This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

address & search bar not working

  • 4 replies
  • 6 have this problem
  • 2 views
  • Last reply by cdnkevin

more options

When I open Firefox 10.0.2 and try to enter a URL address in teh address bar it seems like the address bar isn't responding: I don't see the characters that I've typed. The same thing is true for the search bar. What does work are the 'close', 'restore down', 'minimize', and the orange 'firefox' buttons.

What I did was uninstall Firefox and reinstall it. I didn't have much saved or linked to it so it didn't matter to me. What I noticed after reinstalling is that the problem has remained.

When I close and open firefox in safe mode it seems like the address and search bar are working properly.

How can I get Firefox to work properly in 'normal mode'?

When I open Firefox 10.0.2 and try to enter a URL address in teh address bar it seems like the address bar isn't responding: I don't see the characters that I've typed. The same thing is true for the search bar. What does work are the 'close', 'restore down', 'minimize', and the orange 'firefox' buttons. What I did was uninstall Firefox and reinstall it. I didn't have much saved or linked to it so it didn't matter to me. What I noticed after reinstalling is that the problem has remained. When I close and open firefox in safe mode it seems like the address and search bar are working properly. How can I get Firefox to work properly in 'normal mode'?

Chosen solution

Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance/Themes).

Issue with the location bar not working can be caused by the AVG Safe Search extension

If it does work in Safe-mode then disable all extensions and then try to find which is causing it by enabling one at a time until the problem reappears.

  • Use "Disable all add-ons" on the Safe mode start window to disable all extensions.
  • Close and restart Firefox after each change via "File > Exit" (Mac: "Firefox > Quit"; Linux: "File > Quit")
Read this answer in context 👍 3

All Replies (4)

more options

Chosen Solution

Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Appearance/Themes).

Issue with the location bar not working can be caused by the AVG Safe Search extension

If it does work in Safe-mode then disable all extensions and then try to find which is causing it by enabling one at a time until the problem reappears.

  • Use "Disable all add-ons" on the Safe mode start window to disable all extensions.
  • Close and restart Firefox after each change via "File > Exit" (Mac: "Firefox > Quit"; Linux: "File > Quit")
more options

Hi, I can start FF in safe mode and evverything seems to be working fine.

I an running on the default theme so no switch was needed (note, default theme 10.0.2 was also disabld when starting in safe mode).

I only have two add-ons: Java console 6.0.31 & McAfee Scriptscan for firefox 14.4.1. When both add-ons are disabled everything is good, but when either one, or both of the add-ons are enabled, then I have the issues.

more options

If you have the problem with either of the two extensions that you have enabled then that leaves no choice then to disable .both extensions.

You do not need the Java Console extension.
You only need the Java Console extension (Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) if you want to check and debug Java applets.
So you can safely keep the Java Console extension disabled or remove it.

If McAfee software isn't working properly then you need to take that up with McAfee and ask advice on their support forum.

more options

You might not believe this - but after I did those steps and went though enabling and diabling the add-ons, and them started my computer today - everything works fine.

I'l take of the java console extension, because I don't use it for debugging, and if it's not needed for Java to function I don't really want it.

Thanks!