"Updated" search bar with Bing search appeared in Tabs today & I can't get rid of it!
PROBLEM SOLVED! This is so embarrassing, but here's what fixed it. I'll leave the question here in case others download the add-on and can't figure out why it's doing what it's doing, but if a mod wants to delete the question I won't mind.
Anyhow, I right clicked on exactly the right spot on the bar and chose Delete, which brought up the add-on tab, which showed an add-on called "Default Tab," restarted Firefox, and now both behaviors are gone--no more search window in the tab bar, and no more search box in new tabs. I must have thought Default Tabs sounded cool, but didn't expect it to do what it did.
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Sometime between Friday and this morning a new search box¬ appeared in Firefox that called itself the “Updated Search Bar” until I tried it the first time. I’d like to avoid resetting Firefox, but if that’s the only way to fix this I guess I’ll have to. All suggestions are welcome.
The box looks much like the default search box except that it has a big orange button on the right saying "Search." It’s located in the tab bar, next to the last tab, taking up valuable real estate if I have more than 4 or 5 tabs open, which I often do. The default “search” is Bing, the other options are things like Facebook and Twitter, and it has no option to manage search engines. It doesn’t appear in my extensions or plugins, and I can’t find information about it anywhere.
BTW, my old search box is still in the navigation bar, and although I haven’t been able to get rid of Bing for the “search” search, I’ve made DuckDuckGo the default by moving it to the top of the list.
Thanks for reading!
Modified by cor-el
Chosen solution
hello,. please go to firefox > addons > extensions & remove any suspicious entries (toolbars, things that you have not installed intentionally, don't know what purpose they serve, etc). also go to the windows control panel / programs and remove all toolbars or potentially unwanted software from there
Remove a toolbar that has taken over your Firefox search or home page Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware
afterwards install the search reset addon - it will revert the most common customizations those adware programs do in firefox back to the default: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/searchreset/
Read this answer in context 👍 2All Replies (12)
PROBLEM SOLVED (see above)
Oh, and now if I open a new tab it has a Bing search bar. Grr!
Modified by litterbug
I have the same search tab that appeared 4/29/13 about the time I was reloading AVG free antivirus. I can't find any spot to right click that lets me delete this search window tab as the first reply suggests. I removed Bling and Firefox and then reloaded Firefox. It didn't help. The search tab came back. Opening a new tab produces a page with a search window and tacky advertising. You are right - it takes up valuable real estate and doesn't shrink as tabs multiply. VERY ANNOYING.
Chosen Solution
hello,. please go to firefox > addons > extensions & remove any suspicious entries (toolbars, things that you have not installed intentionally, don't know what purpose they serve, etc). also go to the windows control panel / programs and remove all toolbars or potentially unwanted software from there
Remove a toolbar that has taken over your Firefox search or home page Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware
afterwards install the search reset addon - it will revert the most common customizations those adware programs do in firefox back to the default: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/searchreset/
Thx. I found the culprits. Went to tools/add-ons/extensions, found the "default" tab described by Litterbug and removed it. That got rid of the tab but new tabs still opened with a search window and schlock advertising. I went back to the add-on manager and disabled "White Smoke New" and "Supreme Savings" and that restored new tab behavior to normal (i.e., new tabs open on a blank page).
Wow i feel so dumb, i was looking in the extensions all day and couldn't find it because i didn't know the name of the plugin, as soon as i saw default tabs in your message it clicked in my head, i have seen default tabs in the extensions and thought it was something else.Thanks man.
I don't get Delete when I click on the far right of the tool bar, and it is still there. Help please.
I also deleted the Default Tab in the Addons.
THANKS.
Yippee...disabled Whitesmoke and it is back to NORMAL.
THANKS so much.
HUGS to all you geniuses.
Where did all these things come from?
hello silversolara, please see How do I prevent malware from being installed?
THANK YOU. So it was malware? GRRRRRRRRRRRR.
I was asked to update my Adobe Flash and I guess it was all in there because a lot of other programs appeared too. I deleted them.
THANK YOU.
There is nothing in my add ons to delete.
Hi traccris, can you ask your own question, it may help us serve you better.