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why do I have Ask as a serch engine rather than Google which it always was ?

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  • 2 have this problem
  • 12 views
  • Last reply by Xircal

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I want Google as my search engine when I open Firefox not Ask. How do I do this ?

I want Google as my search engine when I open Firefox not Ask. How do I do this ?

Chosen solution

Ask usually gets installed when you install something else. See screenshot for a typical example.


To revert to Google as your preferred search engine, please do the following.

  • In the location bar, type about:config and hit Enter.

  • In the filter at the top, type: keyword.URL

  • Double click it and remove whatever's in there and replace it with http://www.google.com/search?q=

The URL to add in "keyword.URL" becomes a link in this post, so right click it and choose "Copy Link Location" to copy it to the Windows clipboard. Then hit CTRL+V to paste it. Saves you having to type the whole thing.


To reset your home page, do the following.

  • Go to the site you want to set as your homepage.

  • Go to Tools | Options | General .

  • Make sure it says "Show My Homepage" in the first dropdown menu.

  • Click the button called "Use Current Pages" to set the homepage to the one you have on the screen.

After you complete the above steps, install this add-on to prevent another search engine from modifying your preferences: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/browserprotect/


Also, click the Firefox button, go to Add-ons, Extensions. If you see the Ask Toolbar in there, remove it.

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Chosen Solution

Ask usually gets installed when you install something else. See screenshot for a typical example.


To revert to Google as your preferred search engine, please do the following.

  • In the location bar, type about:config and hit Enter.

  • In the filter at the top, type: keyword.URL

  • Double click it and remove whatever's in there and replace it with http://www.google.com/search?q=

The URL to add in "keyword.URL" becomes a link in this post, so right click it and choose "Copy Link Location" to copy it to the Windows clipboard. Then hit CTRL+V to paste it. Saves you having to type the whole thing.


To reset your home page, do the following.

  • Go to the site you want to set as your homepage.

  • Go to Tools | Options | General .

  • Make sure it says "Show My Homepage" in the first dropdown menu.

  • Click the button called "Use Current Pages" to set the homepage to the one you have on the screen.

After you complete the above steps, install this add-on to prevent another search engine from modifying your preferences: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/browserprotect/


Also, click the Firefox button, go to Add-ons, Extensions. If you see the Ask Toolbar in there, remove it.

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the fix worked well. thank you very much.

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You're welcome.