I have read each of your posts in recent months, but I don't recall this topic before. Please explain in more detail.

What account are you talking about?

Its my Firefox account, I'm not sure what other account I would be talking about. And details, of Startpage.com which is a Search Engine I tried out, didn't like and have had to remove 5 times because it keeps popping back up when I open either the Add on/Extension page or it re-lists itself as one of my Search Engines. I have also had to remove Bing, Google and a couple others repeatedly. In the older posts on this exact same issue the excuse is always that Firefox uses these search engines, etc. so we are just stuck with them slowing down our systems and interfering with our ability to navigate. Which is a lousy excuse and makes Firefox nowhere near as "security concious" as they claim to be. It actually makes them sound exactly like Google.

Startpage.com which is a Search Engine I tried out, didn't like and have had to remove 5 times because it keeps popping back up when I open either the Add on/Extension page or it re-lists itself as one of my Search Engines.

There are two ways to add a search engine:

(1) Traditional: install an OpenSearch plugin (not extensions)

For some sites, this is available from the site itself, and can be added using the Page Actions menu (before Firefox 89), or the address bar context menu (Firefox 89+), or the classic short search bar drop-down. If a site doesn't offer one, there are various third party means to install one (such as Mycroft Project).

To remove an OpenSearch plugin, go to the Search Shortcuts box on the Settings page (previously known as Options), highlight it, and use the Remove button. It should not come back, unless for some reason the search.json.mozlz4 file in the current profile wasn't able to be updated or an earlier version of the file was restored.

(2) Modern: install an Extension

If you installed a search engine by installing an extension, you can remove it by uninstalling the extension. In some cases, you might also need to remove it in on the Settings page as described in #1 above, but with the standard extension API, you shouldn't need to do that.

Removed extensions should not come back, unless maybe there is a glitch with Firefox Sync. ? You can modify your Sync settings so that Firefox does not sync extensions.

I have also had to remove Bing, Google and a couple others repeatedly. In the older posts on this exact same issue the excuse is always that Firefox uses these search engines, etc. so we are just stuck with them slowing down our systems and interfering with our ability to navigate.

The built-in Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google, eBay, Amazon, Wikipedia, etc., search engines are packaged as extensions and are part of Firefox's program files. You cannot remove them, despite what CCleaner may have you think. You can hide them from the address bar and Firefox's other search boxes by unchecking them or removing them from the Search Shortcuts box on the Settings page. Usually they stay hidden, but users who removed each and every built-in search engine have reported that at the next update, they are restored. It's possible that the updater considers removing all of them to be an error condition.

But I don't know why you think the built-in search engines are "slowing down our systems." What is that based on?

Ok so Startpage.com I added as an extension and have removed, as I said, from Extension/Add ons 5 times now and I do not have Sync turned on, that is actually the first thing I check when I go in to remove it again. And as for the second part, Basic Computer stuff, multiple unnecessary programs on any computer slow it down which if you have super fast Internet speed isn't a problem but unfortunately I have Century Link as the only provider in my area so it matters to me. Also multiple search engines are a security issue as they all have their own glitches etc. And yes the older posts all have the "built in" excuse as I referred to it, and if you have read Firefox's mission statement you understand my issue with this excuse.

You may have ad/mal-ware. Further information can be found in this article; https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-firefox-issues-caused-malware?cache=no

Run most or all of the listed free to use malware scanners. Each works differently. If one program misses something, another may pick it up.

Ok this reply has nothing whatsoever to do with my question so other than you work for Mozilla and your selling something Why are replying to this?

Hi,

The people who answer questions here, for the most part, are other users volunteering their time (like me), not Mozilla employees or Firefox developers. We really are trying to help.

Having removed any StartPage add-ons and scanned for (and removed) any potentially malicious software, is there still an issue that we can help you with?

Ok so Startpage.com I added as an extension and have removed, as I said, from Extension/Add ons 5 times now and I do not have Sync turned on, that is actually the first thing I check when I go in to remove it again.

Extensions should not reinstall themselves. There is something strange happening on your computer.

And as for the second part, Basic Computer stuff, multiple unnecessary programs on any computer slow it down which if you have super fast Internet speed isn't a problem but unfortunately I have Century Link as the only provider in my area so it matters to me.

The built-in search engine extensions define search and suggestion URLs, they do not consume a separate process, and they do not consume bandwidth unless you make one of them your default and enable search suggestions so that Firefox requests those while you type in the address bar.

Also multiple search engines are a security issue as they all have their own glitches etc.

The built-in search engine extensions do not contain executable code. Feel free to take a look, they just define URLs. Here's Bing, for example:

https://searchfox.org/mozilla-release/source/browser/components/search/extensions/bing

There is one icon and one manifest.json defining the search and suggestion URLs.

Note: third party search engine extensions may work differently and have additional features such as taking over your new tab page.