Search 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.

Learn More

search suggestions doesn't work on address bar but does work on search bar in tool bar

more options

tried turning on and off but no results, like mentioned above it works when I select to add search to the tool bar

tried turning on and off but no results, like mentioned above it works when I select to add search to the tool bar

All Replies (9)

more options

Hi moviecam, do you get other kinds of suggestions from history, bookmarks, or currently open tabs -- only search engine suggestions are missing?

Is the separate checkbox for search suggestions in the address bar checked? That's on the Preferences page, either:

  • Mac: "3-bar" menu button (or Firefox menu) > Preferences
  • Windows: "3-bar" menu button (or Tools menu) > Options
  • Linux: "3-bar" menu button (or Edit menu) > Preferences
  • Any system: type or paste about:preferences into the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it

In the left column, click Search, then below the Default Search Engine setting, you can check the boxes in the Search Suggestions section:

<center></center>
more options

hi jscher2000, thanks for the reply I'm adding a screen shot, nothing at all shows up when address bar is selected

more options

Hi moviecam, the only other checkbox is for private windows. Is it possible you're using a private window? You could test that checkbox to see whether it makes any difference.

If your drop-down never shows anything, unfortunately that can indicate some corruption in the database which stores bookmarks and history. As a first step toward diagnosis, could you let us know what you get when you run the "Verify Integrity" function, and whether it helps at all? That's here:

Open Firefox's Troubleshooting Information page using any of these methods:

  • "3-bar" menu button > "?" Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • (menu bar) Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Return

Near the bottom, there is a section titled Places Database -- that's the file which stores history and bookmarks. Click the button labeled Verify Integrity. There may be a 10-15 second delay before results appear.

If all is well, the report that appears below the button should start with:

> Task: checkIntegrity
+ The places.sqlite database is sane
+ The favicons.sqlite database is sane

Does yours say that, or something else? You can select and copy the report, and then paste it into a reply for review and comment.

more options

attaching copy of the report

more options

That's bad news! The usual workaround is to delete the database file, which removes all of your history. Then Firefox should rebuild the file from your last bookmark backup. If that doesn't work, there's a risk of having to use an older backup or worst case scenario lose your bookmarks.

Sometimes this problem is caused by another program accessing the file so Firefox is locked out. You could test whether doing a normal Firefox Quit, and then a normal shutdown and restart of your Mac helps free the file so Firefox has full access again. Worth a try first.

more options

my history and bookmarks work fine on my macbook, is there a way to transfer that database?

more options

moviecam said

my history and bookmarks work fine on my macbook, is there a way to transfer that database?

Probably. I'm a Windows person, so I can't detail all the steps, but these files would be needed:

  • places.sqlite -- tables of bookmarked and visited sites
  • favicons.sqlite -- site icons for those sites

More info: Recovering important data from an old profile

more options

I'd like to get guidance from a mac user, when it comes to databases I don't want to mess anything up

more options

Hi moviecam:

I have 3 Macs and 3 Windows computers, sounds like you have 2 Macs. Is that right?

I've never actually done this i.e. the manual restore from a backup on Mac or Windows of sqlite files. I just use Firefox Sync with the computers that are working. i.e. when I run into issues (which is what once or twice in over 10 years?) I do the following

1. Make sure the computer(s) that are working are syncing with Firefox Sync 2. Firefox Refresh on the computer that isn't working 3. Login into Sync and wait and few moments on the computer in #2 and then usually everything is back to normal on computer in #2.

Perhaps that will help?

If not the profiles are identical in terms of which files are in which directory (obviously Mac uses "/" instead of "\") on Mac and Windows, and perhaps the Mac specific version of the article that jscher2000 mentioned will be helpful

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recovering-important-data-from-an-old-profile#firefox:mac:fx73

Cheers!

...Roland