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My preffered search engine is Google but everytime I press enter to search for something the results turn up on a Yahoo search engine page.

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  • Last reply by Aine

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I use Mozilla Firefox currently as I have for a few years now. As of today I keep on having this problem with my search engine switching automatically to Yahoo. My preferred search engine is Google. My default browser is set to http://www.google.com/firefox/ in my control panel - internet properties. But...as soon as I type in something to search for and press enter (or search)...the Google page turns in to the Yahoo page along with the search results.

I use Mozilla Firefox currently as I have for a few years now. As of today I keep on having this problem with my search engine switching automatically to Yahoo. My preferred search engine is Google. My default browser is set to http://www.google.com/firefox/ in my control panel - internet properties. But...as soon as I type in something to search for and press enter (or search)...the Google page turns in to the Yahoo page along with the search results.

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You said that your "default browser is set to http://www.google.com/firefox/", but that's not a browser, that's a url. A browser, is a program like "Google Chrome" or "Mozilla Firefox" and sometimes it'll be more specific like "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe". So, we're missing some information here, but that shouldn't matter for this question.

When you type something in to search for, where are you typing? In the location bar, in the search box to the right of the location bar, or somewhere else?

If you type your search criteria into the search box, it'll conduct the search using the selected search provider, regardless of which one is the default. Click the favicon to change the selected search provider.

If you type your search criteria in the location bar, it'll use your default search engine. I don't know where there's a GUI dialog that lets you set it, but if you open about:config in a new tab, and look for the browser.search.defaultenginename key, you can change the value to whichever search engine you want to use.

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I'll try to be specific. After upgrading from FF4 to FF5 the default home page search, the line that is in the middle of the default home page (about:home), under the FF icon, takes me to a Yahoo! search page. Before the update I was taken to Google, which is my preference.

Also, when I select text on any webpage and right click it I have a line in the right click menu which says: "Search Yahoo! for [my selected text]..". This had been: "Search Google for [my selected text]..".

Ghodmode, I used your suggestion re: browser.search.defaultenginename and that change did change the right click menu to "Search Google for [my selected text]..". But, the default home page, under the FF icon, takes me to a Yahoo! search page.

I have never installed a Yahoo! toolbar or any other Yahoo! item of any kind. The only place this change could have come from is Mozilla when I upgraded from FF4 to FF5.

How can I change back to Google?

This post has nothing to do with a "search bar". It has nothing to do with an add-on bar. (The 'search bar' had to be changed to Google also from Yahoo! In the 'Manage Search Engines" window I even deleted Yahoo! leaving Google as the sole search engine.)

How can I change back to Google search on FF5 default home page?

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I understand better now. That's the about:home page and has nothing to do with your default search engine.

The best way to deal with it is to not use about:home. Set your home page in the General Preferences and if you want Google, use google.com.

Having said that, there is a way. In chromeappsstore.sqllite, inside your profile folder, you have to modify the emoh.:moz-safe-about scope in the webappsstore2 table. The key is search-engine and the value determines the search engine for that page.

I used the SQLite Manager SQLite Manager Addon to play with this, but there are some instructions by dr_watson here using SQLite Database Browser.

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hey guys. i got a problem with Firefox Search Bar.

whenever i try to make a search in Google by writing some keywords in the Search Bar, it always displays the search results in a different language. However if i make the same search by going to Google.com and then write search keywords, it shows the search results in the correct language (english).

what shall i do to fix this problem ???

im attaching a Screenshot of searching "the Undertaker" in Google using the Firefox Search Bar.

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Okay, I have used and corrected “about:config” to re-set my search engine to Google (using a capital G) and while it does hold on that value, when I attempt a search from Firefox's home page in the Search box - Yahoo still comes up. I have gone through all the folders under Mozilla Firefox, deleting all Yahoo files and Google is still being overwritten by Yahoo.

I did notice when I viewed the page source that Yahoo is using Purl. Google doesn't seem to use that language so is this a case of "Purl" trumping "Java"?

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@Carolg

-> Search Bar - Removing a Search Engine

-> Restore Default Search Engine

Type about:config in the Location (address) bar and press the "Enter" key. When you see a warning, click I'll be careful, I promise! button.

  • Preferences that have been modified are shown as bold (user set).
  • Preferences can be Reset to the default or changed via the right-click context menu.

-> In the Filter bar, type keyword.URL

-> In the Filter bar, type browser.startup.homepage

  • right-click the preference browser.startup.homepage and choose Reset from the menu.

-> In the Filter bar, type browser.search.selectedEngine

  • right-click the preference browser.search.selectedEngine and choose Reset from the menu.

-> Close the about:config tab and then Restart Firefox.

Check and tell if its working.


-> IF you use Privacy Cleanup softwares like CCleaner, DON'T SELECT FIREFOX IN ITS SETTINGS. These softwares can be responsible for Deleting your Firefox Settings.

Modified by Hasan

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Mine, too, was hijacked by YAHOO during an update - I fixed it by doing the previous post. It worked.

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this post may also be used to fix other problems

Modified by Aine