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Search bar isn't working.

  • 4 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 8 views
  • Last reply by ideato

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Searching from the address bar does nothing. Typing searches in the search bar does nothing. Under "Manage Search Engines", all options are greyed out, and clicking "get more search engines" does nothing. I've started in Safe Mode with the same result. I've tried deleting and re-intalling Firefox and have tried a new profile. All with no change.

Searching from the address bar does nothing. Typing searches in the search bar does nothing. Under "Manage Search Engines", all options are greyed out, and clicking "get more search engines" does nothing. I've started in Safe Mode with the same result. I've tried deleting and re-intalling Firefox and have tried a new profile. All with no change.

Chosen solution

Hello fleafly32, go for a clean re-install, this means you remove Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. Please follow these steps:

Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.

  1. Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from http://www.mozilla.org and save the setup file to your computer.
  2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (click Exit from the Firefox or File menu).
  3. Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default on Windows :
  • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox

Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:

  1. Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
  2. Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.

More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here.

WARNING:Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your Firefox profile data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device! See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.

Please report back to say if this helped you!

Thank you.

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All Replies (4)

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Chosen Solution

Hello fleafly32, go for a clean re-install, this means you remove Firefox program files and then reinstall Firefox. Please follow these steps:

Note: You might want to print these steps or view them in another browser.

  1. Download the latest Desktop version of Firefox from http://www.mozilla.org and save the setup file to your computer.
  2. After the download finishes, close all Firefox windows (click Exit from the Firefox or File menu).
  3. Delete the Firefox installation folder, which is located in one of these locations, by default on Windows :
  • C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox

Now, go ahead and reinstall Firefox:

  1. Double-click the downloaded installation file and go through the steps of the installation wizard.
  2. Once the wizard is finished, choose to directly open Firefox after clicking the Finish button.

More information about reinstalling Firefox can be found here.

WARNING:Do not use a third party uninstaller as part of this process. Doing so could permanently delete your Firefox profile data, including but not limited to, extensions, cache, cookies, bookmarks, personal settings and saved passwords. These cannot be easily recovered unless they have been backed up to an external device! See Back up and restore information in Firefox profiles.

Please report back to say if this helped you!

Thank you.

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That worked perfectly. Thanks so much for the quick reply!!

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Bookmark and use this; Mozilla Search Reset {web link} This add-on is very simple: on installation, it backs up and then resets your search preferences and home page to their default values, and then uninstalls itself. This affects the search bar, URL bar searches, and the home page.

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you are welcome fleafly32