Firefox Community Forum

Each time I open Firefox and type in a search I get a message like something went wrong and I need to verify that I am human. Then I have to go through the pictures and identify the ones with bicycles or motorcycles or Buses. Aggravation which I've never experienced before . I've made Firefox my default browser and I'd like to get rid of the problem. Thank you, any suggestions.

( other search engine ) , here ...

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Why are only ...

( Enabled ) and ( Not Enabled ) ...

These two choices ...

.........................

Before , can remove ( Search engine ) ...

.

Just wanted to ask about the potential for other Ai providers - Duck.ai being the key one missing.

Is there a possibility of local instances being a feature? Whether it's just hosted locally (not a function or component of Firefox itself) or a Mozilla specific model that's locally run?

Moderator note: This question has been edited to correct the link.

First, please explain the relationship among Firefox, Mozilla and DuckDuckGo. Second, how to make Firefox open when compuetr starts. Third, how to make DDGo the search engine. Finally, how to delete email contacts. I have been doing some, but others show a red triangle and say "cannot delete this". Thank you for helping me, someday,soon, I hope , to escape the greedy clutches of MS. Gail

I need to stop google from automatically searching in the address bar so I can use about.config.

No help has worked from the web. Commands suggested by users don't exist or they use circular logic. In other words I can't go to about.config and make changes because I can't get to about.config because google searches it. I have turned off everything and nothing gets rid of the google search. I can go to other searches but that doesn't help.

I need to fix my issue with search, not sure if it is because of VPN or smth. I use Browsec as VPN, just recognized Firefox has its own VPN. Did anyone had same issue? I saw there was an update on July 1, 2026, Until yesterday everything worked fine.

It's frustrating, no matter what you set, the search always jumps to the address field. I enter known addresses in the address field. I SEARCH in the SEARCH FIELD. And I want that in the future too. How do I make it possible, permanently, to be able to search in the search field??? The following doesn't work (anymore).

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.

(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste handoff and pause while the list is filtered

(3) Double-click the browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar preference to switch the value from true to false

каждый раз когда я закрываю все в кладки в firefox после того как я захожу в браузер снова у меня открываеться сайт яндекса и поиск ведеться только через яндекс пока я не выберу снова google, как решить эту проблему?

It appears thousands of others have the same issue with NOTHING affecting the search bar handoff to the address bar (changing true/false in about:config does NOTHING, v148.xx). Why not just do away with any search bar and do everything from the address bar? That way enough will be annoyed they'll find an operational browser. Like too many "upgrades," this one went seriously backwards.

I have found Wikipedia to be biased and to contain much incorrect information. I would prefer to omit results from Wikipedia and to use data from Grokipedia instead. This presents two questions: 1. Will Mozilla add a general option to add or remove search sources? And 2. will Mozilla add Grokipedia to its list of sources?

I have turned all search features off in settings and changed all relevant entries to False in About:config and it is still happening! Why did this change, I do not want this, I did not ask for this and I want it to be returned to how it worked before! NOW!

In Firefox 148.0, I am encountering an issue related to input‑focus behavior on the default New Tab Page. I would like to confirm whether this behavior is now hardcoded or whether any configuration options remain available to modify it.

Issue description

When opening a new tab, Firefox displays a search box in the center of the page. In previous versions, this search box could function as a true input field. However, in Firefox 148.0, any attempt to type into this field results in the input focus being immediately transferred to the address bar (Awesome Bar). As a result, the central search box no longer accepts direct input and appears to function only as a visual entry point.

Configuration options already tested

Based on documentation and community discussions for earlier Firefox versions, I attempted to locate and modify the following about:config preferences:

• browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar
• browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar2

Neither preference exists in Firefox 148.0. I also reviewed other Activity Stream and URL bar–related preferences but did not find any that influence this focus‑handoff behavior.

Current observations

Testing suggests that Firefox 148.0 may have removed the internal toggles that previously controlled this behavior. The focus handoff from the New Tab Page search box to the address bar appears to be enforced at the application level, with no remaining user‑configurable switches exposed through about:config.

Questions for clarification

1. 1 Has the focus‑handoff mechanism for the New Tab Page been fully hardcoded in Firefox 148.0, making it no longer configurable through about:config?

1. 2 Is there a new or undocumented preference that restores the ability for the New Tab Page search box to receive input directly?

1. 3 Are there design documents, Bugzilla tickets, or release notes that describe the removal of the previous handoff preferences?

1. 4 If this behavior is now intentional and no longer user‑configurable, is using an extension (e.g., New Tab Override) the only remaining method to prevent focus from being redirected to the address bar?

Any technical insight or references from developers or community members would be greatly appreciated.

There is a search bar in the middle of my screen (Firefox/DuckDuckGo) It does not work. If I type in it, the cursor moves to address bar. This is very annoying as I am looking at the search bar and watching what I type. Then the search bar fades out so I can't even try to type in it anymore. From what I have read on the forum, Firefox has disabled the "fix" for this problem. So essentially they have made the visible search bar useless and have fixed it so that those of us who prefer to use it are completely out of luck. What does Firefox get out of this? I'm feeling really manipulated and will probably just switch back to Chrome. From reading other questions, I get the feeling they are planning an ever better search bar (can't image what that could mean, all I want to do is search). But why destroy the old one before the new one is ready?

I have done every step I can find to change this setting, nothing works, why did this change all of a sudden and how do I fix it, this is ridiculous, why would you change my settings without asking me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!