hi, that preference was only there for a transitional phase and never intended to be maintained for longer unfortunately (originally it was even planned to drop it in version 38).

See also:

• bug 1119250 - Remove the old searchbar UI

Please do not comment in bug reports
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/page.cgi?id=etiquette.html

So is the "fix" to go back to version 42 which, as I recall, did permit the user to use the old style Search bar?

this isn't a real fix either as it will only drag out the inevitable a couple of weeks. please see if there are any extensions that can tweak the search box to your liking if you cannot get accustomed to the new default behaviour...

I've already reverted to Dev Edition version 42. Yep, the old style search bar is there alright. Barring some means of getting back the functionality I want (as stated, Classic Theme Restorer no longer can do it), no more upgrades for me.

The real fix may be to at some point simply walk away from Mozilla and Firefox. But since I've been reminded not to add comments to "bugs" (their categorization, not mine), I'll leave it at that.

Classic Theme Restorer Version 1.4.1beta1 included a new feature for that. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/classicthemerestorer/versions/

[new option > General UI (1)] Fx43+: Old Search (experimental) --> http://i.imgur.com/FxuFPtg.png -- old 'search manager window' does not get restored by this (use search configuration in about:preferences#search area)

I don't user the Dev Edition or CTR so I can't confirm if or how well it is working.

> "Classic Theme Restorer Version 1.4.1beta1 included a new feature"

Thanks. As stated, as of today the non-beta instance of Classic Theme Restorer doesn't display the Advanced --> Search Appearance option in FF Dev Edition 43. I'll stand by for the updated version of the addon to become available, then test in a VM so I can throw the setup away if FF Dev Edition's Search bar remains broken.

RBV said

I've already reverted to Dev Edition version 42. Yep, the old style search bar is there alright. But since I've been reminded not to add comments to "bugs" (their categorization, not mine), I'll leave it at that.

Firefox 42.0 is currently being worked on the Beta channel actually. The present build is 42.0b2.

Release < Beta < Aurora (aka developer edition) < Nightly

The Aurora and Nightly channel gets checkins almost everyday and therefore gets a update each of those days. The 43.0 was being developed on the Nightly channel and was moved/merged to Aurora channel when Fx 41.0 was Released.

The multi purpose general issues tracker Bugzilla is not a discussion forum like here. The not helpful comments spam (especially ones like "Me too") can actually discourage people who can work on the bug to perhaps spend time on another bug report instead. We call them bugs even though actual bugs with something only make up a part of the whole number of reports on Bugzilla.

RBV said

> "Classic Theme Restorer Version 1.4.1beta1 included a new feature" Thanks. As stated, as of today the non-beta instance of Classic Theme Restorer doesn't display the Advanced --> Search Appearance option in FF Dev Edition 43. I'll stand by for the updated version of the addon to become available, then test in a VM so I can throw the setup away if FF Dev Edition's Search bar remains broken.

I don't get it. You're using an alpha2 level version of 'Firefox', namely Web Developer / Aurora, but you don't want to use a beta version of CTR?

Why fix things that aren't broken and then take away a user's option for preference. Why is going back to the previous style of search box a bug?!!! I spent considerable time setting my search settings and box and just blew a half hour of my morning trying to research this before I found this post. Come on, people! Give us a choice. The new search box design is AWFUL! I may change to a browser where I have the control.

(Running official release of Firefox 43) I'm in the same situation as OP. I've resorted to Classic Theme Restorer's (latest stable release, ver. 1.4.4) Old Search option. Despite it being an experimental feature, it seems to be working smoothly as the old search was in previous versions of FF. I suppose this is the only way to get the old search back in FF 43.

Still, it'd be nice if Firefox brought back browser.search.showOneOffButtons in about:config, for those who still use the old search (seems to be plenty of them). Don't see the reason for switching it out to such a clunky, non-intuitive system.

EDIT: I've decided to revert back to version 42 until they fix this.

Hi FritzofPa and peacats, this "new" search bar design was introduced in Firefox 34 over a year ago. During that time, there have been numerous fixes to it and now the change is final. What is it you don't like about it? Maybe that can be fixed, too.

Hi all. I really don't like this "new search" too :(

I mostly like (or accept) latest changes in Firefox UI, but not search bar. I want return old-style bar as an option for those people who like it.

What is my working style with search: 1. I have many search engines in list. Some search plugins are made by me (I made 7 search plugins and maybe more in future). I always select a search engine before enter a search text. 2. I always want to see which engine is selected now and to have possibility to change it. I want to have full control over this. 3. I have not "default" search engine. I can change an engine many times when i working with browser. 4. Typical working style: choose one engine, make some requests, change to another engine, make some another requests, etc.

Now: 1. I can't even see which engine used now. I see only "Search" word in search bar, no the name of engine. 2. When I want to enter search text, how can choose which engine use to search this text? For example if I want to search not in google (which is "default"), but in wikipedia. 3. If wikipedia is chosen as a search engine, I can't see which wikipedia. I using more than one wikipedias (for different languages). 4. If I click search engine icon in new list, before entering text, it open this site in browser. BUT I don't ask browser to open site, I just want to select search engine. 5. Search suggestions are not related to search engine which I want to select. But I want to see only suggestions from that engine which I want to use for this search request.

What I want change: 1. NO "DEFAULT" SEARCH ENGINE ! Use only that engine, which I selected last time. 2. I want to see in search bar name of current search engine and it's icon. 3. I need full control over which search engine I using for each request. 4. I want to see search suggestions from that search engine (and only from that), which I selected. 5. I want to see engine names in list to select - some engines can have same icons. I have 4 search plugins with same icons, but different names and different request parameters. I have 2 wikipedias for 2 different languages with same icons too.

@jscher2000 I've been using Firefox for a while and ever since they've introduced the new search bar, I've always changed it back with browser.search.showOneOffButtons. With the old design I liked being able to see the icon of the search engine I'm using right on the bar. The new design's pop-out grid is annoying, intrusive, and takes up more screen space than it needs to, especially if search suggestions is turned on. You have suggestions ON TOP of the grid of engines to pick from. Another issue this raises is that you don't see suggestions for the right engine UNLESS you have it chosen prior to entering a query - which is frustrating if you have to switch engines from the one that's currently selected. Why the extra clicking?

Like AlexeyS mentioned above, setting a default search engine is inconvenient. I switch between various engines like Google, YouTube, Dictionary.com, and Wikipedia frequently. I noticed that the "Search with [search engine]" option shows up in the location bar too, bumping down the list of suggestions from my history/bookmarks. It's redundant to include that option in the location bar when there's already a separate search bar (that's faster to use) to the right of it. I can just tab into the search bar, type in my query, and hit enter - quick and easy. Hope that cleared it up a little.

Note that you can consider to move the search bar to the "3-bar" menu button drop-down list.

@cor-el Do you mean hiding the search bar in the pop out menu? I still want the functionality of a search bar on my main screen. Stuffing it away in the menu doesn't exactly address the issues with the new search bar's functionality and design.

Whoa, I just read on another forum that now you can right-click a different search engine plugin to set it as the default. It works! Screen shot attached for reference.

@jscher2000 I appreciate your help but this isn't what I'm looking for. I don't want to have to keep resetting the default search engine every time I switch between them, especially if I'm just going to make one or two searches from that engine (not enough searching to warrant it being the default).

Say I'm reading a forum about music suggestions. I type in a song name, intending to search on YouTube. Assuming I use Google as the default, I have to click/switch the search bar to YouTube. I find another song, and again, have to click/switch to YouTube. Now I want more information on the band's name, so I want to switch to Wikipedia. OK, now I have to click to change engines...and when I'm done with finding songs I have to reset the default engine to Google! This is inconvenient. Why aren't we able to have the search engine set to the last one we used, like it was before? And now we have to go through the hassle of additional clicking to set defaults?

There's more I could say about the issues with the icon-grid design of the new search bar but I'll leave it at that for now. (Unless someone would like to hear it.)

Hi PeaCats, regarding the icon grid, if you prefer a list with the name of the search plugin, I created a user style for that. Example screen shot:

You can apply custom style rules to Firefox's interface using either the Stylish extension or a userChrome.css file. Stylish has the advantage of a convenient Preview feature allowing you to quickly tweak/test, but some people prefer not to add any more extensions.

Stylish: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/stylish/

The style: https://userstyles.org/styles/122214/firefox-search-bar-show-engine-names-firefox-43

@jscher2000 That looks like a step in the right direction, thanks. A few suggestions though:

• is it possible to replace the magnifying glass icon on the left side of the search bar with the icon of the current search engine?
• Can the default engine be automatically set to the last one you used? (I don't know if this is possible with just CSS though)

If those could be implemented, I think we could get as close to the old system as we can. This seems like a lot of tweaking to be done to bring back an old feature though. I don't think many people will be keen on using Stylish/userChrome.css just to bring it back.