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Update 105.0 focus on address bar on startup

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My Firefox (Windows 10) updated to 105.0 this morning. I have https://www.google.co.uk/ as my homepage and Firefox always used to focus on the Google webpage search bar on startup.

Now it focuses on the address bar instead (i.e. https://www.google.co.uk/ is selected). How can I make it focus on the webpage search bar on startup again instead?

I already found this thread from last year https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1334131 and tried changing browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar to false but it didn't have any noticeable effect and the issue is still present.

Many thanks.

My Firefox (Windows 10) updated to 105.0 this morning. I have https://www.google.co.uk/ as my homepage and Firefox always used to focus on the Google webpage search bar on startup. Now it focuses on the address bar instead (i.e. https://www.google.co.uk/ is selected). How can I make it focus on the webpage search bar on startup again instead? I already found this thread from last year https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1334131 and tried changing '''browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar''' to '''false''' but it didn't have any noticeable effect and the issue is still present. Many thanks.

Modified by puzzled42

All Replies (7)

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There's another recent thread mentioning the same 'change'; that is evidently not new for some users. The preference you mention changes where typing takes place, not the location of the cursor.

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Thank you Terry, I have now found this thread https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1390064 and assume it is the one you are referring to. I see that altering the preference did not help the other person either and I will disregard it on your advice. I have clicked the "I have this problem, too" button on the thread.

I would like to know if this changed behaviour in 105.0 was intentional by Mozilla and if there is any way to revert it. If not, I request that an option be added in a future release to focus on the webpage rather than the address bar on startup.

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Yes having the same issue after updating this morning, very annoying having to click on web search bar all the time. The usual outdated fixes for this do not work.

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Chosen Solution

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See also:

  • /questions/1390064 I have google set as my homepage and cursor goes to address bar instead of google search box
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That's good news, thanks again Terry. For ease of reference, the change will be reverted in the 105.0.1 release by 4th October according to the Bugzilla link.

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I see an update today has fixed the issue :-))