%s{% endraw %}">
+          <input readonly="" class="form-control select-all-on-click cursor-text" type="url" value="{{ url_for('index', _external=True) }}?preferences={{ preferences_url_params|e }}{% raw %}&amp;q=%s{% endraw %}">
         </p>
 
         <input type="submit" class="btn btn-primary" value="{{ _('save') }}" />
diff --git a/searx/url_utils.py b/searx/url_utils.py
index e9919ab3..dcafc3ba 100644
--- a/searx/url_utils.py
+++ b/searx/url_utils.py
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@ from sys import version_info
 
 if version_info[0] == 2:
     from urllib import quote, quote_plus, unquote, urlencode
-    from urlparse import parse_qsl, urljoin, urlparse, urlunparse, ParseResult
+    from urlparse import parse_qs, parse_qsl, urljoin, urlparse, urlunparse, ParseResult
 else:
     from urllib.parse import (
+        parse_qs,
         parse_qsl,
         quote,
         quote_plus,
@@ -17,7 +18,8 @@ else:
     )
 
 
-__export__ = (parse_qsl,
+__export__ = (parse_qs,
+              parse_qsl,
               quote,
               quote_plus,
               unquote,
diff --git a/searx/webapp.py b/searx/webapp.py
index f90299b2..dd93395e 100644
--- a/searx/webapp.py
+++ b/searx/webapp.py
@@ -403,11 +403,15 @@ def pre_request():
     for k, v in request.args.items():
         if k not in request.form:
             request.form[k] = v
-    try:
-        preferences.parse_dict(request.form)
-    except Exception as e:
-        logger.exception('invalid settings')
-        request.errors.append(gettext('Invalid settings'))
+
+    if request.form.get('preferences'):
+        preferences.parse_encoded_data(request.form['preferences'])
+    else:
+        try:
+            preferences.parse_dict(request.form)
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.exception('invalid settings')
+            request.errors.append(gettext('Invalid settings'))
 
     # request.user_plugins
     request.user_plugins = []