Each time I open Firefox I find that there are no Search Engines in the Search Bar and I have to reset or start in Safe mode to get them to reappear. Why?
There are no Search EnginSearch Bar at the top right of the page and none appear when i try to restore defaults or manage the search engines. To get the Search Bar back i usually have to reset Firefox or start in Safe mode, but that doesnm looking for a solution to this problem.
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It was a conversion tool - Vixy Freecorder. Not sure if that was the cause, but I've uninstalled it and not had any problems since.
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It could be the work of one of your add-ons, or even add / mal-ware. Look thru your add-ons list and make sure you know what each one is there for. Also, check the programs that are on your computer Windows > Start > Control Panel > Uninstall Programs. Go thru the list and use a web search to check any that you don't know what they are.
Try to delete the search.json file and possible search-metadata.json and search.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder to reset the search engines to the default.
Firefox will rebuild the search.json file from the default search engines in the "browser\searchplugins" folder in the Firefox program and the searchplugins folder in the Firefox profile folder.
You can check for problems with preferences.
Delete a possible user.js file and numbered prefs-##.js files and rename (or delete) the prefs.js file to reset all prefs to the default value including prefs set via user.js and prefs that are no longer supported in the current Firefox release.
You can use this button to go to the currently used Firefox profile folder:
- Help > Troubleshooting Information > Profile Directory: Show Folder (Linux: Open Directory; Mac: Show in Finder)
If you have software like Advanced SystemCare that might reset some files to older versions to protect these files against changes then check the settings or uninstall this software.
I notice in the release notes for the "Add to Search Bar" extension that there was a problem with earlier versions removing your search engines, but that should be fixed in the version you have. Maybe it's not completely fixed?
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/add-to-search-bar/versions/
I am using "Add to Search Bar," and never had a problem.
Thanks for your help. I couldn't find any malware but I've have deleted an add on and disabled the 'Add to Search Bar 2.5' Extension, and that seems to have solved the problem.
What add-on?
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It was a conversion tool - Vixy Freecorder. Not sure if that was the cause, but I've uninstalled it and not had any problems since.