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Web Search Box on Firefox Home Page No Longer Works

paulberetta
paulberetta
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Firefox updated itself this morning to Version 89.0(64-bit) on my Windows 10 desktop. Now, when I open a new tab and start to type an search term into the search box on the Firefox home page on that tab, it begins typing in the address bar instead. Is this the new normal, or a glitch?

Firefox updated itself this morning to Version 89.0(64-bit) on my Windows 10 desktop. Now, when I open a new tab and start to type an search term into the search box on the Firefox home page on that tab, it begins typing in the address bar instead. Is this the new normal, or a glitch?

Chosen solution

No, it's normal. But you can turn it off by going to about:config and switching browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar to false.

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All Replies (4)

TyDraniu
TyDraniu
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Chosen Solution

No, it's normal. But you can turn it off by going to about:config and switching browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar to false.

BethOwl
BethOwl
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Sorry, do what? Go where??

TyDraniu
TyDraniu
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Enter about:config in the URL bar.

daniel.22.landry
daniel.22.landry
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It worked, but seems a bit sketchy, I got a warning "Changing these preferences can impact Firefox performance or security."

Please add as a REAL option, I've used this method of search since forever and never liked the address bar search, plus some searches just don't work in address bar as they'll send you direct to a website instead of providing search results.