The page has an "onload" script that reinitializes the form. Since version 1.5 when it introduced a "fast back-forward cache", when you went "Back" to a page that allowed caching -- a page that doesn't force a reload -- Firefox would ignore the "onload" script. It drove many web developers crazy. Now Firefox 97 is NOT ignoring it and it's the user's turn to be upset. Whoops.

But I found a temporary workaround. The workaround is to disable "fission", which is a recently added site isolation technology designed to protect against advanced exploits (the kind where code from one site can access data from another site in memory because both sites shared the same process/thread). While it would be a little bit safer to keep this enabled, if you can't work this way, then you might need to use this workaround.

(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.

More info on about:config: Configuration Editor for Firefox. The moderators would like us to remind you that changes made through this back door aren't fully supported and aren't guaranteed to continue working in the future.

(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste fission.autostart and pause while the list is filtered

Firefox should show two preferences, one to change the behavior in the next session, and a locked one indicating the value of the setting in the current session.

(3) Double-click the fission.autostart preference to switch the value from true to false

That will take effect the next time you exit out and restart Firefox.

Note: I tested in Firefox Developer Edition, based on the beta of Firefox 98. Let me know if it also works in Firefox 97.

By the way, fission itself is not the problem, it's whether Firefox runs onload scripts when going "Back", so in the future, someone might find another way to work around this with fission enabled.

TechNote: above is based on assumption that bug 1745730 is the culprit.

I have another thought, but it would be a change to your workflow. What if, every time you clicked the Search button or press Enter in a name field, the search results opened in a new tab? Then when you were done with that tab you could close it and the tab with the form would just be sitting there ready for you to search again?

What it would take is to add

target="_blank"

to the <form> tag in the search page.

This probably would be easiest to do with an add-on, but if you want to give it a test, I have added a composite screenshot of the steps using the Page Inspector.

I have another thought, but it would be a change to your workflow. What if, every time you clicked the Search button or press Enter in a name field, the search results opened in a new tab? Then when you were done with that tab you could close it and the tab with the form would just be sitting there ready for you to search again? What it would take is to add target="_blank" to the <form> tag in the search page. This probably would be easiest to do with an add-on, but if you want to give it a test, I have added a composite screenshot of the steps using the Page Inspector.

That seems like alot more work.. The other solution worked thank god. I have been working on this list for 3 days now when it normally takes about 5 hours total.. I had actually started to get a rhythm down but it still took longer. THANK YOU! I had already used About:config to change my backspace option .. Have been searching for 2 days trying to find a solution. AGAIN THANK YOU,,Whole office will be happy.

You wouldn't edit the form each time, you would use an add-on for that, you only need to edit it to get a feel for whether you like search results to open in a new tab instead of the same tab.