Firefox Community Forum

It's so invasive, and I'm sick of having to dig through pages to get accurate information when I used to be able to find it at the top of a search result. Poor performance all around. Are they really adding more BUILT-IN AI features to the browser? Does anyone know of good alternative browsers that don't have this issue? I want to be able to switch over quickly in case Firefox updates with features that would impede my experience.

"You can turn it off by entering about:config in the URL bar and switching browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.improvesearch.handoffToAwesomebar to false."

That doesn't work anymore. Since the last update, the search went back to the adress bar, doesn't matter if that option is mark as true or false.

Please stop making that the searches go to the adress bar. Nobody likes it.

My apologies - I don't know a lot of the correct terminology for much of these things! Parts of the web address in the address bar, such as www and https disappear, but re-appear if I want to change the address by typing an addition or correction in the current address. Is there a way to make sure that the entire address shows all the time? Thanks!

I'm trying to move search engine from yahoo search to Firefox search engine because I had the Firefox search engine on my old phone and I liked it because it worked better than yahoo.

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?

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.

2026-02-17

for about 8 years now, on and off, on hundreds of OS-es, clean installs of firefox etc. sometimes - not always - typing into the firefox search bar and pressing enter does nothing

i have bit-warden, u-block-origin and stylus installed (but they shouldn't be running on the 'new-tab-page' - is my firefox sync-profile containing some firefox-breaking-errors? (latest Win-11)

I downloaded Foxfire esr version to get rid of goggle. I transferred my data from google. Now the Google search is showing up. Should I uninstall goggle to get rid of it?

Hallo Ich Spreche kein Englisch nur Deutsch - Ich habe seit einiger Zeit ein Problem, wenn ich einen meuen Tapp öffne komme ich wie gewohnt auf die FireFox Seite mit dem Google Suchfeld, wenn ich zum Beispiel in das Suchfeld Monstera eintipe Lande ich immer auf der Yahoo Seite. . Siehe nachfolgenden Link: https://de.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=Monstera&hspart=iba&hsimp=yhs-syn_launcham¶m2=9dUI1n2R0BLDxNuWfiP4aSFOTltNdSPoIx38%2BUf%2FiXrvPdoGmStdlfwLFZYDvqkAfvapUGDUlfVlBewW80EIyUr%2FsL%2B6E7sphFDlHyc9MgKJkZdnv%2BHAlYnNmFYhvoP666n25XuOWv2sNdW8LTl0ed79U3FBxDdDwESS2zTq7MplmsM64d5ifOY1gGVSACrO7oUVwz0Q6xN0p0HcFuihGvHl6o1wvCWTRhetcVW5mTc%3D¶m3=HpCyCT2cXaKG4CVDR00rqgObRQahimQNt2d5ZCR7Jy3IZoD3T11qaq2nywASZYgKs7Nov2iksjjR3%2F2QWiII6Us00JMQsgWelCh2xqUG22J0U1jSZgy29Nx6hJbvJxhO09UrrPrifdWwZ%2FK6RGUiPErlOzWN1cnTdWlcb0giNPrORW3TU4942RitciCf1Ex2C%2FU510yVW%2BSczbZLYlOESKcxP97Z8OMm14rdAu%2FgEAfm5r74rG9U9ShM2YpG9AR4mVsOA2d22%2FdQcBQQJbYxSA%3D%3D&type=f2%3A%3B.6850610d4680680b2811f3dcdca6be379af%3B5.ac48522a20946644e52a8ef8e64166f19c0ca9cd289925759ba5c0534a4ff17f5111f70ddaee787ec4b4d80 - Leider bin ich mit der Suche mit Yahoo nicht zufrieden, ich habe die Einstellungen von FireFox, mehrfach kontroliert, aber nichts gefunden weshalb ich immer bei Yahoo lande. - Ich bedanke mich schon im voraus für ihre hilfe. mit freundlichen Grüßem Albert Schankula

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.