How do I set Firefox 55.0.3 (64-bit) to show tab search engine same as home page not google
Can't find a way to change search engine for new tabs. Some forums suggest changing value of browser.newtab.url but this is not available in 55.0.3 . I would have thought it obvious the majority of users would want tabs to open with the chosen default search engine so why is this not implimented and how do I get rid of Google from tabs. Thanks peterT
All Replies (4)
Hi, for security reasons, you need to use an add-on to make changes to the New Tab page.
You can try
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/new-tab-homepage/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/new-tab-override/
You may need to restart Firefox for any changes to take effect.
If your question is resolved by this or another answer, please take a minute to let us know. Thank you.
Thanks for info but both these add-ons are by paid contribution. Don't intend to pay for a feature which should be part of standard software had it been written intelligently. Most users will obviously want tabs to open with chosen home page search engine. Suspect this has been blocked as part of a financial arrangement with Google in the cause of their World Domination programme not for security reasons as suggested. Peter T
PeterTfox said
Thanks for info but both these add-ons are by paid contribution.
You don't have to pay for these add-ons at all - if you want to make a donation : great, but absolutely not obligatory.
Suspect this has been blocked as part of a financial arrangement with Google in the cause of their World Domination programme not for security reasons as suggested.
Firefox no longer uses the 'browser.newtab.url' setting in 'about:config' because it was constantly attacked by malware - just has your best interest at heart ......
Why don't you just give those add-ons, as suggested by Scribe, a try ?
I tried to. Can't see any obvious way of downloading these add-ons without making a contribution. Can't see any direct download tab and when you open the contributions tab and click 'no thanks' nothing happens - so then what?
To ask a simple question - why does Mozilla open tabs with Google and not the users search engine of choice? I can't believe Mozilla's software programmers are so unskilled they can't achieve this obvious behaviour. Anyway, I've solved the problem by other means. I subsequently went to my favourite search engine and downloaded their own free add-on which solved the problem. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-for-firefox/ Bottom line is after many years with Mozilla I'm now seriously considering alternate browsers. Thanks Peter T