Add or remove a search engine in Firefox
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- Creator: AliceWyman
- Comment: a few more edits
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- Reviewed by: AliceWyman
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- Readied for localization by: AliceWyman
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Firefox comes with a number of available search engines by default. Many websites offer search engines that you can add to Firefox. This allows you to search with that website's search engine, directly from your Firefox address bar or Search bar. This article explains how to add or remove the search engines that Firefox uses.
- To change other search settings, see Change your default search settings in Firefox .
Table of Contents
Add a search engine from the Search bar
Firefox offers an optional Seach bar. See Add the Search bar to your Firefox toolbar to add it to Firefox.
- Visit a website that offers a search engine (we'll use youtube.com as an example).
- Click the magnifying glass on the Search bar and then click on
The search engine will appear in your built-in search options.
Add a search engine from the address bar
When you visit a website that offers a search engine, you can add it from the address bar Page actions menu.
- Click the Page actions (3-dot) button on the address bar.
- Select from the menu.
Add search engine discovery to the address bar
Right-clickHold down the control key while you click the Page Actions menu item that indicates an available search engine (as shown above for YouTube) and select "Add to Address Bar". A search engine icon will be added to the address bar. When you visit a different site that offers a search engine (such as www.yahoo.com) then an icon for that site will appear in the address bar.
You can click on the website icon in the address bar to add the search engine.
Search engine add-ons
Many providers also offer add-ons that let you add even more search engines. To add additional search engines to Firefox:
- Open the Search panel in Firefox Settings
using one of these methods:
- Click the magnifying glass on the Search bar and then click .
- In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click and then select or , depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button and select In the Settings tab that opens, click on . in the left pane.
- At the bottom of the Search panel, click on the Find more search engines link.
- Select the search add-on you want to install and click .
Hide search engines
Follow these steps to remove alternative search engines you don't want to use.
- Open the Search panel in Firefox Settings
using one of these methods:
- Click the magnifying glass on the Search bar and then click .
- In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click and then select or , depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button and select In the Settings tab that opens, click on . in the left pane.
- Under One-click search engines, remove the check mark next to each search engine you don't want to use.
Remove search engines
To remove a search engine, follow these steps:
- Open the Search panel in Firefox Settings
using one of these methods:
- Click the magnifying glass on the Search bar and then click .
- In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click and then select or , depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button and select In the Settings tab that opens, click on . in the left pane.
- Under One-click search engines, click on the search engine you want to remove.
- Click the button to take it off your list.
Adding back a removed search engine
If you remove a search engine that you added yourself and you change your mind, you'll have to add it back again, either from the address bar or by reinstalling the Search engine add-on (see above).
If you remove any of the default search engines that are built into Firefox, you'll have to go to your Firefox Settings panel and click the button in the One-click search engines section to bring them back.