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How do I get the old search toolbar back?

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Yesterday, I'm assuming Firefox updated without asking or telling me, and now the way that my search toolbar functions is totally different. I don't like it. I want to be able to use the old search bar, where you can click the arrow by the magnifying glass logo to chose from a very simple list of search engines to set the search bar to. I don't want to pick one default and then chose a different one every time I want to use a different one. Sometimes I need to look a lot of things in a row up on Wikipedia, and it's a lot easier to just set the search bar to Wikipedia once and continue searching there, without having to go into preferences and change my default, or without having to chose Wikipedia every single time I search. This is ridiculous, the search bar wasn't broken, and I don't see any reason why I should have to chose between using a crappy inferior version of a very simple straightforward toolbar or going back to the old version and being vulnerable to security threats. I also don't want the top of my screen loaded up with an add-on toolbar. I just want Firefox to function the way it functioned yesterday. Please tell me there is a way to change it back to the way it was yesterday without putting myself at risk.

Yesterday, I'm assuming Firefox updated without asking or telling me, and now the way that my search toolbar functions is totally different. I don't like it. I want to be able to use the old search bar, where you can click the arrow by the magnifying glass logo to chose from a very simple list of search engines to set the search bar to. I don't want to pick one default and then chose a different one every time I want to use a different one. Sometimes I need to look a lot of things in a row up on Wikipedia, and it's a lot easier to just set the search bar to Wikipedia once and continue searching there, without having to go into preferences and change my default, or without having to chose Wikipedia every single time I search. This is ridiculous, the search bar wasn't broken, and I don't see any reason why I should have to chose between using a crappy inferior version of a very simple straightforward toolbar or going back to the old version and being vulnerable to security threats. I also don't want the top of my screen loaded up with an add-on toolbar. I just want Firefox to function the way it functioned yesterday. Please tell me there is a way to change it back to the way it was yesterday without putting myself at risk.

All Replies (7)

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I may have been slightly unclear, the reason I bring up the toolbar across the top that I don't want, is because I did find that I can download an add-on that returns the old add-on toolbar that use to be there, which would probably also restore the old search toolbar, but I don't want the extra add-on toolbar.

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You can revert to the previous Search Bar scheme like this.

Open up about:config (typed in the Location Bar) Right-click and toggle this preference to false

browser.search.showOneOffButtons

Then restart Firefox.

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shaggytheshaman said

Yesterday, I'm assuming Firefox updated without asking or telling me, and now the way that my search toolbar functions is totally different. I don't like it. I want to be able to use the old search bar, where you can click the arrow by the magnifying glass logo to chose from a very simple list of search engines to set the search bar to. I don't want to pick one default and then chose a different one every time I want to use a different one. Sometimes I need to look a lot of things in a row up on Wikipedia, and it's a lot easier to just set the search bar to Wikipedia once and continue searching there, without having to go into preferences and change my default, or without having to chose Wikipedia every single time I search. This is ridiculous, the search bar wasn't broken, and I don't see any reason why I should have to chose between using a crappy inferior version of a very simple straightforward toolbar or going back to the old version and being vulnerable to security threats. I also don't want the top of my screen loaded up with an add-on toolbar. I just want Firefox to function the way it functioned yesterday. Please tell me there is a way to change it back to the way it was yesterday without putting myself at risk.
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shaggytheshaman said

Yesterday, I'm assuming Firefox updated without asking or telling me, and now the way that my search toolbar functions is totally different. I don't like it. I want to be able to use the old search bar, where you can click the arrow by the magnifying glass logo to chose from a very simple list of search engines to set the search bar to. I don't want to pick one default and then chose a different one every time I want to use a different one. Sometimes I need to look a lot of things in a row up on Wikipedia, and it's a lot easier to just set the search bar to Wikipedia once and continue searching there, without having to go into preferences and change my default, or without having to chose Wikipedia every single time I search. This is ridiculous, the search bar wasn't broken, and I don't see any reason why I should have to chose between using a crappy inferior version of a very simple straightforward toolbar or going back to the old version and being vulnerable to security threats. I also don't want the top of my screen loaded up with an add-on toolbar. I just want Firefox to function the way it functioned yesterday. Please tell me there is a way to change it back to the way it was yesterday without putting myself at risk.
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I tried the about:config solution and what comes up when R click is completely different...tried several times. Is your solution for Win 8? I have Win 7...does this make a difference? If not can you possibly make your instructions more specific? Thanks for the effort...

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There is no menu item for Toggle?

If that is the case, please provide a screenshot of what you see.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-create-screenshot-my-problem

It is best to use a compressed image type like PNG or JPG to save the screenshot and make sure that you do not exceed a maximum file size of 1 MB.
Then use the Browse .... button below the Post a Reply text box to upload the screenshot.
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I followed the instructions,

    Open up about:config (typed in the Location Bar) 
    Right-click and toggle this preference to false
     browser.search.showOneOffButtons
     Then restart Firefox. 

and toggled the preference to False, then closed Firefox and restarted.

There was no apparent change after restart.

I checked in about:config to make sure that it was now set to false.

Do I have to make some other selection to make the "multiple search engine choice" search box re-appear?

I'm using Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1.