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How do I turn off Google Search on the New Tab page?

IdahoFirefox
IdahoFirefox
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When on the New Tab page the cursor automatically drops into the Google Search field. This forces me to put the cursor BACK into the URL field to type in an address. This is QUITE frustrating and slows down my efforts.

When on the New Tab page the cursor automatically drops into the Google Search field. This forces me to put the cursor BACK into the URL field to type in an address. This is QUITE frustrating and slows down my efforts.

All Replies (2)

ideato
ideato
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Hello IdahoFirefox, check if the problem is the Add Google Search To New Tab Page 1.0.2 extension you have, Try Firefox Safe Mode to see if the problem goes away. Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode, which disables most add-ons.

(If you're not using it, switch to the Default theme.)

  • You can open Firefox 4.0+ in Safe Mode by holding the Shift key when you open the Firefox desktop or Start menu shortcut.
  • Or open the Help menu and click on the Restart with Add-ons Disabled... menu item while Firefox is running.

Once you get the pop-up, just select "'Start in Safe Mode"

If the issue is not present in Firefox Safe Mode, your problem is probably caused by an extension, and you need to figure out which one. Please follow the Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems article for that.

To exit the Firefox Safe Mode, just close Firefox and wait a few seconds before opening Firefox for normal use again.

When you figure out what's causing your issues, please let us know. It might help other users who have the same problem.

Thank you.

IdahoFirefox
IdahoFirefox Question owner
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Well, this is really interesting. My wife was researching something. There was an image that did not have an enlargement option. So, I tried reducing the resolution to make it bigger. I selected one that was not supported and got a black page that said so. The only way I could get my screen back was to reboot with last known good settings. Since I am here that shows I "fixed" that problem. I don't know what else got "fixed" though.

Except one thing.

Now when I go to the new tab screen the Google search bar is GONE.

Yea for me, but that does not help anyone else.

All I can say is to really watch CLOSELY when doing extension updates for Adobe products and similar. They like to auto select those ADD ONs for you and if you don't remember and catch them you get what THEY want you to have. I am guessing that is what happened to me but I am not sure.