How do I set "browser.search.defaultenginename.US" to a null string or at least a website that doesn't exist to prevent searching from the URL bar?
I haven't been able to eliminate Wikipedia (or any other that I choose to remove last) as a default search engine. I can never eliminate the last one because "remove" is greyed out when only one remains. If I go to about:config and set "browser.search.defaultenginename.US" to the empty string or to something like "swedkfilkkt" it seems to need a restart to take effect. If I then quit Firefox and restart, it is back again with a value of "Wikipedia (en)".
If I type nonsense into the URL tab currently (e.g. xserdifkings) I get a wikipedia search for "xserdifkings" instead of a response from the browser that it cannot handle protocol "xserdifkings" as should happen. This is an obvious security flaw because I might type a password into the wrong field of a page and end up searching for it, for instance, which creates a permanent record of my password somewhere, and it could be entered into a dictionary at some future time, which means I need to create and remember a new password.
I have sadly been forced to upgrade to Firefox 36.0.4 for various reasons, although I am also looking into the security required to use earlier and better versions which might solve the problem, and I am running OSX 10.6.7. I need something that will work with this combination.
All Replies (4)
You can set the keyword.enabled to disable searching via the location/address bar
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/awesome-bar-search-firefox-bookmarks-history-tabs
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/search-web-address-bar
If you do not keep changes after a restart or otherwise have problems with preferences, see:
After, restore the search engines. Or at least some of them. At some point, you may want to do a search.
Type about:support in the address bar and press enter.
Under the page logo on the left side you will see Application Basics. Under this find Profile Folder. To it’s right press the button Show Folder. This will open your file browser to the current Firefox profile. Now Close Firefox.
Delete the search.json file and possible search-metadata.json and search.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder to reset the search engines to the default.
I think intentionally removing all search engines might be something the developers didn't test. Hopefully cor-el's suggestion about disabling searching from the address bar will resolve your concerns and work around this missing feature.
I should mention as well that you can break a search plugin by editing the path in it from the real host name (e.g., en.wikipedia.org) to localhost. Firefox then will send the search to your computer, which will not respond. Hopefully that won't be necessary.