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Can't delete search bar contents

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I have gone though all the steps - deleting all history, going into privacy settings and clearing cookies and site data, clearing history there, too. But when I type something in the search bar it starts pulling up sites that I have been to. Any way to get rid of that? It shouldn't be so hard.

I have gone though all the steps - deleting all history, going into privacy settings and clearing cookies and site data, clearing history there, too. But when I type something in the search bar it starts pulling up sites that I have been to. Any way to get rid of that? It shouldn't be so hard.

All Replies (4)

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Hi,

You can check out the Remove websites from the address bar suggestions help article for a detailed guide on getting rid of search bar content specifically.

I hope this helps!

Best wishes, Ive

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If that is about websites you typed or pasted in the location bar, then items that show there might be rather persistent.

If you can't remove it then check for problems with places.sqlite.

You can use "Verify Integrity" button on the "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to check the places.sqlite database. In case errors are reported with "Verify Integrity" close and restart Firefox and retry.

If "Verify Integrity" cannot repair places.sqlite, rename/remove all places.sqlite and favicons.sqlite files in the Firefox profile folder. Firefox will rebuild places.sqlite and restore the bookmarks from a recent JSON backup in the bookmarkbackups folder.

  • keep a backup copy of places.sqlite in case a new places.sqlite database has to be created

See also:

You can use the button on the "Help -> Troubleshooting Information" (about:support) page to go to the current Firefox profile folder or use the about:profiles page.

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Thanks, cor-el. I had no idea that it was so complicated. To be honest, it's easier to just go back to Chrome. I wanted to make the switch back to Firefox, but this is a big problem. Thanks again.

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Hi danmason2016, just to clarify, where are the unwanted previously visited sites listed on your Firefox:

  • in the address bar itself, top level domain only not a full path => address bar autofill feature
  • in the drop-down list, full URL => suggested history match