I would be happy to provide the instructions on how to clear the search options. This article should help you out:

• Clear recent searches from the Search bar
• https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/remove-websites-awesome-bar-suggesti...

The search options can be configured in this menu:

1. about:preferences#privacy under the Location bar.

Since recent searches are not listed there and if you want to be able to change it to always do this in the image attached:

Sorry, let me be more clear.

I know how to 'Clear Recent' Search from the Search Bar autocomplete. I've successfully cleared them AND set the setting NOT to suggest ANY MORE items in the Search Bar, but it KEEPS REMEMBERING MY RECENT SEARCHES.

I think I understand. This is a limitation of Firefox. Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong:

I want Google-based search suggestions to drop down when i type in the Search Bar BUT I don't want any of my recent searches to show up at all or be stored at all. Can I not have this?

The combination of settings

• Preferences > Privacy > Remember search and form history
• Preferences > Search > Provide search suggestions

should control what happens on Firefox's "search bar", the short bar which by default is at the right end of the main toolbar.

Are you getting the little clock icon indicating that the item is from your Firefox search history? Normal suggestions generated from the search engine do not have that icon. I have attached a screen shot illustrating what I mean.

If you are using the address bar (also called the location bar) to search, you can suppress history from appearing there using the checkboxes lower on the page:

Preferences > Privacy > "When using the location bar, suggest"

For demos, you also could consider using a separate profile customized with just what you want for the demo. See: Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles. Be cautious about deleting anything in the profile manager, it's a little to easy to delete the wrong thing and it's not recoverable if you do.

I just want to add something, because I was about to post that this didn't help me. And this is why I had so much trouble with this.

Under Preferences > Privacy there is a section called 'History'. By default, you cannot see the settings jscher2000 mentions in the Solution. I had to select "Use custom settings for history" and uncheck "Remember search and form history". So now I can see search suggestions from google BUT I don't see my previous searches brought up ever again.

Thanks!

Also, i learned that it's important to distinguish between 'History' and 'Bookmarks' in the Location Bar settings under Privacy.

I had unchecked 'History' and was still getting suggestions i did not want. It hadn't occurred to me that those results were coming from my Bookmarks and NOT from my history, which I had cleared many times over. Thanks again!

It's three hours from my day I'll never get back again, but at least I am empowered with knowing the intricacies of FF's Pref UX. ;)