Firefox Community Forum

The previous version allowed me to have Firefox as my browser and Brave as my search engine. Now Brave is both my browser and search engine. In the general settings, it says Firefox is my default browser. I'm confused. I just want to be like it was before the update. Please help.

Recently, when I copy and paste an error message to the search box in Firefox and the first word contains a ':', such as when searching for this error message - "MESA-LOADER: failed to open dri: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gbm/dri_gbm.so: cannot open shared object file" - I get the "Open the mesa-loader link with System Handler?" prompt (see screenshot).

I used to be able to copy and paste such an error before into the search box and it would just work but now the browser defaults to thinking you are entering a URL. This could be because when I start typing in the search box, it immediately relocates what I'm typing to the address bar. Maybe this is the behaviour I need to disable? But how and why is it the default?

Help!

Browser details

$ > snap info firefox name: firefox summary: Mozilla Firefox web browser publisher: Mozilla✓ store-url: https://snapcraft.io/firefox contact: https://support.mozilla.org/kb/file-bug-report-or-feature-request-mozilla license: unset description: |

 Firefox is a powerful, extensible web browser with support for modern web application
 technologies.

commands:

 - firefox
 - firefox.geckodriver

snap-id: 3wdHCAVyZEmYsCMFDE9qt92UV8rC8Wdk tracking: latest/stable/ubuntu-24.04 refresh-date: 19 days ago, at 13:56 AEDT channels:

 latest/stable:    144.0.2-1    2025-10-29 (7177) 261MB -
 latest/candidate: 145.0-1      2025-11-04 (7242) 262MB -
 latest/beta:      145.0b9-1    2025-10-31 (7213) 262MB -
 latest/edge:      146.0a1      2025-11-05 (7250) 298MB -
 esr/stable:       140.4.0esr-2 2025-10-14 (7023) 258MB -
 esr/candidate:    140.5.0esr-1 2025-11-05 (7236) 258MB -
 esr/beta:         ↑                                    
 esr/edge:         ↑                                    

installed: 144.0-2 (7084) 261MB -

OS Details

PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS" NAME="Ubuntu" VERSION_ID="24.04" VERSION="24.04.3 LTS (Noble Numbat)" VERSION_CODENAME=noble ID=ubuntu ID_LIKE=debian HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/" SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/" BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/" PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy" UBUNTU_CODENAME=noble LOGO=ubuntu-logo

Why is the address bar now a search? This is annoying. How can I change this? I have already change about:config settings to false and nothing changes.

Thank you Rafal

For the last couple of weeks my default search engine keeps changing. Even though I change it in the setting to the one prefer eventually it changes. Why is this issue happening and is there anyway to force my preferred search engine as a constant default?

I do not want to search from the address bar. The search bar is what I want to go to but invariably goes to the address bar. Is there an about:config setting to change this?

To whom it may concern!!! I have Firefox app. But, the search bar is in Google. How can i change it? Please let me know when you get a chance. Thanks in advance. Kevin Hidalgo.

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.

How can you claim privacy and security while using Google search engine??? That is why I use Mozilla Foxfire! I will continue to use duck duck go on phone and laptop!

I am on a newer desktop iMac. I only use Firefox. Google is my default. And yet.. Nowhere on my right click contextual menu is there a "Google Lens" option! According to the article on the Firefox home page, just having Google as your default search engine will give you that option on the right click menu. It does not exist, as you can see in the attached screenshot. If I am missing a step, I'd love to know what it is.

google lens search not working as promoted in recent email from firefox@mail.mozilla.org google is my default search engine

I hopped onto firefox the same way many others did- looking for a browser that didn't have the ties to privacy issues or baggage of bloatware, and especially since all of the other browsers are changing things to focus on AI. And now that firefox is joining that chain I wonder why I even bother trying to get attached.

Like, on the one hand I can somewhat see where the CEO is coming from, everyone's getting a cool new toy and you want in on that, that's understandable. But with something as half-baked, destructive, and actively contentious as AI, I wonder the true value of playing with things like that.

In fact, have you SEEN what's going on with AI? Microsoft's shoved Copilot into every aspect of windows 11, their PCs, their browser, their marketing, and what did they get? Regret! They regretted that decision as consumers aren't happy with that decision!

Even OpenAI, the granddaddy of all LLM stuff around, they're not even going to be profitable until 2030. Yes, that's 4 years away. No, I sincerely HOPE they don't last that long.

Why Mozilla is picking this decision? FOMO, I presume, but like. It doesn't have to be this way, it's allowed to be a small bastion where people can actually pick what I want out of it. I dislike the fact Perplexity got added to my search functions, but I'm happy that I could turn it off.

For the love of god Montresor, don't lock us in here.