Windows 10 reached EOS (end of support) on October 14, 2025. If you are on Windows 10, see this article.

Søg i 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.

Læs mere

Does it have an privacy implications to use the search functionality in the Firefox Address bar?

  • 1 svar
  • 1 har dette problem
  • 177 visninger
  • Seneste svar af philipp
  • Arkiveret

In Firefox it is possible to perform a web search directly in the address bar, without having to go to a search engine first. If one choose to use the address bar for search, the preferred search engine one has chosen in Firefox automatically performs the search. However, does this have any privacy implications? Since, if one performs a web search in the address bar, and one has for example Google as default search, will "everything" in the search bar be sent to Google, and not just the normal web searches?

Let me explain better: if one performs a search, the search is sent to Google (or another search engine if one preferres that). But let's say I type "facebook.com" or "support.mozilla.org" and go directly to that page, will this information be sent to Google as well? Making Google or another search engine able to follow one around the web, recording every website one visits? Or is this not the case?

In Firefox it is possible to perform a web search directly in the address bar, without having to go to a search engine first. If one choose to use the address bar for search, the preferred search engine one has chosen in Firefox automatically performs the search. However, does this have any privacy implications? Since, if one performs a web search in the address bar, and one has for example Google as default search, will "everything" in the search bar be sent to Google, and not just the normal web searches? Let me explain better: if one performs a search, the search is sent to Google (or another search engine if one preferres that). But let's say I type "facebook.com" or "support.mozilla.org" and go directly to that page, will this information be sent to Google as well? Making Google or another search engine able to follow one around the web, recording every website one visits? Or is this not the case?

Alle svar (1)

hi Mountains, the search engine will only be used as a fallback in the address bar, in case what you have typed does not resemble a valid url...